A lot of fuss is always made about what type of camera photographers prefer shooting on. While some regard the question as an affront (you wouldn’t ask a painter what brushes they use!) , others like to be at the forefront of camera technology for whatever reason.

While Nikon and Canon are indisputable leaders in the sheer number of DSLRs sold, many photographer prefer other makers. Of course the skill of the photographer is far more important than the make of the camera, but it’s still hard not to get excited when your preferred camera company comes out with a new piece of kit that you want.

We thought it might be an interesting question for our first weekly poll here at Light Stalking as to what makes of camera our readers prefer. Also, do you regard it as important? Why or why not?

Let us know in the comments!

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

One of the most powerful tools for photographers that has come about with digital photography is the histogram – that little graph you see on the LCD screen of your camera after you shoot an image. Yet many people don’t know anything about the histogram. This is a huge oversight, as a histogram can be massively helpful in enabling you to take better images in almost any shooting situation.

What is a Histogram?

A histogram is simply a visual representation in graph form of the tonal information that your camera records when shooting an image.

How Do I Read a Histogram?

Histograms are actually quite easy to read once you know what you are looking at. The left side of the histogram represents the shadows and the right side represents the highlights.

• Memory Tip: If you cannot remember that, just think “black and white” – black is first, therefore on the left and white is second, therefore on the right. Thanks to David duChemin for that memory tip.

The different colours in the images in this article represent the different tonal values. Therefore a high peak of one colour means you have a lot of that tonal value.

If a peak is jammed up hard against one side of the graph or the other then it means that the camera has rendered the shadows as pure black (left side) or highlights as pure white (right side) – this is sometimes known as clipping. This is to be avoided if possible as it means you are losing detail in those areas.

NOTE: The histogram on the back of your camera will be monochrome unlike the images below which are from post-processing software. Don’t let that confuse you, as it’s the shape we are trying to draw your attention to.

Terrible: Indicates Underexposure and Loss of Detail in Shadows

Terrible: Indicates Overexposure and Loss of Detail in Highlights

Note: Often, only a part of the histogram will be up against the edge while the rest is more centered. Any part of the graph up against the edge indicates that some of the detail has been lost.

When Are Histograms Important?

If you are planning on doing post-production on your images in a program like Photoshop or GIMP, then you want to capture as much information as possible. The histogram can tell you whether you have done this or not – oftentimes much better than the LCD image itself.

In general, it is better to “shoot to the right.” That means that you are ideally wanting to get a histogram that is predominantly on the right of the graph (without being pushed up against the edge). The image may even look overexposed on your camera LCD screen. The reason for this is that the highlights, which are represented on the right part of the histogram, capture a lot more information than shadows. If your histogram is to the right, then the image file is storing a much larger amount of information about that image than if the histogram is to the left. The right hand side of the histogram holds 90% of the raw data – the left side of the histogram only 10% – it is not an even spread.

That means, if you “shoot to the right,” you have more information to work with when you get to Photoshop. In turn that means you can do more work on the image before you start to get the negative effects of noise and other undesirable outcomes.

When are Histograms Less Important?

If you don’t plan on doing any post-production, then you are most often looking for a classic “bell curve” shape for you histogram. This generally indicates a good exposure with an even spread of highlights and shadows that will probably stand ok on its own.

Note the Relatively Even Bell Curve Shape

What Does This Mean for Shooting?

If you are “shooting to the right” then that means getting more light into the camera (assuming your histogram is too far left). The easy way to do this is to overexpose the image by a stop or two.

A Histogram to the Right Allows More Flexibility in Post Processing

This Histogram Would Make Post-Processing Slightly Less Flexible

You might have a few problems when doing this when shooting very bright subjects. Use your judgment there, but remember that it can be easy to blow out too many pixels in such a situation, in which case you need to reign it in a little. If the histogram is crammed up against the right side, you’re probably going too far.

