BetterPhoto Instructor Insights

Composition 101: Use The Rule of Thirds

By Peter K. Burian

The traditional way of creating a pleasing composition for a well-balanced picture, the Rule of Thirds has been used in fine arts for centuries. Photographers have adopted it as well, as an alternative to composing with the subject centered with a "bull's eye" approach. Actually a principle of visual design and not a rule per se, it recommends placing the subject, or the most important line in the scene, at one of the recommended locations within the image area.

The landscape photo illustrates a Rule of Thirds composition with the most important subject area, the person's head, placed at or near one of the points where the imaginary grid lines intersect. When a scene includes an obvious line, as in the sunset image, place that approximately along one of the imaginary grid lines. (c) 2010 Peter K. Burian

Imagine that your camera’s viewing screen (or the LCD in Live View) is etched with grid lines like a tic-tac-toe game. When composing a scene, position the most important small subject at or near one of the four points where the lines would meet. Whether the most important small subject is a distant pyramid, a red shed in a farm landscape or a bright green apple on a tree, place it at one of the intersecting points. And if there's a horizon or other line, compose so that it's positioned at or near one of the grid lines.

Note: Some digital cameras allow you to select a function that projects a grid pattern over the image but the grid is rarely designed for the Rule of Thirds. Some newer cameras do provide two or more options for the type of grid pattern and that often does include one that works well for the Rule of Thirds.

Here are some additional suggestions about applying this guideline for effective composition:

• When you want to emphasize a dramatic sky, place the horizon along the lower line in your imaginary grid. If the sky is dull, but still important to the story of the photo, place it along the higher line.

• In a wide-angle photo with a small primary (off-center) subject, there may be too much empty space in the frame around it. If all of that “negative space” is distracting, try to include another smaller or more distant object that relates to the subject, such as a colourful bush in a landscape photo.

• Sometimes, the subject will be quite large in the frame, as in a portrait of a person or an animal. In that case, place the most important small element, such as the closest eye in a portrait, at one of the intersecting points.

While I am not recommending rigid adherence to the Rule of Thirds, it is a valuable starting point for serious composition. Frankly, most experienced photographers often deviate from the recommendations for specific reasons.

Before you do so, however, it’s worth knowing and practicing the proven guideline. After it becomes second nature, begin to experiment by breaking the so-called rule. But do so knowingly and intentionally.

Finally, show only your most successful images to others and you will develop a reputation as a photographer with a “good eye”.


Editor's Notes:

- Peter Burian teaches two excellent online courses - Mastering the Digital Camera and Photography and Mastering the Canon EOS Digital Rebels - at the BetterPhoto digital photography school.

- In addition, Peter is a contributor to two books: The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography (which covers composition, design, light and color) andThe BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (publication date: April 2012). These how-to photo books are co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager.

Digital Photo Tip: Take Advantage of Raw Capture Mode

By Peter K. Burian

Although JPEG is the standard format used by cameras, there's another option that's becoming quite common. All of the interchangeable-lens cameras and the better digicams also allow for Raw capture. If your camera provides this mode, read on, because you'll want to use it for your most important photos.

How it works: In Raw capture mode, the camera records raw data from the sensor in a special format such as Nikon's NEF. Your in-camera settings for white balance, exposure compensation, contrast, sharpening and colour saturation are recorded, but they are not locked into the image data. After you download the Raw photos to a computer, all of these settings can be retained or they can be modified using the special software bundled with the camera. (Other programs, including some from Adobe, can also be used.) When the photo looks just right, convert it to a familiar format, preferably TIF.

When you're taking photos that are very important, it's worth switching from JPG to Raw capture mode. This alternative will retain the best possible image quality both in the camera and later when you must modify technical aspects with computer software. (Adobe Camera Raw screen) (c) Peter K. Burian

Hint: TIF is a better format than JPEG for use in a computer. A JPEG must be re-compressed each time you modify and close it, with an additional loss of data. However, the compression used for a TIF is "lossless". There's no detectable loss of quality caused by the process.

