In this episode Mark explains how to balance studio strobes with ambient light when shooting outside.

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In this episode Mark explains how to balance studio strobes with ambient light when shooting outside.

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In this episode Mark explains how to balance studio strobes with ambient light when shooting outside.

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Blinded by the light by Gary Simmons

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As I mentioned last week – it’s been our fastest selling eBook yet with many thousands of our readers picking up a copy.

This post is just a short note to remind readers that we’ll be closing down the launch special of a 25% discount on Photo Nuts and Shots in just under 24 hours. The early bird discount will be over at midnight on Thursday at midnight (Eastern US time).

Last Chance to Win a Sony a55 and Lens

At the same time we will also be shutting down the competition to win a Sony a55 camera and 18-55mm lens which have been generously donated by our friends at Sony (Check out the a55 and the rest of Sony’s range of SLT and dSLRs here).

So don’t miss out – Order your copy and get immediate access to this downloadable eBook today.

Don’t forget – Like all DPS books you’re satisfaction is guaranteed with with Photo Nuts and Shots with a 60-day money back guarantee.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips. Check out our resources on Portrait Photography Tips, Travel Photography Tips and Understanding Digital Cameras.

Less than 24 Hours left to Save 25% on our Latest eBook

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Photo captured by Denis Krivoy (Click Image to See More From Denis Krivoy)

ONE: The Earth is rotating. This means you can photograph star constellations, but after about 15 seconds, you will start to get blurring in your stars because of the movement of the Earth.

TWO: You should know a couple of constellations before you go out: the Big Dipper and Orion are the two I use to orient myself.

Why the Orion and The Big Dipper? First, they are extremely bright and easily found in the night sky. Second, besides being my favorite constellation, Orion is usually high enough in the sky to photograph with other stars around, but it can also sit low so you can get nice foreground elements in your compositions. Finally, use the two stars which make up the pouring end of the Big Dipper to find the North Star. Look at the bottom star in the dipper part of The Big Dipper, the non-handle end. Draw a from the bottom star in the dipper to the top star in the dipper, then continue this line until you see the Little Dipper. This line (and these two stars) point to the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper. Why is this important? The last star in the handle of the Little Dipper is Polaris – the North Star.

If you know where Polaris (The North Star) is located, you can point your camera in this direction and, using long exposure times, you will get circular star trails instead of blurry constellations.

"35mm Star Trails May 2010" captured by Jeremy Jackson (Click Image to See More From Jeremy Jackson)

When I shoot stars, I use 2 lenses: a Canon 10-22mm and a Tamaron 28-300 which I use in the 28mm – 80mm range. I set my camera to M (manual) and use the following settings:

• Aperture: widest setting F2.8 / F3.5 / F5.0 depending on focal length
• ISO: 100 or 200
• Shutter Speed: BULB setting
• White Balance: Auto or Tungstun
• Focusing: Set focus to Manual / Infinity

Some other items you may want to bring along:

• Small flashlight – you can see your gear, get things, set up, change your camera settings, and change your release cable settings. You can use the flashlight to do a sweep of the ground before you leave to make sure you didn’t leave anything behind. Use the flashlight to paint the foreground with light to give your photographs more compositional drama.
• Small laser pointer – I haven’t tried this yet, but when I was shooting tonight, I could not see what I was composing through the viewfinder. It’s dark outside when you are photographing stars! I would take 30s/45s photographs to test my compositions. I wondered about using a small laser pointer to hold on top of my lens to see exactly where the lens is pointing.
• Chair – you will be using loooong shutter speeds. You are going to want to sit. Well – I would want one. I want to look up and not get dizzy. A lounge chair is even better! Of course if you have driven to a remote location, you can always sit in your car while waiting for exposures to take.

• Shutter release cable – some of the DSRLs have shutter release cables to release the shutter with. Some you can even set up to take a photo every X minute with an exposure time of X up to 99h99m99s.
• Stop Watch – Most cameras have a 15min shutter speed max – but do have a bulb setting you can use if you want longer exposure times but don’t have a shutter release cable. In bulb, you shutter will open once you press the shutter button – and will not close until you press the shutter button again. If you use BULB – you may want a stop watch to help keep track of your exposure time.
• Blanket – it’s January – and here in New England – it’s COLD in the wee hours of the morning. In addition to a nice coat/jacket – I’ll have a blanket to wrap up in and help stay toasty
• Hot Chocolate / Coffee / Tea – Did I mention it’s cold in the middle of the night?! Plus – it’s the middle of the night! And I’m bundled up toasty and warm on a lounge chair – staring at stars. Going to need something to help keep me a little awake.
• Tripod – yes – I know. I said it – tripod. Former students – it’s okay. I know I preach the power of less-is-more – but in this case – you will definitely need a tripod. You are going to also need a tri-pod which swivels so you can point you camera in the right direction. Night shots of star trails and meteor showers require LONG exposures. A rock or car roof won’t work here.
• Friend – take a friend to share the experience with you. You’ll have someone to talk to (and help keep you from getting bored while you wait for those 1 and 2 hour exposures) and you’ll have great story to tell about taking tons of photographs of stars and meteors and of course – you’ll have the great shots you take too!!

"1st 35mm Star Trail Attempt" captured by Jeremy Jackson (Click Image to See More From Jeremy Jackson)

• Camera / Lens – you can’t really take photographs if you don’t have your camera… been there – couldn’t photograph that!!
• Memory Cards – make sure you have a large memory card available and have an extra one just in case.
• Batteries – how many?? 3. Where are they? Charged set in the camera. Charged set in your pocket. Set charging in charger. Really – I can’t stress extra batteries for night photography enough. Keeping the shutter open for long periods of time sucks up TONS of battery energy. Where a battery will last you for 6 hours of event photography, you might get 2 or 3 hours of night photography.