All in all, using a histogram doesn’t need to be rocket science. Once you are comfortable with it, you will probably use a histogram far more than the image on your LCD screen to judge the exposure of your images.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

One of the largest problems many folks have with digital photography is the amount of noise that ends up in the final image. Noise basically presents itself as graininess or speckles, usually most recognizable across larger areas of uniform colour such as sky. While sometimes it is a desirable effect such as in some of the photos below, often you will want to minimise it. The bad news is that there is no perfect solution to noise problems, but the good news is that there are things you can do to reduce, and in many cases, eliminate noise in your photographs.

Photo by Stuck in Customs

What Causes Noise?

Truly knowing how to reduce or eliminate noise is better served by knowing what causes it. In photography there are several causes of noise.

The first scenario is that image sensor heat can increase enough to stimulate electrons (“Thermal Noise”). These superfluous electrons then get mixed in with the “true” photoelectrons that are the real target of our image sensor. The analog signal (which is converted to pixels by the sensor) is therefore contaminated before it even gets to that point.

In some situations the above scenario can cause each of the photosites on an image sensor to generate superfluous signals which can then contaminate the neighboring photosites. On smaller image sensors which cram more photosites into a smaller area, this effect can be magnified.

Another common cause of noise is shooting at higher ISO settings. As these settings basically magnify the light signal, they also magnify other unwanted signals such as background interference (eg. heat sources). When you are photographing an area of low light, the background signals can be strong enough to compete with the signals from the limited light of the area you are shooting.

Photo by GoldSardine

What Can a Photographer Do About Noise?

As with anything, photography presents us with a series of compromises when it comes to solving the problem of noise. Here are some of the more obvious things you can do to reduce noise in your images.

Shoot At a Low ISO – It’s a simple one, but if the situation will allow it, then turn down the ISO. Reducing the sensitivity of the sensor reduces the chance that it will pick up unwanted interference.

Reduce Shutter Speed – This simply reduces the chance that unwanted signals will get mixed in with the ones you really want to capture. Again, it’s really only a solution if the shooting conditions allow for you to reduce shutter speed.

Utilise the In-Camera Noise Reduction Feature – Most DSLRs come with an in-camera noise reduction feature. In many cases this does a fine job of reducing noise during image processing. The downsides to this are that the processing time of the image is often increased (sometimes by many seconds) and there can also be loss of finer detail in the shot.

Don’t be Afraid to Use Post Processing – There are several pieces of dedicated software available to digital photographers with the sole purpose of reducing noise in your images. Many people recommend noise reduction software as an integral part of any photographer’s arsenal. You can also utilise noise reduction techniques in other software such as Photoshop, GIMP or Lightroom. Some tutorials you might be interested in include:

• Turn Down the Noise in Photoshop
• Noise Removal with Selective Gaussian Blur in GIMP
• Noise Reduction in Lightroom 3 Video Tuorial

Keep Your Camera Cool – This one is often overlooked, but many people report that simply keeping your camera cool (or at least out of hot storage areas) immediately before a shoot can have a significant impact on improving noise in photos. The idea here is to minimise electrons that are stimulated by heat on your sensor therefor reducing contamination in the signal.

Photo by Centrifuga Teatrante

Noise is simply one of those challenges that photography throws at us from time to time that make it challenging to get that perfect shot. With a little forethought it’s easy enough to account for it and continue the chase!

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

This is an homage to a very cool Flickr group that we stumbled across recently. Our own cow mascot at Light Stalking gets quite a few comments. Here are a few more cows to lighten up your day.

Photo by Ecatoncheiras

Photo by Stephi

Photo by Christian Meichtry

Photo by Solitaire Mladjenovic

Photo by Dave Kav

Photo by Ben Cooper

Photo by Tambako the Jaguar

Photo by Gato Gato Gato

Photo by Neil’s Photostream

Photo by Bugman50

Photo by Foxypar4

Photo by Ferran

Photo by Eduardo Amoris

Photo by Belgian Chocolate

Photo by Tometalal

Photo by Mushi King

Photo by Publicenergy

Photo by Alejandro Groenewold

Photo by Eduardo Amorim

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

One of the great things about stepping up from compact cameras to SLRs is the amount of extra control you get over the final shot. While that control can be used in an almost infinite set of combinations, one of the more popular and effective ways to use it is with motion blur photographs.

