Travel Photography by Peter Gutman

® Peter Guttman

Your FOCUS determines the exclamation point As I encountered these two schoolgirls enroute to their Islamic school in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia, I wanted to portray them in a visually engaging manner.  When two objects at differing distances are competing for attention, use selective focusing to make an effective statement. Focusing on the girl in the foreground, rather than the girl in the back, will more pleasingly replicate human vision.  By deliberately blurring her friend in the background, I hoped to create a startling accentuation of the egg-like shape of these faces as they appear in their Muslim garb. A telephoto lens maximizes the graphic strength of the image.. With a wide-angle lens, both girls would be in sharp focus and the image would lose its striking appearance. ® Peter Guttman Focus on the eyes: They are the most important feature of a face, "the window to the soul." In this image of Irian Jaya's Asmat warriors, you can glimpse the intensity in the fighter's eyes and the serious character of his face. The startling white facial adornments are carved cassowary bones that have been shoved through the septum of his nose, creating a fearsome spectacle for his rain forest enemies.  These adornments and the blurred war clubs help give additional clues to the fierce nature of their world.  A 200-millimeter lens was used to achieve a three dimensional effect. ® Peter Guttman

Create PERSPECTIVES that catch the eye By locating a rare high-rise promontory on Holland’s pancake-flat polders, the striking precision

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6 Baby Photography Tips for Beginners

Follow these simple steps to be well on your way to amazing results in your baby photography!

Baby photography is one of the most rewarding ways to capture memories of little ones. They are only small once, and there is something incredible about the innocence of this stage. Here are some tips from expert baby photographer Carrie Sandoval you should be sure to follow as you get started photographing these miracles.

 

1: Tone Down the Props

While you will probably want to use some props when you take photos of babies you'll want to make sure you're not overwhelming them. It's great if a prop compliments the shot, but if you find that the baby isn't the first place your eyes land when looking at the photo it is probably too cluttered. Babies are cute enough on their own without needing much extra decoration.

2: Don't Forget About the Best Parts!

While it's always cute to get full pictures of babies you shouldn't forget about the rest of them. It can be great to take macro shots of little feet and toes. These close up shots are not taken as often so they can make a big impact. Plus, baby's little hands and feet are just so adorable.

3: Get a Good Lens

You'll want a fast, sharp lens for taking shots of babies. A 50mm 1.4 is an excellent option as it is a prime lens. It's great for taking close up head and shoulder photos during use with a fill-frame camera.

4: Use the Right Settings

As a beginner it is generally easiest to get started in aperture priority. In this setting you'll basically choose your aperture and the camera will automatically select a shutter speed.

It's also a good idea to keep the shutter above 1/250. This is a great setting to make sure you get sharp pictures.  Of course, you'll need to decide what's best with the camera you are working with based on the settings described in your users’ manual.

Once you have worked with your camera for a while you can switch off the automatic shutter speed and change the settings manually. This will give you the best control over your light and you can experiment with what works well for you. You'll generally have better results when you shoot manually, but you do need to understand your camera before moving to this stage.

5: Practice Makes Perfect

It's great if you want to move into professional baby photography, but you can really do well practicing on your own children first. That will help give you the confidence you need to adjust your camera settings according the light source, subject, theme and /or various other elements that go into making a great photograph.

6: Photograph the Babies as Early as Possible

Babies are beautiful at any age, but getting newborn shots are often the most rewarding. It's a unique stage and the shots that can come from this age are just lovely. An added bonus is that newborns love to sleep so you'll have a much easier time posing the babies and getting the shots you want to get.

Babies are a miracle and baby photography can be very rewarding. This is especially true when you put these tips into action and come out with beautiful shots of these tiny little people.

Source : http://sevenphotographyquest.hubpages.com

 

 

 

 

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Beautiful Black & White Photography

Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts. Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray. Further, many prints, especially those produced earlier in the development of photography, were in sepia (mainly to provide archival stability), which gave a richer, more subtle shading than reproductions in plain black-and-white, although less so than color.

By : Toni Frissell

By : Bambud

By : Aneta Kowalczyk (http://www.anetakowalczyk.com/galleries.html)

By : Pedro Meyer (http://seen.by.spiegel.de/pedro-meyer/ipanema)

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Landscape Photography Tips

By Robert Caputo, August 2007

From Photography Field Guide: Landscapes and Ultimate Photography Field Guide: Landscapes

We've all had the experience: Driving through a beautiful landscape, you stop at every scenic overlook to make photographs sure to capture the grandeur of what you see.
You get home, look at the pictures, and find them flat and boring. All the elements that enthralled you at the time are there, but not the feeling. Why?