You can follow me as I continue to experiment with star photography techniques. You can see my attempts (success and failures) in the gallery at http://www.LiteWriting.com.

Now you know what gear you need, what settings to use, and where to point your camera. It’s time to get out there and try some star photography for yourself!

About the Author
Professional photographer Loreen Liberty has been taking photographs since her early teens, and in the professional industry for the past nine year. After many successful years as a wedding and portrait photographer, Loreen decided to turn her attentions to teaching photography full time. “It gives me more time to practice my craft and be artistic for myself.” View more tips, tricks, and photography related articles by Loreen at http://www.litewriting.com.

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I am a photographer. I love the outdoors and I live in the state of Minnesota. Even if you love snow and extreme temperatures, I can assure you that, by the end of January, you will be starved for some color in nature and less bulky clothing. Living in a ‘black and white’ landscape for several months every year makes you appreciate little things. As a photographer and nature lover you develop an eye for details. Here are a few tips to help you survive a long, cold and snowy winter while photographing nature.

First and foremost, be ready for extreme temperatures and wind chills before heading out into the woods. Hand and feet warmers and layers of clothing are common sense. Thin gloves under your heavy mittens so that you don’t get frostbites when you need to make camera adjustments are a good idea. Having a large plastic bag handy to seal your camera or your entire gear bag in before going back to room temperature will prevent heavy condensation on your precious equipment.

In the middle of winter, there will be a time when you find yourself in a creative rut, when you are going to get tired of photographing ‘Winter Wonderland’ however pretty it may look. You are starting to dream about grass, dirt, spring flowers and the return of the migratory birds. I usually reach that state of mind around mid January. So what do I do? I get out there with my camera and my snowshoes and I shoot.

What do I look for when out on a nature walk in January? I pay attention to details, patterns, the slightest bit of color, animal tracks, wildlife. Why not experiment with some black and white photography or use a creative effect lens such as the Lensbaby Composer? Here are a few examples of images I shot on some of the most dreary and cold days this winter, most of them within walking distance from my house:

The color of the blue spruce really stands out in the snow.

Look for interesting shapes, here the shadow and drift look like a giant spoon

Patterns in the snow

Snow covered fox tracks

Use a shallow depth of field to isolate a detail

Deer always look so beautiful in the snow. They are almost impossible to spot in the woods any other time of the year.

Experiment with black and white

Need a little creative boost? A special effect lens such as the Lensbaby Composer can be a really fun tool to look at nature differently

I hope you enjoyed this article. If you are located in a cold state or country, spring is coming… Happy winter shooting!

Connect with Valerie on Facebook or Twitter or visit her website.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips. Check out our resources on Portrait Photography Tips, Travel Photography Tips and Understanding Digital Cameras.

How to Stay Motivated to Photograph Nature after Months in the Snow and Cold

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Or do you?

If you’re getting super technical with the term Macro Photography then the answer is yes.

However, if you just love photographing flowers, bugs, and other interesting items up close without having to adhere to the strict guidelines of phototechnicalsnobbery then the answer is not necessarily.

Level 1: Close-up Filters

Many photographers begin their ever winding journey into the world of close-up photography with a set of close-up filters.  It’s only natural really.  They have the lowest barrier to entry in price and they come in all of the standard lens sizes.

The big names are Cokin, Hoya, Tiffen, and Sunpak although there are others around as well.

Technically speaking these “filters” are not actually filters.  They are really more like small lenses that use magnifying optics to shorten your close-focusing distance allowing you to get closer to your subject thereby producing a larger image.

Often you’ll find they come in packs of 3 and are double threaded.  This allows you to layer the filters on top of each other to increase their “strength” but this practice can lead to less than tack sharp results.  Your best bet is to stick the strongest filter closest to the lens element and only stack them if needed.

Level 2: Extension Tubes

When a photographer wants to get even closer and more technical the next logical stage is the extension tube.  The extension tube is added to your existing lens providing the additional separation needed between the lens and the sensor to capture close-up photography.

The big names are Kenko, Fotodiox, Zeikos, Zykkor, and Canon plus there are a few others as well.

Like the close-up filters many of the extension tubes come in sets and can be used in conjunction with one another to amplify your results.  Again, using multiple tubes, like filters, may result in less than tack sharp images. Further, many of the tubes work with the TTL metering mechanisms built into the camera to provide full auto focusing capabilities which can aid in yielding much better results than filters.

Level 3: Macro Lenses

Now we get to the real macro lenses.  This is where the photographers who constantly find themselves looking at the world through a magnifying glass inevitably wind up.

The big names are your typical lens manufacturers like Sigma, Tamron, Nikon, and Canon plus a few other specialty lenses as well.  Note: Nikon calls their macro lenses “micro”.

Traditional lenses are made to focus more optimally at infinity rather than close-up.  Macro lenses are designed to let you focus to life-size (1:1) magnification but can also allow you to focus at infinity.  This tends to make them more expensive.

With a good macro lens you get tack sharp images edge to edge.  This is the “holy grail” of close-up photography as it tends to be a very technical niche in the photography world.

Macro lenses can range in focal lengths anywhere from 50mm up to 200mm.

The big advantage to having a longer focal length macro lens is that you don’t have to get as close to your subject.  This can help to eliminate casting shadows on your subjects and gives you room to work with.  The bonus for a lens like the 100mm macro is that it’s also serves as a great portrait lens!

Do you love shooting close-up or macro photography?  What level are you?

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