The Primary Benefits: A Raw photo provides the absolutely best quality a camera can produce. When you shoot a JPEG, data is lost when it's saved to the memory card. That's because the compression process discards pixels in order to save the photo in a small JPEG file. Later, when you open the JPEG in a computer, your software ADDS pixels to rebuild the file so it’s returned to the full size. Problem is, the process is not perfect. There will always be some loss of image quality although it won't be serious if you used the Fine JPEG option.

While a Raw file may also be compressed, that process is "lossless": the change in image quality will be virtually undetectable. But there's another reason for shooting in the Raw vs. JPEG format. A Raw file offers much greater latitude for correction of many aspects. In other words, many changes can be made in the converter software without damaging the photo; (this is called a non-destructive process). The ability to change many aspects of a photo can be useful for correcting technical problems.

Let’s say you were shooting under sodium-vapor lighting with Auto White Balance, and your images all exhibit a strange colour cast. Or perhaps you were shooting a light-toned scene (such as a snowy landscape) and many of your images are underexposed. Or you might have set the colour saturation level to High in-camera, and skin tones are much too ruddy. That's not a problem if you were shooting in Raw mode since all those aspects (and many others) can be modified in the converter software. While intense changes will still cause some damage to the pixels, more typical modifications will produce minimal problems.

Of course, photos that were made in JPEG capture can also be corrected or enhanced with common image-editing programs. When the changes that you must make are small, and few, the damage to the pixels may not be noticeable unless you make a very large print. However, it can be impossible to properly correct major problems without seriously degrading JPEG image quality. This applies even if you convert your JPEGs to TIF before working on them in software. No conventional image format is as resilient as Raw.

The Drawbacks: In spite of the benefits, it's unlikely that you'll use Raw capture for every shot. The files are larger than JPEGs and that can slow the recording time, a problem in action photography, for example. They can also quickly fill up your memory card and they will consume a lot more space in your computer. Finally, you’ll need to spend extra time at a computer, enhancing the raw data and converting the files to TIF. When you return from a trip with hundreds, or thousands of photos, that can be extremely time-consuming.

The Bottom Line: Unless you're a fanatic about the quality of every shot, you'll probably shoot Large/Fine JPEGs most of the time. Use in-camera overrides such as exposure compensation and the white balance options to minimize technical problems. This approach will provide very good image quality in-camera and you won't need to make many damaging changes to your photos with software. But when you absolutely must be sure of getting a perfect image, switch to Raw capture mode and take advantage of its significant benefits. Use it particularly for important events, or once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunities and you’ll have extra peace of mind.


NOTES:

- Peter Burian teaches two terrific courses - Mastering the Digital Camera and Photography and Mastering the Canon EOS Digital Rebels - at BetterPhoto's online digital photography school.

- Also, Peter is a contributor to two new books: The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography (just published) andThe BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012). Both of these how-to photography books are co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager.

Creative Composition: Close-Ups and Autofocus

By Rob Sheppard

(c) Rob Sheppard

I love close-ups. They truly bring you into a different world that we normally don't see. And I am not talking about super close work, either. Any time we get in close to a natural subject, we are looking more deeply at the world around us in a way we usually don't do. In a way, the act of close-up photography gets us to pause and observe details that we might otherwise pass on by.

One challenge that comes from close photography is the focus point. When you are close, depth of field is very narrow, no matter what f-stop you use, so the actual point of focus becomes very, very important. This is even more critical when you play with extremely shallow depth of field as I often like to do.

(c) Rob Sheppard

Autofocus can be really challenging when you are up close. I will usually shoot manual focus when I am doing any close-up work with any lens. The challenge the camera has is that depth of field is always very limited (and gets less and less the closer you get). Yet there are many points where the camera can focus and it will "choose" its focus point rather arbitrarily - often visually the wrong point for the subject and the composition.

My preference is this:

1. Change the camera/lens to manual focus

2. Roughly focus on the subject to get a basic distance

3. Then without changing the lens' focus, move the camera toward and away from the subject until the right point is in focus

4. Take the picture

5. You can be careful as you do this so you do not have camera movement during exposure that will make the image soft.

When you manually change focus of the lens up close instead of doing what I just described, you can find it harder to focus partly because of a curious thing that happens when you are close. The size of the subject in your camera's view changes because magnification changes with focus distance. That slight change in size of subject can make it harder to see the focus change on the subject itself.