When we look at a landscape, our eyes travel over it and selectively focus on the elements that we find appealing. Our field of vision encompasses a great deal of the scene, but our eyes and brains have the ability to ignore all except the most alluring details. Lenses and sensors or film cannot do this by themselves. They need help.
Time is the most important investment you can make in getting good landscape pictures. When you arrive in a place you've never visited before, spend time scouting—driving or hiking to different locations, finding different vantage points. Carry a compass to figure out where the sun will rise and set, and imagine how the place would look in different kinds of light. This can take some practice because you also have to look at where the light will not be falling. Photographing a canyon, for example, you might see that the west wall will be beautifully lit in the early morning, if the canyon is deep, however, the east wall will be in such complete shadow that your camera will be capable of rendering it only as a great black blob. Unless this is the effect you want, you'll either have to modify your composition, shoot it later in the day, or plan to return on an overcast day when both sides will be photographable.
LANDSCAPE SUBJECTS
Flowing Water
If a river or stream flows through the landscape you are shooting, think about the character of it and how to convey that character in the image. A big, slow river looks and feels different from a fast-moving mountain stream. The water can be the center of interest in the image, or it can serve as an element in your composition—as a diagonal or other leading line, as a horizontal line, or as a shape that complements other elements in the frame.
Look carefully for reflections in the water. You can use some reflections to enhance the image—the colors of reflected autumn leaves, for instance—but others may just be distracting. You may have to move around a bit to include or eliminate them, or return when the sun is at a different angle. Use a polarizing filter to eliminate some of the reflection and increase contrast; rotate it until you have the effect you want.
Forests
Photographing forests presents a different set of challenges. First, think about the character of the forest you want to shoot and the feeling you want to convey in your image. Should it feel dark and brooding, or light and airy? Are there any special features that will help express how you feel about it?
As with any photograph, find a point of interest. It might be one slightly different tree trunk, a path winding through, or a splash of color on a flowering vine. Whatever it is, compose in such a way to lead the viewer to it. Look for shafts of light penetrating the canopy or one spot on the forest floor directly lit by the sun.
Whether you are shooting toward a forest or shooting from inside it, look for patterns, lines, and other compositional elements you can use. Try both wide and telephoto lenses. A wide lens looking up at the trees will make them soar; a telephoto will compress a row of trunks. Lie down and look straight up through the branches; climb a tree to look down the path.
Plains and Prairies
Wide-open spaces such as plains and prairies are among the hardest landscapes of all to photograph well because often they lack an obvious point of interest. In most cases, the huge scope of the scene is one of the things you're trying to communicate. Even so, remember that viewers need something on which to focus. Look for an element peculiar to that place and use it as a point of interest that says something about the scene and imparts a sense of scale. You don't want the viewer's eyes to wander aimlessly around the frame, so use whatever might be available to lead him into the image—a winding road, a stream, or a fence line, for example.
Like every forest, every plain has its own personality, so hunt around until you have found an angle and composition that reflect it. What is the most important feature of this particular place? Think about the sky. Do you want a lot or a little of it? A clear blue sky might best reflect the character of one plain, a brewing storm another. Remember the rule of thirds. If the sky is important, place the horizon along the bottom third division of the frame. If it is not, put it along the upper third.
Deserts
Look for ways to show the rugged nature and the beauty of deserts. In the middle of the day, find waves caused by the heat. Using a long lens to compress them, you'll get dramatic shots that really say "hot." Deserts are also great places for pictures of stars. There is no humidity, and usually no terrestrial lights to interfere, so stars seem more numerous and are unusually brilliant. Watch the way the color of the sand changes throughout the day with the angle of the sun. Think about ways to capture the characteristics of the desert. A wide shot might best portray one desert, while a close-up of one plant struggling to survive on the side of a dune might best represent another.
Think about including the sun in your photograph—it's one sure way to say hot and harsh. But shooting the sun is tricky. On a clear day, the sun is so bright that your camera's meter will tend to underexpose everything else in the frame. Shoot in manual mode, or take a reading without the sun in frame, depressing the shutter button halfway to hold the exposure, then reframe before you shoot. If you're shooting film, bracket a lot to make sure of getting the exposure you want. With a digital camera, check the images as you shoot. Wide-angle lenses tend to work best because the blown-out sun takes up less of the image, but they are susceptible to lens flare. The advantage of SLRs is that you can see the flare when you frame the image.
Seacoasts
Consider these different scenes: a tranquil tropic isle with turquoise water lapping at a white, sandy beach; storm waves pounding a rocky New England shore; a densely packed vacation beach. What kind of shore are you photographing, and how can you best convey it? What time of day, what kind of weather, and what season is most appropriate for showing its character? These are the kinds of questions to ask yourself while scouting for the right vantage point and composition before shooting. Every shoreline is different in some way. Show the difference in your images.
Once you have thought about the character of the shore, look for elements you can use to reinforce the feeling you're after. Palm trees make a good frame for a tropical beach; a spray of water shooting over rocks adds drama to a rugged coastal scene. As in the desert, be careful about sand. If it's windy, be sure to protect your camera and lenses from blowing sand. Don't open the camera back unless you are in an area that is well sheltered.
Mountains
Are the mountains you're shooting rugged or worn, threatening or enchanting? What feeling do you get from them? Look for elements that will reinforce your feeling and convey it to the viewer. What composition, angle, light, and weather seem most appropriate? Look for the telling details that reflect the spirit of the mountains, too.

