Wedding Photography Tips

Below are some of the tips to get the Best digital photography for your wedding.

1. Choose the right background. 

Photos can really look great once they are shot with the perfect background. You can use the decorations in the church and in the reception areas as a back draft for your photos. Be sure to fix some scattered decorations so that they will appear simply perfect on photos.

Always remind the photographer to check if the view is good when taking pictures. It does not mean that you have to stand on the same corner or place. The Best photographer is able to make even the simplest of background look great on photo if it is taken in the right angle.

2.  Look out for any kinds of glass. 

Glasses tend to cause reflections in photos. May it be an eyeglass, window or wine glasses.  One way or another, they will cause a reflection or brightness to reflect back on the camera it is included in the picture.

To avoid this, the position of the camera can be altered so that it will not directly hit the glass. The photo can be taken sideways or downwards but never on eye level.

3. The perfect timing.

Persons being photographed should not always be looking at the camera. And they do not have to be smiling at the lens too.

One way of doing it is to wait for the right moment so that you can have a candid shot at them. You will see that catching persons on film when they are in their candid state is much better than having them wearing a fixed expression. Candid moments make photos look real and natural.

4. Review each photo.

To maximize the memory that your digital camera has, it is Best to review every shot taken. There might be duplicates that can be removed so that you can free more space for a different shot.

You will probably want the Better and the maximum number of digital wedding photography shots so you need to make the most of the capacity of the digital camera.

The Best wedding photography is made even better now with digital cameras. This is one thing that you definitely should have on your special day.

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6 Keys to Creative Best Composition

The difference between a good photographer and a great photographer is creative composition. Knowing the what, where and how of composition will put you ahead of your peers and help you create a dynamic image every time. The best images are never taken by accident. They are carefully composed before the shutter button is pressed. By carefully selecting and positioning your subject matter in a composition you will be able to create a successful image every time. Here’s how.


1. Visualise your image
Know what you want in your image before taking it. Composition is not luck or chance. You don’t shoot a great photo by chance. By considering what you want in your image and placing it according to the rules you’ll be able to repeat great images all the time.


2. Choose the right subject matter
When visualising a scene there are always several possibilities for a subject and related elements in the photos. By choosing the right subject for a particular image you will create the perfect image. The right subject for the right scene will create the right photo.


3. Choose the right focal point
It is essential when choosing a subject to place it on a focal point that will create interest in the image. This is the area that draws the eye of the viewer into the photograph. This focuses the eye on the part of the photo you want to emphasise. There may be several possibilities but choosing the right one will create the best possible image.


4. Choosing the best format
Most photos are shot in landscape or horizontal format but try turning the camera to see a portrait format could work better. In between the two is a 45 degree angle which makes an image dynamic with the diagonal lines created by the tilted view.


5. Watch the background
A busy background can be distracting and detract the eye from a perfect subject and overall composition. Use a shallow depth of field to blur out a busy background. Plain backgrounds always work well in an image so look for the best background before creating the composition


6. Lines that lead the eye within image
Although you have a great subject and overall good composition placed on a good focal point you still need something more. That is lines, vertical, horizontal, diagonal and converging. If you can place your subject on a focal point at the end of a line such as a shape or a curve it will lead the eye to that focal point of interest. By directing the eye within an image you will create a much more dynamic photo.


Composition is king when creating photos and a successful overall composition will result in a stunning photograph which is what we all want achieve. By putting just these six steps into practise regularly will help you see a dramatic improvement in the resulting photos. Happy shooting!

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News - Nikon Launch Mini-site For GP-1

Like most Nikon gear this unit is built well and works great. Check out more detail in the site below.

Go To Nikon GP-1 Mini-site

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Using Aperture and Shutter Speed Together

In order to have complete control over your photography you need to understand how to effectively use shutter speed and aperture together. Because the one impacts the other you need know when to use aperture priority, the Av setting, and shutter priority which is the Tv setting on you camera. How it’s done is very simple and will help you improve your photos dramatically.
There are basically three questions here that need to be answered:

1. When do I use aperture priority (Av)
In order to use aperture priority mode you need to change the f-stops or f numbers on your camera. Check out your manual to find out where this is. What aperture priority does is allow you to manually change the f-stops. By setting it to Av it allows you to choose the f-stop and then the camera will automatically set the right shutter speed. You tell it how much light you want to let in and the camera sets the length of time the light will be allowed to reach the sensor, which is the shutter speed. So when do I use this feature in my photography? If you’ve seen those beautiful portraits of someone with the background all blurry then you’ve seen the effective use of the aperture. This is called depth field or depth of focus. The amount of focus in front of the subject and behind it. This is what you see in the portrait image, a shallow depth of field. It’s controlled by using a small f-stop, e.g. f2.8. The opposite happens for a landscape photo which is in focus from the foreground all the way to the background, a wide depth of field. Here you would use a large f-stop of say f22 right up to f32.

