To Pose or Not to Pose

Spontaneous shots are just as important as the formal photos at a wedding. A professional photographer should be able to deliver to a high standard, making sure all the important moments of the big day have been recorded. Candid photos must be, simple, unposed and provide honest, truthful and sincere memorable shots.

Taking candid photos are not always easy, but there are various techniques that one can adopt, which will help make taking them a little easier.

1. Be ready at all times

Do not go anywhere without your camera, as you never know when a fantastic frame will occur. Keeping the camera constantly out on show will also get guests used to seeing it, so anyone who is camera shy will begin to feel more relaxed.

2. Capture people unaware

The key to producing candid shots that work well is to capture people unaware. If they do not know you are taking pictures they will look more natural. Try to be as unobtrusive as possible and make yourself disappear into the background. Using your long lens will ensure you can take snaps of people from a distance without them knowing.

Summers Back

3. Sneaky people don’t use flash

Remember to remove your flash if you do not need it, as that will give away your cover. If you are shooting in lower light, try increasing your ISO setting, use a faster lens, or set your camera to the natural light mode, as these should improve the quality of the light in the photo. To make life easier, and to ensure you can work quickly, set your camera to auto focus and set a smaller aperture, because the smaller the aperture, the more your subject will be in focus.

4. Use Different angles

Also, do not be afraid to move around to capture different prospective. Shooting from the hip also provides an unconventional angle, and can give a photo an interesting depth. You should also try taking multiple shots, by using the continuous shooting mode on your camera. By doing this, you are far more likely to capture a decent shot if you have several to choose from. If people are unaware you are taking the picture then you are far more likely to capture them with their eyes shut.

5. Think Ahead

Try to think ahead of what sort of images you might take on the big day. Taking pictures of the guests reacting during the speeches always makes great shots, and emotional expressions during the first dance always make fantastic pictures.

6. Couple Shots

Additionally, try and spend some time with the happy couple away from the other guests. Ask them to walk together chatting, kissing and holding hands. This simple interaction between them will capture some beautiful emotional pictures that will encompass what the whole day has been about.

7. Create Photo Depth

To give your photos more depth, try including something in the foreground of the subject you are trying to capture. You can achieve this by shooting over someone’s shoulder or taking the picture between branches of a tree.

8. Group Shots

Groups of people pictured together always make great shots. This is because they interact with each other and can add emotion to the shot.

These are just some of the tips and tricks out there on how to take high quality candid shots. Next time you find yourself photographer at a wedding or an event, keep all of these tips in mind, and your photos are surely going to impress.www.dancemedia.org

If you've ever taken photographs of children, animals or insects, chances are you've most likely ended up with images that look quite blurred. This is because they tend to move around a lot and by the time your digital SLR camera has focused on the subject, it has moved or is moving while shooting the photograph. The trick many professional photographers use in these circumstances, is to put their digital SLR camera in continuous mode (check camera manual) and shoot in bursts. Taking numerous photographs in continuous mode gives you a higher chance of getting at least one sharp as a tac image. This is especially important for once off moments that may not occur again. Grasshopper / Katydid Digital SLR Camera: Canon EOS 400D / Rebel XTi DSLR Lens: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125) Aperture: f/11 Focal Length: 100 mm ISO Speed: 400 Exposure Program: manual Why this image worked When photographing nature, one thing I've learned about insects is that they are unpredictable. Within seconds they can fly or hop away. Furthermore, they rarely stay still and are always moving around. Even the slightest head movement can cause an image to be blurred, especially when working with DSLR macro lenses. This is why I always have my digital SLR camera set to continuous mode when doing macro shots. This way I can shoot off several images in bursts, all within a one second time frame. Normally one will end up sharp and in focus. Unlike the ole days, photographing in digital doesn't cost you any extra and you can easily delete all the bad ones later on.

Consider this before attempting Sunset Shots

Things To Consider    www.dancemediaauroranewmarket.org

Few things are as inspiring as the sunset. And few things are photographed so often and so poorly. Getting a great sunset image isn’t always easy. Yes, you might get lucky and snap off an amazing shot with your point-and-shoot, but as with all things photography, you can always make your shots better. Here are some tips to help you capture those golden moments at your cottage.

Planning
One of the greatest ways to improve your photography is through planning. If you have an idea of what you want before you start, the results are generally better. If you know when and where the sun is going to meet the horizon, you can spend the time composing your shot properly. Environment Canada is a great place to find the sunrise and sunset times. It’s always good to arrive at your location an hour or so before the sun goes down so you aren’t rushed. If you want to know exactly where the sun will go down, check out the PhotoTimes+ app. It will tell you where on the horizon the sun it going to set any day of the year.

Proper Exposure
This is by far the trickiest part of shooting a sunset. The brightness of the sun combined with the darkening sky will most likely confuse your camera, so shooting in full automatic will result in under- or over-exposed images. There are a number of ways to deal with this, depending upon your comfort level with your camera. Bracketing (usually marked with a +/- on your camera) is a great beginner option. Leaving your camera in program mode, bracket to the plus side if your image is too bright, or minus if it’s too dark. Experimentation is key here, so just keep trying. The overall brightness of the scene will continually change as the sun goes down, so keep changing your settings to get what you’re after.

Use a Tripod
If you’re using slow shutter speeds or a long telephoto lens, then a tripod is essential in achieving sharply focused images. Using a tripod is generally good practice whenever shooting landscapes, so if you have one, take it along. If not, get creative with rocks, cars, or any solid object. The steadier your camera is, the better your images will be.

Rule of Thirds
A general rule of photography, the Rule of Thirds applies to composition. It states that you should imagine your image with two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines. These will divide your image into nine equally sized rectangles or squares. Compositional elements should fall along these lines or at the intersections of these lines. This creates tension and is more visually pleasing than having everything centered. In the case of a sunset image, a classic rule of third composition would place the horizon at one of the two horizontal lines and the sun at one of the spots where the vertical lines intersect the horizontal.

 Silhouettes
A great way to add interest to your image is to include a silhouette; a tree, a person, a boat, or just about anything in the foreground. Sunset images often suffer from a lack of context, so including a silhouette can help fix this common problem.

Clean your Lens
Nothing reveals just how dirty your lens it like a sunset. Use a lens cloth to wipe your lens clean, or if you’re really desperate, do what the pros do: use a clean cotton t-shirt (I didn’t tell you this!). A sunset image is easily ruined by specks of dust on your lens, so make sure to get rid of them.

Shoot, Shoot, Shoot
Some of the best sunset images can come once the sun has gone below the horizon. The light can create incredible purples and reds, so keep shooting even after the sun has gone down. Try different focal lengths, try focusing on different subjects, keep bracketing, and keep experimenting. Perhaps the greatest thing about digital photography is that shooting more photos doesn’t cost you more money, so keep experimenting to see what works.www.dancemediaauroranewmarket.org