I’ve few New Years Resolutions. One that I do have is to create more Top Ten Lists so I can become more anal retentive in defiance of another New Years Resolution. You figure it out. Meanwhile, here’s the first Top Ten List for 2010
- Change to aperture priority
I’m a very strong advocate for aperture priority. It’s how I shoot most of my photos. Shooting aperture priority means you are determining what is in focus in your photos. You can narrow the depth-of-field with a smaller number or increase it with a higher setting. You can still use auto exposure settings just watch your shutter speed which will now be changing according to the light. Change your ISO setting to a higher number if the shutter speed falls too low. - Turn on your flash outdoors
Sounds counter intuitive to turn on the flash when you’re standing outdoors in the bright sun. Yet it’s one of the better times to take advantage of what you’ve already paid for, a second light source. There are numerous Web sites, including this one, advocating the use of a second flash to ad impact to some subject. If you’re shooting outdoors ins full sun, turn on the flash. The additional light will fill in shadows under the eyes and faces darkened in the shadows. - Shoot RAW
Simply explained, a RAW file contains the uncorrected, unfiltered, and unmodified data recorded by the chip in your camera. Attached to it with an electronic paper clip is a set of instructions telling the camera or your picture editing software how to process it for a certain look. That look is determined by the setting on your camera. If you’ve set the camera to daylight and high vibrancy, the paper-clipped note will have that information.
RAW means you can throw away the note and modify the original data any way you want. Change the color settings. Increase contrast or saturation. Darken the shadows only. What is exceptional about RAW is the ability to modify the file without destroying any of the original information. Opened as a Smart Object in Photoshop, a RAW file can be changed as many times as you want and the original is not permanently altered.
- Use a tripod
Tripods are for more than creating a steady platform for your camera. True, that’s the most effective use for a tripod. But, there’s more. With your camera on a tripod you’re not required to always be looking through the viewfinder to know when to shoot your photo.
Almost every full-time sports photographers sets up remote cameras around an event to record action from several angles. All are on some sort of steadied mount like a tripod. They’re not looking through the viewfinder of any of these cameras. They are watching the action from a different angle timing the shutter firing sequence remotely.
You can do the same with the camera next to you on a tripod. Pre-focus on home plate, second base, the goal, or the pitcher’s overhand release point. Simply press the shutter button while you’re watching the action
- Modify the light
Your first light modifier is your on-camera flash. See the note above. The second modifier is any bright reflective surface you can find. A white t-shirt. Foil from around the greasy grilled steak sandwich you bought at the concession stand. A mirror from your purse or car. An old sheet. A pillow case. All of these can become a reflective source to fill shadows and cut the contrast on a sunny day. I’ve used sunlight reflecting from a building as the primary light source for an athlete portrait. - Always carry your camera
Sounds like a Homer Simpson “Doh!” moment when you realize you should have brought your camera when your kid, dog, husband or wife, neighbor, a stranger, mother-in-law, grandparent, or the governor does something worthy of having a photo of it. Always having a camera over your shoulder, around your neck or in your pocket changes the way you view the world and how you react to it.
Having a camera makes you more aware of the people around you and how they move. You begin to notice repeating patterns around you or how the light early in the morning is so much different than any other time of day. You’ll start to leave home earlier than normal to give yourself a few extra minutes for that photo at that corner where that person stands every Wednesday. You’ll pause to watch just because you’ve learned to observe because you have a camera over your shoulder.
- RTFM
My grandmother’s recipe for her famous in the family Sunday dinner rolls was a little bit of this and a little bit of that with a pinch of salt. No one else in the family has been able to duplicate the rolls and probably never will. She didn’t leave us an instruction manual. You have an instruction manual for your camera. Read it. Read it again. Carry it with you. Read it every chance you get. My daughter recently bought a Nikon D5000. She has yet to read the manual. I had to tell her last week that she was getting dark photos because she’d somehow hit the wrong combination of buttons to underexpose all her photos by 2/3rds of a stop. She didn’t know the meaning of the indicators on the LCD. Read the manual. If nothing else, download a pdf copy to your smart phone so you can at least try to find the information when you need it. - Take lots of pictures
Shoot everything. Shoot it often. It doesn’t matter if you fail. The point is to succeed. The process is to fail, and try again. This is always where I remind everyone to look at Weston’s iconic Pepper #30. It’s #30, not #1 or #2 or #3 even #20. It’s #30! After you’ve purchased that new digital camera and a set of memory cards, and a new computer and software and a new printer or membership in the local camera store print club, you don’t have any recurring costs. It’s not going to cost you anything to shoot more photos.
A roll of transparency film and processing is now about $25 depending upon the film and processor. Print film and processing are less but still can add up when you shoot several hundred photos of your super talented ballerina during the recital or the NFL’s next great running back during his Pee Wee League football game. On digital all you done is exercise your shutter button finger. You’re probably going to make prints of just a few frames or stick a few in the iPhone for a slideshow to show off to family and friends.
- Forget the action photo
It’s highly unlikely that you’re going to get a Sports Illustrated cover quality photo of your family’s best athlete. Your shooting perspective is different, both physically and psychologically. They’ve better cameras, better lenses, more of them and do this for a living. What you can do is concentrate on what happens off the field. Shoot your athletes before and after the game. Watch how they interact with other players. How do they respond when being coached. How do they celebrate in victory or wear their loss?
The next time you’re watching a football game and can see the photographers in the endzone after a touchdown, see how many still have their cameras to their faces. They’re looking for reaction photos of winners and losers. Look at the photo of Michael Jordan reacting to his winning shot against Cleveland in 1989. It certainly beats a great action photo from that game. Get a similar photo of your athlete.
- Think before you think about shooting
Serendipity can be a great thing, especially when you plan for it. Don’t think that just because you’ve got your camera with you that photos are going to jump in front of you holding signs describing their importance and a set of camera setting for optimum quality exposure and focus. It’s not going to happen. What you can do is work hard to let the mechanics of great photos become second nature.It’s rare I reach across the seat or into the trunk and pull out a camera that isn’t already set for the most likely scene I’ll encounter on my travels. When I walk into a building I automatically change my settings to match the lighting conditions. When I go back outside I again change my settings. Step into a shaded area and I change the f-stop and ISO setting. Into bright sun, lower the ISO and check the f-stop. Don’t let luck be your constant companion. Prepare for it.
My first Top Ten List is complete. I’ll probably be able to create a Top Ten List for each of these Top Ten suggestions. That’s for another day. Let me know how helpful these were.
