Pick up your camera

Whether it’s been a slow week or you’re taking your camera out of storage, you need to feel in touch with your artist’s apparatus. Get the weight of it in your hands, change up the settings, and take some shots. Even if they’re not great, it doesn’t matter. You’re getting yourself back into the hang of it.

Prep as if you have a big shoot

Take out your lenses, camera, batteries and lay them in front of you. Wipe off any dust, clean all of the glass considering fingerprints and spots, and then clean out your camera bag too. Toss out any miscellaneous non-photo items you’ve accumulated in there and just do a solid purge and cleanse. Then, get started. Backup everything, charge your batteries, format your cards, and make sure everything is working. Going through everything will not only remind you of the gear you have on hand, but cleaning everything is a dependable refresher for getting back into your craft. Clear it all out to make room for fresh ideas.

Create a designated space

Rather than putting everything back into your newly cleaned bag, clear off a shelf, or even buy a new one for your gear. Having designated space for your photo equipment where it’s visible and accessible, forces you to see it and easily reach for it, say, the next time you leave the house to commute to work, walk the dog, or even just walk to the store. Having it all there on display rather than in a drawer or in your closet will make it far less likely for it to sit there to collect dust. Your photography shelf (or shelves if you’re lucky) will be there as visual encouragement and a daily reminder.

Find a subject

Though this can be overwhelming to consider while you’re in the midst of a slump, it’s necessary to break out of your rut. Start small. Maybe there’s a space in your house that gets really beautiful light in the afternoon. Notice small details you usually bypass, while at the same time brushing over logistics—whether your place is dirty or cluttered. A messy artist’s apartment with newspapers, and coffee cups can be just as visually stunning as a perfectly pieced together room. Maybe you’d taken notice of something interested on your street on the way home. Whatever it is, find a subject and shoot it everyday for a week to get back into a routine. This way, you’ll not only be shooting everyday, but you’ll also be forced to take on new perspectives and start looking with a photographer’s eye again, transforming the ordinary into compelling photos.

Find the source

Now that you’re shooting again, it’s important to find your reasons behind losing motivation. Often, it’s boredom. Have you been shooting only in one specific style and feel like you’re losing your sense of creativity? The best way to break out of a slump is to challenge yourself. Try something you’ve never done before that’s out of your comfort zone—astrophotography, food, self-portraits, even wilderness photography. The novelty will force your senses to focus harder and lose yourself in the work. Experimentation often leads to inspiration, if not a feeling of being reenergized at a minimum.

Shoot with a friend

Set up an ongoing photo date with a friend and explore for a few hours somewhere new when the light is nice. This will not only keep you motivated, but also maintain momentum. You’re less likely to skip out on shooting if you have a friend there to keep you accountable.

Get new gear

As a last resort, you can always try a new piece of gear. Whether you rent or buy a new lens, tripod, or shutter release cable, something new will get the gears moving again considering all the different ways you can use it.

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Gear

1. Smoke bombs (obviously)
2. Lighter, if you’re not using “cool burning wire pull” grenades
3. Open outdoor space, away from dry areas susceptible to catching fire
4. Camera
5. External flash
6. Gloves as smoke bombs can cause some staining
7. Water to pour on the smoke bomb after it’s burnt out to ensure safe disposal
8. Model(s)

Conditions and Setup

Make sure you have a very dry environment to shoot, especially if you’re shooting in the peak of summer. You’ll also want to use them outside because they stink…a lot. Have your water handy in case something catches on fire. Shooting at night will allow you to get the most out of the colors, but isn’t imperative. Smoke bombs also burn quickly—you have a few seconds of smoke, so you’ll need to plan your shots ahead of time. Lastly, wind is another major factor. If there is much wind, the smoke will all blow in that direction.

Camera settings for smoke bomb photography, get all your gear ready with the right settings and consider that when photography smoke, it’s better to be just a bit underexposed to bring out highlights in the smoke. Set your aperture between f/4.0 and f/5.6 with a fast shutter speed. Make sure the subject and some of the smoke is focused, but have some depth of field.