Photo by TheMonnie

The fact that motion blur can be used to create stunning photographs in everything from wedding through to sports photography shows its utility. Mastering the basics of motion blur for different settings simply adds an extra weapon to your arsenal of photography skills that can be applied in an almost limitless amount of photographic situations. It’s the utility of motion blur in its potential application to so many situations that means that mastering it will result in you being a better photographer.

Why Use Motion Blur?

It is most often said that motion blur allows the photographer to simulate movement in their static images. It certainly offers a very different effect from freezing a moment in time with faster, perfectly focussed shots. Used creatively like in the shots in this article, it can result in some amazing effects.

Photo by Brent Nashville

Photo by Express Monorail

So What is There to Know About Motion Blur?

The first thing to come to grips with is shutter speed – something that all photographers will be familiar with. Put simply, the longer you leave open your camera shutter, the more blurred any movement within the frame will appear in the final shot. Depending on the camera, the range of shutter speed will be anything from 1/4000 of a second (very fast) up to 30 seconds (very slow). Many camera also have a Bulb setting meaning that the exposure will be for as long as you press the shutter button (or its remote controller).

Photo by AlphaDesigner

What Problems Will Your Face With Motion Blur?

Perhaps the most common problem you will face with attempting motion blur is during the day when the amount of light hitting the film or sensor will mean that shots (or parts of the shot) with a longer shutter speed will often be over exposed.

The simple solution is to reduce the light hitting the sensor by adjusting the aperture. Closing it down to f/22 or similar will help, though you then run into issues of depth of field (which may or may not be welcome).

You may also find that bright backgrounds will be blown out which can be adjusted for by using a neutral density (ND) filter to limit the light hitting the sensor. You might also consider an ND Graduated filter if the over-exposed area is from a particular part of the shot (usually sky).

Photo by Camil Tulcan

The other solution to the problems associated with motion blur shots in daytime settings is to adjust ISO. Decreasing the sensor’s sensitivity to light is worth experimenting with if your results are still over exposed. Try ISO 100 or 50 to help limit the over exposure (and an added bonus of reducing noise). This will also allow you to get motion blur with slightly faster shutter speeds which reduces the chance of unwanted blur from camera shake.

Don’t Forget About Flash

A technique you can try to produce some cool effects involves using motion blur in combination with a flash. The effect basically freezes the object while conserving the motion blur to that point. Check out the image below.

Photo by Yago1

Motion blur is simply one of many techniques available to a good photographer. As you can see from the examples here, mastering motion blur can render some incredible photography and add one more arrow to your photographic quiver.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

A lost of people know about the rule of thirds, the s-curve as well as other elements of photographic composition. Let’s have a look at something that is a little more advanced in the world of image composition that was discovered by a 12th century Italian mathematician called Fibonacci.

Introducing The Golden Section

The Golden Section is simply a compositional rule that dictates that a well composed image can be achieved by dividing the frame by 1.6 several times.

By doing this, you get a pattern like this:

Image courtesy of Nam Nam

The Geek Explanation

Fibonacci is most famous for developing a series of number sequence which adds the previous two numbers:

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55…

When you divide successive numbers, you come up with 1.6 which is a key in mathematics to proportions (hence its relationship to photography). When you apply the Fibinacci sequence to a rectangle you get a tiling with squares whose sides are successive Fibonacci numbers in length. Each square is roughly 1.6 times as big as the last. Like this:

How to Use the Golden Section

Images speak louder than words, so have a look at this image and the one below it to see an almost perfect application of the Golden Section in action. The proportions and composition are textbook Golden Section.