Both of these close-ups are from the redwoods. The first is in the Dicentra or bleeding heart genus and is often called squirrel corn when it is so white. The second is a redwoods sorel flower.


Notes:

• Outdoor Photographer editor at large and author Rob Sheppard teaches many excellent online photo courses at BetterPhoto, including Creating Storytelling Photos, The Magic of F-stops: Choosing the Right Aperture and Composition Boot Camp.

• Rob is also a contributor to the new book (co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager): The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (publication date: April 2012)

Creative Photo Technique: Zoom During Exposure

By Deborah Sandidge

An easy way to create an artistic look with your photography is to use in-camera effects such as zooming the lens during exposure. No Photoshop needed!

(c) Deborah Sandidge

For this technique, the lens is zoomed in or out during exposure to suggest motion. To keep things sharp, yet blurred at the same time, I mounted the camera on a tripod and experimented with zooming until I found just the effect that worked for the starfish. It may take quite a few tries to nail the shot as this isn't an exact science, however it's fun to do!

Zoom-blur tips:

• Experiment with your lens to get the hang of zooming, and you don't need to zoom the entire focal length of the lens to get a great effect.

• Zooming during exposure is great for overcast days, and you can use a neutral-density filter to slow down the exposure even more.
• Use a small aperture and experiment with shutter speed, giving yourself time to zoom smoothly.

• Try this at night too - with city lights, or colorful lights from a fair or circus.

Have fun shooting! ~ Deb


Notes:

• Deborah Sandidge teaches two excellent online photography courses at BetterPhoto: Photoshop: Enhancing Images and Creating Works of Art and Digital Infrared Photography

• Deb is also a top contributor to the new book by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager: The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (publication date: April 2012)

• In addition, zoom blur is one of the in-camera artistic techniques covered in the "Photographing Motion" chapter of the just-published book The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography.

Creative Photo Composition: Patience Is a Virtue

By Kerry Drager

Many aspiring photographers - and not just beginners, either - work far too quickly. They get their picture and are eager to dash to the next spot. One photo? Really!?! After only a single shot, you haven’t even gotten started! Whenever possible, take the thoughtful, more deliberate approach by dropping the ready-aim-fire attitude.

Certainly, not every scene or subject can involve a leisurely approach - such as candids, action, or fast-changing light. Or you may be heading for an appointment, for example, and there’s only time to shoot one image. But when the light’s right, the scene’s inviting, and there’s no need to rush it, slow down and make the most of a photogenic setting.

An example is my accompanying series (below) from a recent trip to Capitola, California's colorful seaside town. I started with an early-morning big view that shows buildings, beach, and reflections. Next, I went for a tight shot by zooming in on just the colors and patterns. For the third image, I changed my camera position to catch the close-up scene.

Here’s a quick tip: Once you begin using a tripod for every stationary subject, your photography will start to improve immediately. Yes, immediately. Using the accessory that photographers love to hate forces you to slow down, analyze your scene, and then carefully design your photo so that you can get it exactly the way you want it.

(Note: Jim Miotke and I cover these and many other concepts in our new book: The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography.)

1/8 sec. @ f/22; ISO 200; 70-300mm @ 145mm; tripod (c) Kerry Drager

1/125 sec. @ f/13; ISO 200; 70-300mm @ 280mm; tripod (c) Kerry Drager

1/2 sec. @ f/22; ISO 200; 70-300mm @ 230mm; tripod (c) Kerry Drager

Photographing at Twilight: Why and How

By Deborah Sandidge

Shooting at twilight allows the photographer to create beautiful story-telling imagery. The drama of the night sky can make a big difference in how the image is represented. Scout out locations ahead of time, and make a few test shots to figure out the best composition and a few variables. The photograph is your story, a visual narration of what you experience, your interpretation of the scene.

(c) Deborah Sandidge

You can see from the test shot below, how much more impact you can create by photographing during more flattering light conditions. The lights on the bridge create starbursts, and the city lights and night sky are reflected in the water. This automatically creates a much more glamorous look compared to the image below.