  

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5 Tips for a Wedding Photographer Blog

Starting a wedding photographer blog has the potential to bring you a lot of exposure that can then be turned into business. It is important to get things right from the onset in order to realize the desired results. Here are a few tips that will help you design your blog so that it can work for you.
1. Design
Resist the temptation to have a flashy blog design. Keep your pages simple yet pleasant. Your blog design should not make your posted photos look dull by being too flashy. Remember you want to sell the photos and not the blog.

2. Topic
You should make sure that your blog stays on topic and anyone opening any page of your blog should be able to know what you are about in the shortest time possible. It will also help if your blog is only about one thing.

3. Balance Personal and Business Info
Blogs are personal forums and, as such, there will be some personal information and personal happenings that you will post on your blog from time to time. It is, however, important to know how far to go with that as it could be your undoing.

4. Update
You should update your blog on a regular basis. Updates should include samples you have posted though you could have the pictures for longer. An outdated blog gives a poor impression. Interesting updates will keep people coming back. While updating, remember to comment on posts from your readers.

5. Advertise
Especially if you are into photography as a fulltime engagement, you can advertise your blog both online and offline to create awareness.

by : http://www.steves-digicams.com/

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Best Canon Lenses that Fit Your Budget

Let me help you find the best lens for your needs.
I decided that it might be beneficial to all of you photographers out there, for me to write an article about what I would do as a professional photographer if I had certain budgets to spend on lenses. I want to give the very best recommendation for lenses at each price level, to enable you photographers out there to hopefully get the very best lenses for the money that you have.
If I have $100 I would buy:
First choice:
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens
The reason I would choose this lens… We’ll first of all, it costs less than $100 and second of all it is absolutely tack sharp. In fact, to this day I still have my 50mm f1.8 and I can’t say that about all my lenses. I do have a suggestion though, when I went to purchase my 50mm F/1.8, I went to the biggest photography store in my town and I looked through the entire inventory of the Canon 50 mm 1.8 lenses. Now, there is a reason why I did this. Although, this lens truly is tack sharp, it also has some of the poorest build quality of any lens Canon offers. So, unfortunately sometimes there are little specks plastic that will find themselves in the middle of the lens elements, but if the photography store is kind enough, they will let you hold each individual lens up to the light so that you can choose the best one. This my friends, is the very same process that I went through early on.
Second choice:
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM lens
Why, you ask? Well, there are not a whole lot of lenses available at that price point, and although the 18-55 mm lens is really not all that impressive, it sure nice to have in tight spots especially when most Canon bodies in the lesser price range have a 1.6 crop factor, which requires you to have a super wide-angle like 18mm in tight spots. You see, 18mm with a 1.6 crop factor is really 28.8mm which is just enough for those tight spots. I still believe that if you are jumping from a point and shoot to an SLR, you will be extremely impressed with the performance of this lens over your previous camera.
If I had $300 I would buy:
First choice:
Canon 50mm F/1.4 USM lens
Why you ask? Well, it just barely falls under that $300 mark, and if I’m shooting portraits, or I’m shooting outside it is extremely fast and extremely normal, and I know that it will perform extremely well for the price. Now, there are many of you that may prefer a decent zoom lens or for you documentary photographers or landscape photographers you might prefer a nice wide-angle prime.
Second choice:
Canon 28mm f/2.8 USM lens
This, my friends is the wide-angle lens to buy for under $300. I have seen this lens retail for as low as $160, which is quite the bargain. This is a perfect lens for you landscapers and those of you that like to shoot the crowds (with a camera that is).
Third choice:
Canon EF 28-105mm F3.5-4.5 USM lens
I believe this lens to probably be a good start as an introductory lens. This lens covers quite a range of different focal lengths. At 28mm you have a fairly wide-angle lens and at 105mm you have a decent telephoto lens. The wide-open aperture range on this lens is fairly good considering the cost and considering the focal lengths. I think this would be a good choice as an all-around beginner lens, where you don’t quite know what type of photographer you’re going to be.