Photo by DJ Flickr

Photo by DJ Flickr

Now, this one is a lot more difficult than say, the rule of thirds to apply to your photos. However, with practice you will get better. The great thing is that the Golden Section adds another tool to your arsenal of composition.

Photo by James Michael Hill

Photo by Alex Decarvalho

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

Composing a great photograph can be done in so many different ways that it seems more logical to talk about “guides” to composition rather than “rules” of composition. We have covered several compositional elements of photography previously such as the photographer’s rule of thirds and the s-curve, but let’s move on to some other less stringent “rules” for composing a great shot. These elements of an image can create spectacular results if done well.

Pattern – Repetitious patterns or textures within an image can either draw or direct the viewer within a shot. In some cases it can be what makes the shot. Patterns can often be found in nature (clouds, sand, waves) and sometimes architecture and other human-made elements (farms, gardens etc).

Photo by Andrew Morrell

Photo by Garry at www.visionandimagination.com

Symmetry – Shots that use symmetry can often be very boring, but if you can incorporate other elements of composition such as shadow, pattern or colour then they can also be quite eye-catching. When using symmetry, look for these other elements also to add extra interest to the shot

Photo by Kicki

DOF – Using depth of field well is one of the best weapons a photographer has in their arsenal. Consider which elements within a potential shot should be in and out of focus. Traditionally, landscape shots have a deep depth of field so that most of the shot is in focus. Close-ups are often rendered with a narrow depth of field to place the focus squarely on one subject.

Photo by Danny Perez

Photo by John A Ryan Photography

Colour – Most photographs that leap out of the page usually display at least some adherence to colour theory. Contrasting or complimentary colours have a dramatic impact on colour photographs and can sometimes even save an otherwise ordinary shot. Highlighting colour within a certain area of a photograph can also be used effectively as a compositional element.

Photo by Seattle Miles

Movement – Capturing movement in a photograph through creative use of shutter speed can result in some of the most emotive images. Capturing the excitement of a motor race or the grace of a dance can be done this way.

Photo by Phil H

Photo by Bichxa

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of elements that can be used in creating an effective composition, these are certainly things that should be remembered when deciding on how to create an image. As with anything, a little thought can have a massive impact on your end result.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

It’s time for another competition!

First to the important part – the prizes!!!

1st Place – A Copy of Alien Skin’s Bokeh 2 Software and a Bokeh Master’s Kit (Value: $224)

These prizes will give you everything you need to become a master of bokeh photography. The kit has you covered for producing brilliant effect while shooting while the software lets you get funky with the post processing part of it.

2nd Place – An Incredible Photography WordPress Theme from the Theme Foundry (Value: $68)

This will enable you to have one of the best looking photography websites on the internet. This theme is specifically designed for photographers and will give your portfolio that professional look.

3rd Place – 2 Photography Guides from Craft and Vision (Value: $10)

Some of the most striking and professionally presented photography guides to be found anywhere online, you can choose a couple for free. David DuChemin constantly puts out such quality that it makes us at Light Stalking quite self conscious!

How to Enter

Now this is the simplest thing ever.

Step 1) Go to the Light Stalking Facebook Group and make a new post on the wall. (It can be a tip, a question or a photograph).

Step 2) Get as many friends and others to like your post as possible.

That’s it!

The Judging

We will log into the Facebook group next Wednesday, September 1 and look for the three posts with the most likes. The top three will be the winners.

The Rules

Every post made on the wall between now and the draw date is eligible.

Use your common sense. If you have to ask “is it allowed” then just assume that it isn’t. Any shonky entries will be deleted.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

Travel and photography go hand in hand. Who doesn’t dream of taking incredible shots to wow your friends and colleagues with when you return from some exotic destination? Unfortunately, there are a few down sides to travel photography that you probably need to be aware of before you go, especially when it comes to traveling in poorer areas.