2. When do I use shutter speed priority (TV)?
Using shutter priority is even easier. Setting the camera to Tv allows you to control the shutter speed while the camera automatically sets the correct aperture. You want to control the length of time the shutter remains open and then camera will set the correct amount of light that reaches the sensor. Too much light will overexpose and give a very bright white image and too little light will underexpose and give a dark image. The shutter speed is measured in seconds and fractions of a second. Mostly you’ll use the fractions such as 1/60th or 1/250th and so on. Shutter speed is used to freeze or blur action like a motor car at speed when you would use a shorter time such as 1/250th or higher. Blurring action would require a shutter speed of 1/60th or slower such 1/15th.

3. How does aperture (Av) affect shutter speed (Tv) and vice versa?
What you need to know is that aperture and shutter speed are siamese twins. What you do to the one affects the other. This is quite simple. When you set a fast shutter speed of say 1/100th of a second, you need sufficient light to create a clear image, not too light and not too dark. Let’s say under the lighting conditions the camera chooses f5.6. Now, if you want to take a shot of a speeding car you would need to increase the shutter speed 1/250th so that the photo isn’t blurred. Now you have halved the amount of time the shutter stays open. This will cause the picture to be underexposed or too dark. So you have to change the aperture by opening it by one f-stop to f4. Moving up through the f-stops halves the amount of light allowed through and therefore moving down doubles it. There is another setting on your camera called manual (M) which allows you complete control of both aperture and shutter speed but this needs a lot more understanding which I will explain in another article.

To summarise, if you want to change the depth of field you would use aperture priority and change the f-stops. If you want to blur or freeze action you would use the shutter priority. And remember, when you change the one the camera will always change other.
This is why using these two settings is so great. You can choose which one to use for the type of photo you want to shoot and the camera will automatically set the other to the correct setting. Now cameras will not always make a perfect choice for several reasons but most of the time it will be the right one. The key to using these modes is experimentation and practise. So take your time to practise and you will soon learn how to effectively use these two settings.

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6 Steps To Better Control Shutter Speed

Most new digital photography beginners use their cameras on automatic. Is it because they don’t know any better or just easier keeping it on automatic? Maybe it’s a combination of both. But, effective use of shutter speed can dramatically improve your images. Here’s how.


Sometimes it’s too scary to take the setting off automatic and switch it to the Tv setting. Tv is the shutter speed setting and stands for time value as opposed to the other setter, Av which stands for aperture value. The problem most of us have when starting out is that if we change from automatic we’ll miss or mess up important photos that cannot be recaptured. There is any easy answer to this. Practise. Don’t try using the setting unless you are prepared to take the time to practise.
So what is shutter speed? It’s a simple answer. It’s the amount of time the shutter remains open when pressing the shutter button.


1. Shutter speed is measured in seconds
This is true but most of the time we are shooting in fractions of seconds e.g. 1/250th, 1/100th or even as low as 1/30th of a second. The bigger the number the shorter the time it is open. 1/1000th is open less than 1/60th of a second.


2. Slow shutter speeds need a tripod
If you are shooting anything lower than 1/60th of a second you will probably need a tripod or some support like leaning against a wall or post. A bean bag on top of something is a good alternative to a tripod.


3. Using your lens as a guide
What I mean by this is that if you are using a 100mm lens or the 100mm end of a zoom lens, use this as a guide to the minimum shutter speed i.e. 1/100th of a second would be you slowest speed you could use when shooting with a 100mm lens.


4. Freezing movement
In order to freeze movement in your images you need to use a fast shutter speed such as 1/250th, 1/500th or even 1/1000th of a second. The speed you decide on will be determined by the speed of the action. An athlete would be slower than, say a motorcycle racer.