The Shoot

Remember the smoke lasts for a very short period of time. A smoke grenade can run for 90 seconds, and will take a few seconds to get going. While you’ll need to have planned out shots, you can still get creative. Have you subject wave the smoke bomb around, or walk with it so the smoke trails behind them. Play with different colors and mixing two contrasting hues. If you have someone there to assist, they can circle your subject(s) with smoke to create a more magical ambience.

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Do you have a photo gallery or photo sharing site? You’ve spent money on buying a digital camera. You might also have spent some money buying lenses. May be you even got some photo processing software. Where are your photos?
Learn more…

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Though this concept makes for a great starting point, there are a number of techniques beyond the Rule of Thirds to create a more interesting photo that is just as compositionally balanced.

Symmetry and Centered Composition

Going against the Rule of Thirds is the idea to maintain perfect symmetry with your main subject in the center of your photo. This makes for great road and architectural shots. Reflections are also great for producing symmetry.

Leading Lines

Lead the viewer through your photo with leading lines. This will bring emphasis on important elements in your image as well. You can use anything from walls, paths or patterns to create this effect.

Depth and Foreground Interest

Photography is 2D by nature. To produce an image that doesn’t have the sense of being flat, include some foreground interest. This will add depth to your photo and give it more of a 3D feel.

Frame Within the Frame

You can also add depth with double framing. Overhanging branches, arches and windows are great to frame your scene. And remember it doesn’t need to surround the entire composition for it to be effective.

Diagonals and Triangles

This technique is used to add “dynamic tension” to an image. We are used to a sense of stability, provided by horizontal and vertical lines. When you place a subject on a sloping surface, it will seem less stable, with an element of visual tension. As we’re not used to diagonals in our day-to-day, they suggest a subconscious instability. You can use actual triangle-shaped objects you see architecturally or implied with the way you angle a path or wall.

Rule of Space

This applies to the direction your subject is facing or moving towards. There should always be more space in front of your subject than behind it to imply that there is further space in the frame for it to move into. This allows for movement in your image.

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Plan like crazy, but leave room for the unknown

Scour your location with Google Google Earth, PhotoPills and my Garmin GPS to get a really solid understanding of where you’ll be working and see if there is potential in an area and if it photographs well. To be prepared, you’ll want to know the best conditions to shoot in a specific location. Browse Pinterest and travel sites for inspiration, and don’t forget to leave room for spontaneity as you may stumble across a beautiful site or hear something from a local. You can also hop on to photography tours so you’re with other photographers and a guide who can provide travel tips.

Make sure you have proper gear

Bring gear that you’re familiar with so you’re not stuck trying to figure out settings while a glorious landscape is blossoming in front of you. You also don’t want to bring anything extra as you could be moving around a bit. The necessities? Bring a wide-angle lens, a telephoto lens, a tripod, and extra batteries and memory cards. A polarizing filter can also be helpful for harsh sun.

Follow the light

Check to see what time sunrise and sunset are to capture your landscape at the magic hour. Make sure to check the most ideal location for capturing the light as well as weather conditions. If you’re working in high temperatures, you might opt for a shadier spot as opposed to a popular site with no sun coverage. And, if you find yourself with grey skies, don’t fret. This just means you can shoot for longer and at midday without harsh shadows for perhaps even more interesting travel images.

Consider composition

Try for nontraditional points of view rather than the easy shot and get a more visually compelling set of photos. There are a number of ways to get creative with your composition. See our top picks for photo techniques here. (link to techniques article).

Start shooting

A narrow aperture can produce more dramatic landscape shots. Shoot between f/8 and f/14 to capture all the details and create a large depth of field. The key is to shoot as much as you can so you have a diverse array of images to choose from later while editing. Try different angles, different lighting, and different vantage points for more unique travel photos.

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Something to keep in mind for photographing stars and a meteor shower is that it’s much more like shooting a time-lapse versus still photos. There is no telling when exactly meteors will blaze across the sky, and in order to catch them, you’ll need to be prepared to take as many photos as you can with a wide angle lens. If your camera stays in the same spot, the resulting images can be use for a brief time-lapse clip in addition to your still photographs.