Photo by Tranuf

Depending on where you are going, security is going to be an issue. Sure, you are probably (but not always) reasonably safe in your own country or places like New Zealand or Europe. But in a lot of other places, especially in third world countries, the cost of your photography gear is equivalent to a year’s wages (or more) for the locals.

Discretion is Your Friend

It is quite staggering to see so many people whip out a $1500 camera setup to take snaps in some tourist hell in the third world. Pull your Canon DSLR with a 300mm lens out of your Lowepro backpack and you are going to attract attention! And yes, the thieves will have an opinion on Canon vs. Nikon.

Photo by Yan Boechat

Now, I am not saying don’t take these things, but lets think of a few ways you can be a little more discreet.

Mess Up Your Camera - A little imagination and your camera can be made to look like a very un-tempting target for thieves. This doesn’t do any damage to your camera whatsoever, but it will make your camera less appealing than the next photographer’s gear to a potential thief. A bit of gaffer tape and some artists paper can make it look really bad!

Mess Up Yourself – If you’re wearing Armani jeans and an Omega watch in the third world, then you are already a target. Dress down. Be discreet.

Choose a Pack Wisely – I know that there are some fantastic packs out there, but a lot of them aren’t exactly shy about splashing their logos all over (and thieves know which ones to look for). Your options here are to get a less obtrusive pack or disguise your existing one (cutting off logos or blackening them with shoe polish is one way to do this. Even some gaffer tape will mess up the shiny, clean look well enough). When choosing a camera bag, choose one for a specific job.

Twist Ties – Remember those pieces of wire wrapped in plastic that used to be used for tying bread bags? They are fantastic for wrapping around zips and ensuring that things are difficult for prying hands. Take a few and make sure that your pack zips are always difficult to prize open in a hurry.

Be Aware of Your Environment – Take a look around and see who is looking at you before you bring out the camera. If you can move to a more unobtrusive spot to take a shot then do so. If you are in an isolated area, don’t bring out the camera gear until you are more sure of your environment.

Beware Hotels – Just because your gear is back in your hotel room doesn’t mean it is safe. Utilise the hotel safe or the safe in your room. If they don’t have one then take your gear with you.

Photo by Siim Teller

You are never going to eliminate the potential of being robbed. In many places, even a poor westerner is still considered a prime target. But personal security is not about eliminating the possibility of being targeted. It’s about making yourself less of a target than the next tourist. A bit of common sense and awareness of your environment will put you ahead of most people.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

A lot of the time, people miss a well composed shot simply because they didn’t take the time to seek out a slightly better alternative. When you have found a scene worth shooting, don’t forget to consider a few ways that you could improve the composition. It’s easier than you might think.

Photo by Rob Wood

Go for a Walk – Often finding a better place to shoot a scene or object from will give you a better alternative for composing the shot. if possible, take a walk around and look at the scene from different areas. Consider which spot gives you the best chance to compose the shot with good composition rules in mind and whether any of those rules are worth breaking.

Tilt the Camera – Simply moving the angle of the camera up and down then left and right will show you what you could get. Does the foreground add or detract from the scene? Can you omit distracting elements like tree branches from the edge of the composition?

Horizontal or Vertical – Will your shot be better served by holding the camera vertically or horizontally? Don’t forget that you can also consider how you might crop the shot while you are shooting it.

View Point – This fits in with the walk around tip, but look for places that could offer a different view point of the subject you are shooting. Can you shoot from a higher position? A lower one? This can often get you a more dramatic shot and it is the reason you often see photographers contorting themselves into some very uncomfortable positions.

Photo by Kevin Dooley

Fill the Frame – You can either do this by walking closer to the object you a photographing or, if that is not possible, using a zoom. Filling the frame of your shot usually results in better composition and more emetic images.

Photo by Monteregina

A lot of this just comes down to surveying your shooting environment and considering the angle before putting the view finder to your eye. Be aware. Think about the subject you are shooting. And remember that there are always alternative ways to compose a photograph.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.