If I had $500 I would buy:
First choice:
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens
This is yet another lens that still remains in my armada and is used with my non-full frame backup camera. This is, in my opinion one of the sharpest lenses that Canon produces. In fact, it is still one of the sharpest lenses I own. The drawback to this lens is that it is an EF-S lens, which means that it can only be used on a digital SLR with a crop factor. The current digital cameras that Canon produces that are compatible with this lens are the Digital rebel XT, the Digital rebel XTI, the EOS 30D and the new EOS 40D Digital SLR. This is a phenomenal lens that is well worth every penny and it is a macro lens, which allows you to get within an inch of your subject.
Second choice:
Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM lens
There are actually quite a few choices once you get up to this price point, but it is my belief that unless you’re buying L-series lenses you will be much happier with prime lenses, than you will be with zoom lenses. I believe Canon makes the most top-quality product out there, but I think their midrange priced zoom-lenses don’t satisfy. I believe you will be much more satisfied with one prime over three zoom lenses. Anyway, this is a phenomenal wide-angle prime lens, which is extremely fast and great for almost any situation with the crop factor.
Third choice:
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens
I chose this lens above many others for a particular reason. The 100mm f/2.8 macro lens is almost the same lens as the 16mm macro. There is something to be said about macros and sharpness. Macros are typically much sharper than other lenses and I don’t know the science behind this, but I know that what this holds true. I know that in some cases the MTF charts for macro lenses can only be compared to high-end super telephoto lenses. You see, MTF charts measure a lens’ sharpness at different f-stops and different distances. If you can find the lens that is above an eight or a nine you have one of the sharpest lenses made, and if you can find a lens that is consistently above nine, you are holding perfection.
If I had $2000 I would buy:
First choice:
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens
I am going to start with the wide-angle lenses as recommendations, only because I shoot with wide-angle lenses quite frequently. I have owned many of the wide angle lenses and super wide-angle lenses in both the prime and zoom series, but the best lens for the price is hands down the 17-40mm F4L lens. In my opinion this is one of the best pieces of glass for the money that you can purchase, and you will find that many of the Canon representatives will tell you the exact same thing. I believe this lens is sharper than the 16-35 F/2.8. I guarantee you that you would be more than happy with this purchase as I have been happy with it for years.
Second choice:
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens
Over the course of the last year or two Canon released the 24-105mm f/4 IS USM lens, which some said was the replacement for the 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, but I beg to differ. I believe both lenses are great lenses and they are both worth the money, but I believe the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 to be the sharper lens of the two. The 24-70mm lens is an oldie but a goodie, and well worth every penny.
Third choice:
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens
This is still one of my favorite lenses, and I can always trust my images to be sharp when shooting with it. In my opinion, this is one of the finest lenses Canon manufactures. This lens has a wonderful telephoto range, and it is consistently f/2.8 all the way through, which makes life beautiful as a photographer. The bokeh on this lens is unbeatable. There is really only one downside to this lens, and that is the weight of the lens can be overwhelming if you are shooting for long periods of time. Please trust me when I say that this is the only drawback to this lens.
Summary:
I hope that you find some of the content in this article helpful. My goal as a photographer and educator is to provide those nonprofessionals out there with the know-how to make their purchases and make better photographs with those purchases. I will continue to provide such articles at my expense of time, because I truly believe I would be doing myself a disservice by not passing on the knowledge I have gained throughout my years of shooting. I wish you all the best with your endeavors, and I invite you to return for more tips and tricks to hopefully improve the beauty of your photography. In the meantime, happy shooting and good luck in your purchasing.

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