Here are a few morsels of instruction on capturing meteor showers:

1. Find dark skies away from the brightness of the city. This nifty website: http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/ -is great as a general guide to find a place for night sky photography or try this one: http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/
   
2. Set up as quickly as possible because the more time you have with your shutter open, the greater the likelihood of capturing a meteor.
3. Make sure you have a sturdy tripod to get crisp images of meteors streaking across the sky.
4. Use a fast, wide-angle lens. This is the single most important facet in your meteor photography rig. With a wider field of view, you can capture that much more sky, and more meteors per hour. Remember that as you go wider, you also lose resolution as more sky is placed into the same number of pixels, thus making each object smaller. While being able to capture the entire sky is ideal, a smaller field of view will produce a better quality photo. Also crucial is speed. A faster lens will allow you to capture fainter meteors. For best results, use something in the < f/2.0 range that’s at least f/2.8 and ideally f/1.4. You don’t want to see a meteor fly through your field of view and check your camera later to see that it wasn’t imaged. There is no best camera for night sky photography, but a Nikon D800 handles a high ISO and noise induced from night photography seamlessly.
5. Use a wired cable release—just a cord with a locking shutter release button. Your camera should be set to the widest aperture the lens allows and the highest ISO you’re comfortable shooting with and an exposure that yields the best outcome for the light, location, and phase of the moon. A solid place to start is f/2.8, ISO 2000 and 15-25 seconds. If you’re using an f/1.4 lens, even better as you’ll be able to shoot with a lower ISO and have a less noisy image. Once you’re set on your exposure, put your camera on continuous drive mode so it will take photos until you release, and lock the button down on the cable release.
6. Make sure you have ample power supply with either a direct DC power connection to an external battery pack or a battery grip on your camera with dual batteries. The goal is to shoot all night with few or no breaks at all. The best meteors are usually just prior to sunrise, so make sure you’re taking photos all night. Most batteries give you around 2 hours of continuous shooting, which is fine in a pinch if you need to quickly swap.
7. Have a large capacity and fast memory card. You want a card that has a fast enough write speed and that can hold an entire night’s worth of shooting so your camera can empty the cache and shoot continuously without having to pause. In the duration of time it takes to stop to change cards, you can miss a massive meteor. A 64G compact flash card should be able to get you through the majority of the night.
8. One of the most essential steps is focusing. To image a night’s sky, you’ll need to focus to infinity, which can be a little complicated in the dark. The best is to pre-focus your lens when you still have sunlight. Then tape your focus ring with gaffer or duct tape so it stays in place while you’re setting up shots or moving around. Another option is to focus on the moon or bright star, or use your camera’s live-view function. Achieving accurate infinity focus is vital, and it’s best to quickly check your initial images on your laptop before committing.
9. Keep condensation off your lens. If you want to shoot all night long, you’ll need to fend off dew in the summer and frost in the winter that can fog out your lens in just the first hour. The most effective tool in this case is an astronomy dew heater for a telescope. Most are just a Velcro strap that you can wrap around your lens with a heated wire that runs through it to prevent condensation.
10. Finally, consider your composition. You can have all the right tools, but still need to frame a compelling shot. Select a foreground element such as mountains, rock formations or a grouping of trees to anchor the photo so it’s not just a shot of meteors and stars, but still maintains as much sky as possible. Positioning also makes a major impact. Pointing your camera slightly away from the radiant point of the shower produces longer meteors, as they’re not coming directly towards the camera.

Ready for some night sky photography? There are a number of sites where you can find upcoming meteor showers including space.com and earthsky.org. Make sure to check the weather as well and the moon phases so that you can be prepared.

The post 10 Tips For Meteor Showers and Night Sky Photography appeared first on SlickPic Digital Photography School.

It’s quite a romantic notion being a photographer, as you are continually looking for beauty in each fleeting moment. It forces you to take in the world differently, and though we can be perfectionists in angles and lighting, you are considering the potential in everything. When you absorb your surroundings this way, life becomes far more bountiful and teeming with promise. Truly, it is possible to find greatness in anything, regardless of how small or meek.

