Tips, Hints and Tricks #7

Why don't you give Film a Go?

Contrary to popular belief, film is not an outdated and dying form of photography, it is, in fact, going through a renaissance. You might think that it is terribly expensive but it doesn't have to be.

Money saving tips:

-Search for generic, non branded films in stores or the internet. Also, for some funky results, search for old cartridges at the stores near you. Old film will give you really awesome results.
-Develop at home or search for megastores that do it cheap.

Shooting film tip:
-Take your time. You only have a maximum of 36 shots so you're better not go and spend 10 frames just to get that perfect picture so think well before you press the shutter release button.

The cameras:
-Lomo
-Rangefinders
-SLRs
-All of these you can find easily on the internet or at flea markets.

Give it a try and then let me know the results. ;)

Tips, Hints and Tricks #6

Today's topic is: Working Lines in Photography

The lines that can be found in images are very powerful elements that with a little practice can add dynamic impact to a photograph in terms of mood as well as how they lead an image’s viewer into a photo.
You have to consider three types of lines, ‘horizontal’, ‘vertical’ and ‘diagonal’. Each one has a different impact upon a photograph and should be looked for as you frame your shots.
Learning how to use lines in photography doesn’t just happen. It takes time and practice to become good at it.
A good way to practice is to go back through older images that you’ve taken and look for lines that worked well and those that didn’t.
Then next time you go out with your camera, before you frame your shot consciously ask yourself what lines are in front of you and how you might use them to add something to your next shot by working with them rather than against them. Here's one of my best shots. It's easy to find strong lines in train stations!!

Also ask yourself whether the lines form any interesting patterns that you might be able to accentuate to add a further layer of interest to the shot.

NEWS

Well, this post is just to tell you about the new page over there. -->
"Links" is already on and I'll be adding sites whenever I found them to be worthy of being here.

=)

Yashica Electro 35 GSN

The Electro 35 GSN (if black, it’s a GTN) is an all-automatic exposure (can be switched to manual) rangefinder camera. A CdS sensor settles the shutter speed. Inside the viewfinder and at the top of the camera, an orange arrow shaped indicator lamp warns for the lower speeds, inferior to 1/30th of a second and another one, red, indicates the overexposures. If you don’t see the arrows to light on , that means the exposure values are good. Also on the aperture ring, there is a little orange arrow on the left end, and there is a red one at the rigth end. So you can remember the good direction to turn the aperture ring to, according to the indicator arrows inside the finder or on the top. As everything is designed to ease the use of this camera, a scale with three symbols doubles the aperture ring: the sun, the cloud and the interior.
The only “speed” which can be selected is the “B”.(by disengaging the shutter ring from the « Auto » position and turning it).
Inside the viewfinder, a brilliant frame moves when focusing in order to correct the parallax error.
There is a little red button on the back of the camera marked « Battery Check ». When it’s pushed, a green indicator lamp placed on the right of advance lever turns on if the battery is in good condition.
Even if the camera is made (assembled) in Hong Kong, the 1,7 / 45mm is japanese and it’s an excellent product just like the others released by this brand.

This camera can be equipped with wide-angle or tele conversion lenses. Theses have conversion scales for distances. Thus, for an object situated at 1.50 m from the focal plane, this distance has to be readjusted to 0.90 m if the wide-angle lens is mounted to the camera.

Taken from: http://www.collection-appareils.fr/

I have one of these with me now, I have made a couple of shots but haven't yet used the whole film. I'll do updates on this subject later!

And it's all for now!

News!

I'm here to announce that the blog will have a new tab with useful links for reviews and some hints, tricks and tips on a lot of subjects!

Tips, Hints and Tricks #5

Today I'll be giving you some knowledge about black and white photography.

If the colors in the scene are turned into shades of gray, from pitch black to brilliant white, other aspects of your photograph—shape, lighting, contrast, texture, tone—become the dominant elements.

Here I give you an example of the same scene but on grayscale and colours. It's not the best example but you can see that I lost some of the "magic" due to the black and white. After the images I tell you why and how to avoid that.

What to shoot in black & white ?
Well, removing colour in a bland scene would take any point of interest and leave it a boring photo. But if you're trying to get a feeling from another more sentimental era, black and white has the power to do it better than colour photography.

Colour vs Gray Tones.
One thing to keep in mind is the colour matching in your scene. For example, when a kid is wearing mismatching colours but is in the perfect setting for a photo you can use black and white to eleminate the array of colours that could distract the eyes from the scene it self.

Lighting
Take the color away and light does become a much more important part of your picture. Fog and Clouds instantly become more romantic, soft background for your photos. Shooting after a sunset with a cloudy skyline in the background will give you amazing results.

And that's all for today. =)

Tips, Hints and Tricks #4

Today we'll be talking about getting close and personal. To create impactfull pictures, move in close and fill your picture with the subject. Move a few steps closer to the subject or use the zoom until the subject fills the viewfinder. It is a way to remove distractions created by background and surroundings. It will also make the details in the subject standout. You may also want to use the macro option to great and sharp close-ups.

So, instead of this:

Something like this: (ignore the awefull PS techniques)