Tips for Taking Motion Shots

Motion shots come under three headings; stop, pan and blur. Each will give a different effect. Most people want the ‘stop’ kind where the motion of the subject is frozen in a millisecond of time. This is what you see in most sports photos. It is achieved by a very fast shutter speed that allows the picture to be etched on the film or sensor so quickly that they are, in effect, frozen in a moment of time. The faster shutter speed means that your ISO setting needs to be higher to allow in more light.

To ‘pan’ is to follow the motion with your camera, which will give a sharply focused subject, but a blurred surround. The effect here is similar to the above, as it stops the motion of the subject. Tracking the subject with your camera whilst keeping it steady is skill that takes much practice. To help, you could try using a tripod with a swivelling head. Background that is fairly plain works best for panning. Start with a shutter speed of 1/30th of a second to start and make sure nothing will obstruct your view as the subject moves.

Blurring is when you use a slow shutter speed so the subject is deliberately blurred, but the impression given is one of speed, which is the whole aim of the shot. If your camera is a point and click, it may also have a sports or action mode.

A good tip for shooting motion is to use the burst or servo mode on your camera. This will give you a series of shots taken in a burst, making it more likely to get that extra special shot. This is because there is but a fleeting chance to see when a great shot could be coming up and photograph it. It all happens faster than a speeding bullet. But if you shoot in burst mode your camera will be clicking away regardless. You’ll want a memory card with a large-capacity for this. If shutter lag is a problem with your camera, burst mode will improve your chances of a great shot.

If you want to get a scene where something is moving yet you also want the background to be clear - like a landscape with moving water, use a slow shutter speed and a tripod to prevent camera shake. This will give an unusual affect in that the water will be blurred to the extent that it looks like it’s been painted in.

Tips for Taking Portrait Shots

Sooner or later you’ll want to take a portrait shot. Unless you are practicing to become a professional photographer, this will probably be fairly informal, but there are some tips that will make your portrait taking easier and give you better results than you might otherwise get. Many amateur portrait shots end up in the bin due to over-exposure or being out of focus. Don’t let this happen to yours.

When you take a portrait shot, you need to focus on your subject’s eyes. Character is in the eyes and you want to express the character of the person. Use an aperture of f8 and be about three feet away. Make sure your subject is relaxed and in a happy frame of mind. Any anger or tension will show up in the photo. Chat to them, crack jokes if they are that type of person or play music. Make sure the music is something they like; otherwise you could get a scowl rather than a smile.

Make sure your subject is comfortable. Provide a chair or other seating with good back support so they don’t slump. Make sure they are not too hot, too cold or thirsty. If the subject is a child, offer an appropriate toy to hold. If they are very small, they may not want to give the toy up easily so it could well be in the photo. In this case, make sure it is not dirty or tattered. You could also have interesting pictures on the wall for them to look at while you get ready.

You will need to get all your props and things ready ahead of time. Children and old people get fussy if they have to wait. If you have spotlights coming from anywhere but your camera, you may need light deflectors such as a white board or umbrella. This will diffuse the light, make the tones warmer and prevent red-eye.

The background is important. If you are taking a portrait in your house you won’t have access to much gear with which to create a plain background, so try for a blank wall. One with wallpaper could be good to prevent light reflection. In front of drawn curtains would also be suitable. At least, try not to get the refrigerator in the background.

An ordinary 35mm camera is ideal for portraits, but they can be taken with other cameras. If you don’t have a 35mm, just use whatever you have and see what happens.

Tips for Taking Stunning Landscape Shots

The kind of camera you have and how much it cost is not the most important criteria in taking great landscape shots. No camera can be creative by itself. Once you learn about the components of composition, your landscape shots taken with a point and press camera can be better than someone whose camera cost them $8,000 if they don’t know about composition. The single most important factor in taking decent landscape photographs is composition, or the way objects are put together. Once you begin to pay attention to this factor, your landscape photos will improve dramatically.

Some people seem to understand intuitively how to take creative landscape photos. Whether you are one of those people or not, practice can only make you better, so take plenty of shots. But first you must decide what the main subject of the shot is going to be. Is it the gnarled old oak tree, the mountain in the background or the waterfall that is creating rainbows in the middle distance? You are the one to decide; after all it’s your photograph.

The subject of the photograph is the part that should be the focus. Say it’s a bay full of sailing boats. It may be framed by a beautiful branch of glorious fall colors, there may be mountains in the background or wonderful cloud shapes in the sky – or all three - but everything should lead the eyes to focus on the bay and sailing boats. Therefore, the settings on your camera should be for that. The bay should be the central focus of the photograph, with the other components given less room and importance. If all have equal room in the photo, they will detract from each other, creating less visual appeal.

Light is another important factor is taking landscape photographs. The best time of day is early in the morning and late in the afternoon and evening. The brighter light in the middle of the day can cause too much contrast in light and shadow, which your camera will find hard to handle. Both digital and film cameras like all things to be equal when it comes to lighting. If you try and focus on the shady areas, then the lighter areas may bleach out, while if you set the camera for the light, areas of shade will be much too dark. A graduated, neutral density filter can help out here.

Angle and elevation are also important in a landscape. When you see a scene that grabs your fancy, try it from various positions before you shoot. Or better still, shoot from a variety of angles, then delete those that are sub-standard. Remember to try vertical shots as well.