What's great is that you really don't need anything additional to add to your photo arsenal to accomplish twilight photography. You probably already have a tripod and cable release, or you can use the self timer feature on your camera.

What you might want to do is experiment with white balance. If you have Live View enabled, a feature on many cameras, you can scroll through the various white balance settings to find the most complementary setting. Don't worry about the "correct" white balance, use the one most complementary to the scene. I find 4000K a good place to start. If you are shooting in Raw format, you can tweak this after the fact, which is most helpful if you change your mind!

Since you are set up on a tripod, use the lowest ISO, and use an aperture to create the most depth of field, or to quote fellow BetterPhoto.com instructor Tony Sweet, depth of feeling. You can shoot during twilight almost anywhere, cityscape, landscape, before dawn or after sunset. Twilight can make the ordinary look magical...

Make great pictures! ~ Deb

NOTES:

Like these ideas? Then join Deb Sandidge for her online photography workshops: Photoshop - Enhancing Digital Images and Creating Works of Art and Digital Infrared Photography.

Also, Deb is a top contributor to one of the upcoming BetterPhoto Guide books (co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager): The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012 and published by Amphoto Books).

A Strong Case for Using a Tripod

By Lynne Eodice

We all know that using a tripod will give us sharper photos, but many of us use one sparingly, such as when we shoot after dark. Although they can be cumbersome, there is a good case for using a tripod all of the time – and that’s because you will be free to use nearly any exposure combination!

If you’re hand-holding a camera in low light, you’re restricted to using very high ISO settings, for example, and risk getting more digital noise in your photographs. A tripod will enable you to use lower ISO settings in low light, and you will be able to use a longer exposure time and smaller apertures for greater depth of field, if you choose to. And when you want to photograph subjects like fireworks, city scenes after dark, traffic streaks or silky water effects, you can’t get long enough exposures without a tripod.

(c) Lynne Eodice

Yes, image-stabilizing (or vibration-reduction) lenses have been a big boon for image sharpness. However, you’ll get the best results – and greater exposure choices – by using a tripod on a regular basis.


Editor's Notes:

Check out Lynne Eodice's excellent courses at BetterPhoto's online digital photography school:

• Learning to Shoot Inspiring Images
• Pro Tips for Great Exposure

How to Get Great Ski and Snowboard Photos

By Peter K. Burian

We have all admired the spectacular magazine images of skiers and snowboarders in multi-coloured outfits, caught in mid-air against a sky of azure blue. While those shots were taken by pro photographers, with professional athletes, you can also get dramatic shots of your family in action on the slopes. You'll need to take the lift to get up the hill yourself, of course, and if you're ready to do that, consider the following tips.

For the best photos, use a telephoto lens and a fast shutter speed, find an ideal background, and take lots of shots. Be sure to shoot from a safe position; check with the Ski Patrol in advance. (c) Peter K. Burian

Use a long lens. Ideally, you'll want to take photos with a digital SLR with a 70-300mm telephoto lens or using a super zoom camera with 14x or longer lens. (Carry it in a hip pack or small backpack.) While it's possible to take frame-filling photos with a shorter lens, you'll be a lot safer if you shoot from a greater distance. And a telephoto will include less of the surroundings, such as various distracting elements.

Set Sports mode. Novice photographers will find this Scene mode to be useful since it will usually make suitable settings. These include a fast shutter speed to freeze the action, continuous drive for shooting a series of photos in a burst, and continuous autofocus. If you're more experienced, set ISO 400, Shutter Priority mode and 1/1000 sec. to stop the action, AF-C and wide-area autofocus, the continuous drive mode and +2/3 exposure compensation. Add a polarizing filter to enrich a blue sky.

Find a suitable location. Be sure to shoot from a position of safety where you will not create a hazard. Ideally, you'll want lots of snow and a blue sky or a background of trees. Bright colours will really pop, while your subjects, and the flying snow trailing them, will be clearly delineated against either type of background. Take care not to include signs, the lifts or the snow-making equipment.

Get the jumps. Club competitions are a great time to get action shots. If your subjects are jumping, get down low and capture some dynamic action shots, framing them in the air, against the sky, especially if it's blue.