5. Blurring an image
Sometimes you will want to intentionally blur an image to create the effect of speed. This is opposite to freezing movement so you’ll need to use a shutter speed of below 1/60th of a second. This basically allows the subject to travel across your image while the shutter is open. Faster subjects will create more blur. The key here is to experiment with the subject you want to capture.


6. Shooting in low light
When shooting in low light or taking shots of lighted buildings you need to reduce your shutter quite significantly. Most times you will be shooting in full seconds and need to use the B or bulb setting which allows you to keep the shutter open until you release it.
Remember that you cannot alter shutter speed in isolation to other settings such as aperture and ISO. The great thing about the TV setting is that when you alter the shutter speed, the camera automatically sets the correct aperture for you. In most cases this works but you need to realise that when the light is low and you are using a faster speed, you might not have a big enough aperture setting to let in sufficient light. You may need to compromise on your shutter speed and use a slower setting to capture the shot.


So there are limitations but practise will allow you to learn what works and what doesn’t. Experiment as much as possible to gain the experience to use your shutter speed setting at an important event. Effective use of shutter speed will dramatically improve you photography. Happy shooting.

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Learn How to Set Aperture Effectively

There are 2 settings in photo that could scare a beginner photographer or appear too complicated to even try to comprehend. They are Shutter speed and Aperture. 

Knowing how to use the aperture setting on your camera will help transform your photos and increase your skills. Although it may at first appear to be very technical it isn’t, and, by taking just a little time you’ll master it quickly.

So what is aperture? It’s the size of the opening in a lens. 

Your second question may be, “What does it do?” It regulates the amount of light entering the lens and reaching the camera’s sensor. Let’s make it more simple. Imagine a tap with water flowing into a bucket. Open the tap a little and a small amount of water comes out and then open it all the way and a lot comes out. This is the same with aperture. Open it a little a small amount of light reaches the sensor. 

Are you getting the picture? Pardon the pun. I must add a note about shutter speed here. The shutter speed would be the length of time you leave the tap open for.

This is where the magic begins to happen. With your newfound ability to control the light the world is your oyster. 

Let’s jump ahead and let me explain a few things.

Aperture is measured in f-stops represented by f-numbers. The usual range extends from f-2.8 all the way through to f-22. Moving up through the f-stops halves the amount of light allowed through and therefore moving down doubles it. Now there is something you should be aware of. A small number does not mean a small aperture, quite the opposite. The smallest aperture f-number has the largest aperture while the largest number represents the smallest aperture.

Now, what is this all about? How does knowing all about aperture help my photography. It’s very simple and is called ‘depth of field’ or to make it even simpler ‘depth of focus’. Depth of field is the part of the image that is in focus or out of focus. Have you ever seen a portrait of a person where the face is in focus but the background is blurred? That’s a shallow or narrow depth of field. It’s the opposite with a landscape photo which has a wide depth of field. It’s in focus from the foreground all the way back to the background.

Knowing how to use your aperture gives your complete control over your photographs and you are now able to choose how your photo will look. There are some creative settings that you can use on your camera that will bring you close to this control. But, being able to take full control will help you take great photos.

Ah! I nearly forgot. Which f-stops control a narrow depth of field and which control a wide depth of field? An f-stop of f22 will give a very wide depth of field while f2.8 will give a very shallow depth of field. Photographers who shoot a lot of macro photography will concentrate on wide open apertures of 2.8 or less, blurring the background and focusing on the subject. Landscape photographers will use f-22 and smaller apertures all the way up to f32 to get as much of the landscape in focus.

Compact cameras tend to have apertures that are very wide such as f2 or f2.8. This is wonderful for macro or portraits, but, on the other hand they don’t have very small apertures. Usually they only go to about f8 or f11. With digital SLRs it’s completely different because it’s the lens that determines the aperture. Here you’ll find the more affordable lenses only open up to f4 or f5.6. Lenses that go to f2.8 or bigger are a lot more expensive or with some, very expensive. But on the other hand many affordable lenses close all the way down to f32 giving a wide depth of field.

Getting an understanding of aperture does take a little time and effort. But, the best way to get your head around understanding aperture is to experiment. Go out and find a subject and focus on a part of it while setting your aperture to f2.8. Then change it to your largest f-stop and shoot it again. You’ll see just how aperture works. Practise makes perfect as the old adage goes. So, keep on practising. 

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