In that sense, it is also easy to spot something that you know others will be drawn to—a plunging waterfall, a glimmering sunset, the Aurora Borealis. These are all images that have been captured time and time again for their natural beauty and automatic appeal. Photographers can become lazy; shooting in a way that is safe, where they know their photos will receive mass appeal rather than a new approach for a genuinely unique photo. This is where Lange’s quote and work comes in. Her photos consist of undeniably heart-touching images captured in black and white photography. Your craft is a matter of fulfillment, a meditative experience where you invest and then lose yourself. As with any art form, its true nature in creation is the most efficacious when it’s for yourself, an extension of your experience, and an expression of your emotions.

Of course with commercial photography there are limitations for, but the most successful artists, and those that become famous photographers, are those that continue to challenge themselves to produce increasingly powerful pictures. To become a famous photographer and to maintain deeper meaning in what you’re doing, really think about if you were never to see again. Is this the last thing you would want to see? Is this the absolute best you can do? Is this something you would truly be proud of to represent your work?

There are so many different reasons why we take photos. Whether it’s a matter of preserving a moment in time or for a professional shoot, consider your style and push beyond it, and beyond yourself. There is a rawness to photography that is not seen in any other art form—an honesty that exudes, pure and unfiltered. Do it justice. Photography tells a story in so many different ways, but a strong narrative depends on foundational elements that stick. To simplify, what’s the last thing you’d want to see in the moment you’re shooting, if those were your final moments?

Dorothea Lange was an American documentary photojournalist, made famous by her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Her images “humanized” the penalties of the Great Depression and were an influence in the development of documentary photography.

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1. Capture color combinations

When you think of autumn, fall leaves come to mind. Juxtapose the golds, auburns, and scarlets against each other and a brilliant blue sky. To get the strongest pop and color scheme, frame fall colors with a bright cerulean background. If you’re able to get in some puffy, white clouds, even better.

Landscapes are best shot with a wide-angle lens to get most of the scenery. Consider creating a sun star with a small aperture to jazz up the composition. If you need to darken the skies and increase contrast, use a polarizing filter to reduce light without shifting color. This can help reduce reflections and cut through glare, making fall colors more saturated.

2. Create a mirror reflection

To achieve a mirror-like reflection of autumn colors in in water, you’ll need windless conditions. However, a mirror with no interruptions can make for too static an image. Use logs or rocks in the water to break it up and stand as a visual anchor to make for a stronger composition.

The angle of light is also key. The best times to shoot are sunrise and sunset for peak fall color and moody shots. You’ll get the most drama during these times. If you don’t have perfect weather though, don’t fret as usually moist and cool conditions bring about morning dew, fog, and stunning sunrises and sunsets.

3. Isolate detail and colors

Create beautiful fall pictures not by shooting trees, but by shooting autumn color reflected in water. Color contrasts between cooler light from the sky and warm sunlit tones makes compelling compositions, more unique than the standard foliage photos. For an impressionist effect, shoot in blurred, moving water such as a mountain stream or rippled lake, and capture reflections. Test exposures of ½ sec or longer for just enough motion blur. A telephoto lens will pinpoint the brightest reflections.

4. Appreciate subtleties

Get some detail photos that are related to autumn, but outside of the normal array of colors. Images of close ups of mushrooms on a log, or seeds of a milkweed seed pod being dispersed in the wind. Don’t be limited by the usual spread of warm fall hues. Look outside of what’s right in front of you and you might just capture something even more beautiful.

5. Shoot in fog and mist

Overcast lighting can mute and soften colors, but a bit of drizzle can sometimes offer a more saturated effect while adding mystery, mood and atmosphere. There will be small bursts of sunlight here and there, foreground reflections and shadows that offer more depth to an image.

Beautiful fall pictures don’t have to be partial to bright reds and golds. Use the changing season to push yourself to explore and seek beauty outside of the ordinary.

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