Set focus in advance. While Continuous autofocus should be able to track a subject moving toward you, the situation (or your equipment) may call for pre-focusing. If the skier or boarder will suddenly appear from over the crest of a hill, set focus for a likely spot and wait. Start shooting a series the instant the subject reaches that point.

Snow can provide a spectacular background for a variety of outdoor sports and activities, besides offering stunning nature and landscape opportunities. So while others stow their camera equipment until April, why not get out there with your camera and take advantage of the many opportunities?


Notes from the Editor:

• Peter Burian teaches two terrific courses - Mastering the Digital Camera and Photography and Mastering the Canon EOS Digital Rebels - at BetterPhoto's online digital photography school.

• Also, Peter is a contributor to two new books: The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography (just published) andThe BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012). Both of these how-to photography books are co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager.

Happy New Year!

By Kerry Drager

Best wishes for an outstanding 2012!!

Snowman at Dawn - (c) Kerry Drager

This 7-foot-tall "snowman" was created by a country artist/shopkeeper near my California home. My wife Mary bought it as an awesome Christmas gift for me. As shown here, it now livens up our little ranchette!

• A small aperture (f/16) helped turn the lights into small sunstars.

• I shot the scene from a low camera angle (kneeling on one knee) in order to place the head and hat directly against the dawn sky.

• Along with a tripod, I used a cable shutter release (the camera's self-timer also works) and mirror lockup (but not all DLSRs have this feature) to prevent possible camera vibration when clicking the shutter during the long exposure.

• A sunlight/daylight White Balance setting captured the dawn colors just as I saw them.

• Photo data: f/16 @ 5 seconds, ISO 400; 50mm lens.

Like these ideas? Check out BetterPhoto's online digital photography school, and also the new books co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager: The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography (just published) and The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012).

Improve Your Computer Monitor's Accuracy

By Peter K. Burian

One of the most frustrating aspects of digital imaging is getting prints that do not resemble the beautiful images that we see on a computer monitor. Are your own prints as impressive as the images you saw in the electronic display? Or do they exhibit an undesirable color cast or unsatisfactory brightness?

Problems such as these are common when making prints after modifying images using a computer if the monitor does not produce a true display of an image's actual color and brightness/contrast. In order to achieve a high level of satisfaction with any print, you must be confident that your monitor accurately reflects the characteristics of a digital image: the correct brightness, contrast and color rendition. That's easy to achieve with color management. While there can be more to that, monitor calibration is the primary component.

The concept of color management can be complicated and multi-faceted, but the most important aspect, monitor calibration, is straightforward. After installing the software that came with the kit, and attaching the sensor to the monitor, follow the on-screen instructions. Photo Courtesy of Daymen

Hardware and Software: In order to ensure that images are displayed with maximum accuracy, buy a monitor calibration kit such as a Datacolor Spyder3. The affordable Express works well (about $100) but serious photographers might want the Spyder3 Elite (about $250). Especially with Express, the calibration process is straightforward and should take less than 10 minutes.

Settings: If you're using a Windows Operating System, disable the computer's Adobe Gamma feature before calibration. Right click on Start > Open All Users > Programs > Start Up and if Adobe Gamma is listed, delete it. This will not actually delete that software but will prevent it from interfering with the more sophisticated calibration software. If given the option to set a desired Gamma and White Point, I recommend setting 2.2 and 6500K, respectively.

The calibration software will create a profile for your monitor and adjust the display so it provides greater accuracy re: brightness, contrast and color rendition. As you start working with a fully reliable monitor, you should find that the display produces substantially greater accuracy. When you make a print, it should closely match the appearance of the image on your monitor display in color rendition and in tonal values. That should certainly minimize frustration, reducing the need to make a lot of test prints that can waste time, ink and paper.


NOTES:

- Peter Burian teaches Mastering the Digital Camera and Photography and Mastering the Canon EOS Digital Rebels at BetterPhoto's online digital photography school.

- Also, Peter is a contributor to the just-published The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography and the upcoming The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012). Both of these how-to photography books are co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager.