FOCUS CERPS WINNERS 2018 AND 2019
Edenvale Photo Club Newsletter - June 2020
Sharing Visual Art since 1950
02 / JUNE 2020 COVER IMAGE BY DINO BOTTEGA Story behind the shot: I took the picture on the 6 September 2019 at 5:26 pm in the Rhino Park. The Black Wildebeest had been eluding me for several days but I was never able to get close enough for a good shot. Eventually I spotted him not far from the road ahead, I drove up to him and I spoke to him. He stopped just long enough and turned to look at me with his beady eye and stuck his tongue out at me. As if to say... are you happy now and I was.
CONTRIBUTE TO FUTURE ISSUES ANY MEMBER CAN SUBMIT MATERIAL FOR CONSIDERATION IN FUTURE PUBLICATIONS PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT IMAGES HAVE A MINIMUM RESOLUTION OF 1080 x 1925 pixels. Of course, we also have to adhere to the regulations for data protection and the rights of use according to the copyright law, therefore, we ask you to supply a declaration of consent of the person or website that you extracted your submission from. Please use the following email address to send contributions and consent letters hanlis54@gmail.com Proof reading of this magazine Kindly done by Heidi Broschk
EDENVALE PHOTOGRAPHIC CLUB IS A PROUD MEMBER OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA
03 /JUNE 2020
DEAR MEMBERS
Chairman: David Wolstencroft 083 229 8066 davewol@gmail.com
Photography is a unique hobby. It combines creativity along with technical skills of equipment mastery as well as the skills of post processing. It is the combination of these skills that makes photographers different. I would imagine the true masters are masters of both. They are extremely creative and know their equipment inside out and have a true handle on all the processes that are required to produce the desired final image. There are also all the levels in between. Some use auto mode, and the in-camera image is the final product. Some progress off auto mode, opening up a new world of creative in-camera artistry, but that image is still the final product. And so one progresses, slowly gaining in skills and constantly improving. Some don’t, some do. And that is OK. A good image can still be taken in auto mode without post processing if the light, subject matter and composition are there. Sure, it may not be the “best” that image can be, but it would still be a good image. It is this that make photography unique. It is composed of images taken by photographers with different skill levels, different creative abilities, and different outlooks.
A technically perfect image is not always a good photograph and a good photograph is not always technically perfect. Marrying these two as often as possible will undoubtably yield the most success, but we should not dismiss or ignore the stunning image with technical flaws. For me, the image, the story, the moment, outweighs the technical flaws, unless these flaws are so grave as to destroy the intention of the image. Keep this in mind when shooting. Aim to get the image as near as perfect in-camera. Know your equipment, its strengths, its weaknesses and capitalise on the strengths. Learn your craft, apply, experiment and practice. Post process. Learn all you can. Be the best you can be. I cannot wait till we can all meet again, in person and have a club meet. If religious gatherings can be held, maybe it is our turn soon. We rarely exceed 50 members on a club evening. OK, that was a bit tongue in cheek, but hopefully you see my point. Keep well, keep healthy and keep shooting. Dave
04 / JUNE 2020
Committee Members
MEETINGTIMEANDPLACE 2ND AND 4THWEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH AT 18H30 FOR 19H00 EDENVALE COMMUNITY CENTRE COR. VAN RIEBEECK & 2ND STREET, EDENVALE
Salons, Judges and Outings: John Coumbias 079 1732 825 jcoumbias@telkomsa.net
Marketing and Secretary: Natasha Bird 082 920 8898 mnktrad@mweb.co.za
Newsletter Editor & Graphic Design: Hanli Smit 083 253 1034 hanlis54@gmail.com
Chairman: David Wolstencroft 083 229 8066 davewol@gmail.com Treasurer: Ted Kinsman 083 461 2350 tkinsman@global.co.za
Certificates & Awards Des Alexander 083 226 1452 neoncomp@webmail. co.za
New Members, Social Media & Website Clare Appleyard 083 234 0247
clare.appleyard@gmail.com
Scoring & Promotions:
Training:
Jorge Borralho 082 337 9575
Robbie Aspeling 082 309 7470 rob@raphoto.co.za
Jorge.borralho@vodamail.co.za
05 /JUNE 2020
IN THIS ISSUE ROBERT DOISNEAU PAST MASTERS Page 6
10 JUNE- Winners Page 16
FOCUS ON VISITING JUDGE KATHY KAY Page40
MEMBER FOCUS ANDREW MAYES Page26
LAYER STYLES Page 14 24 JUNE - Winners Page 28
SET SUBJECT TIPS ON NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY PAGE 43
06 / JUNE 2020 PAST MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ROBERT DOISNEAU Born in April 1912 in an upper middle class family, in the Parisian suburbs (Gentilly), Robert Doisneau started showing an immoderate interest in the arts at a very early age. Robert Doisneau lost his parents at an early age and was raised by an unloving aunt. Aged 14, he enrolled at the Ecole Estienne, a craft school where he graduated in 1929, with diplomas in engraving and lithography. A year later, he started working for « Atelier Ullmann » as a publicity photographer. In 1931, Robert Doisneau met his future wife Pierrette Chaumaison, with whom he will have three children and also started working as an assistant for modernist photographer, André Vigneau. André Vigneau will introduce Robert Doisneau to a « new objectivity in Photography ». In 1932, Robert Doisneau sold his first photographic story to Excelsior magazine. In 1934, car manufacturer Renault hired Robert Doisneau as an industrial photographer in the Boulogne Billancourt factory. He was fired in 1939 as he was consistantly late. Without a job, Robert Doisneau became a freelance photographer trying to earn his living in advertising, engraving and in the postcard industry. Shortly before WWII, Robert Doisneau was hired by Charles Rado, founder of the Rapho Agency. His first photographic report on canoeing in Dordogne was abruptly interrupted by the war declaration. Drafted into the French army as soldier and photographer he was relieved from duty in 1940. Until the end of the war, he used his skills to forge passports and identification papers for the French Resistance.
07 / JUNE 2020 Robert Doisneau
08 / JUNE 2020 Images by Robert Doisneau After the war, Robert Doisneau became a freelance photographer and rejoined with the Rapho agency (1946). It is probably at this time that mutual influence with Jacques-Henri Lartigue found its origin. He started producing numerous photographic stories on various subjects: Parisian news, popular Paris, foreign countries (USSR, United-States...). Some of his stories would be published in prestigious magazines, LIFE, PARIS MATCH, REALITES... In 1947, Robert Doisneau met Robert Giraud with whom he will have a life long friendship and a fruitful collaboration. Doisneau will publish more than 30 albums such as “La Banlieue de Paris” (The suburbs of Paris, Seghers 1949) with texts written by French Author Blaise Cendrars. From 1948 to 1953, Robert Doisneau also worked for Vogue Magazine as a fashion photographer. It is also at that time that he joined Group XV and participated alongside Rene Jacques, Willy Ronis and Pierre Jahan in promoting photography and its heritage preservation.
In 1950, Robert Doisneau created his most recognizable work, le Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville for Life magazine. Although Doisneau’s most recognized work dates from the 1950’s and old style magazine interest was declining in Europe in the early 1970’s, Doisneau continued to produce children’s books, advertising photography and celebrity portraits. His talent as a photographer has been rewarded on numerous occasions: Kodak prize 1947 Niepce Prize recipient in 1956 In 1960, he held his first solo exhibition in Chicago (Museum of Modern Art) In 1975 he is the guest of honour of les “Rencontres d’Arles” Grand prix National de la Photographie 1983 Balzac Prize recipient 1986 In 1991, the Royal Photographic Society awarded Robert Doisneau an Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) Robert Doisneau died in 1994, six months after his wife. He is buried alongside her in Raizeux.
09 / JUNE 2020 Images by Robert Doisneau
Robert Doisneau
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14 / JUNE 2020
Creating greeting cards and posters in Photoshop with your own images can be very rewarding. Follow these few easy steps
Photoshop’s Layer Styles enable you to enhance your images with a huge range of creative effects that are fun and easy to use. In this Tutorial we’ll chisel some text into the stony surface of our starting image courtesy of the Type tool, Blend modes and Layer Styles. You can adapt the technique to create your own custom greetings cards or poster text. The Horizontal Type tool produces filled vector shapes that you can edit to change the font and characters, just as you would with a word processing package. This gives you freedom to tweak your text at any time, even after you’ve used Layer Styles to make it look like it’s carved in stone. We’ve used the Emboss Layer Style to give the flat 2D text the illusion of depth. The interior of the text has a smoother granite pattern added to it to make the text easier to read. A Blend mode helps to mix the original stone with the granite pattern. You could also change the lighting of the Layer Style so that the shadows and the highlights in the 3D text match the lighting in the source image. In this tutorial we are only scratching the surface of what Layer Styles have to offer in relation to your creative projects, so experiment with other attributes in the Layer Styles panel to see the potential.
15 / JUNE 2020
Type some text Open your starting image and click on the horizontal type tool. Set the font menu in the options bar to a bold font and set the size to 200pt. Set the colour of the font to white. Type in some text. A text layer will appear. If you want to rotate the image, press Cmd/Ctrl+ T and drag or rotate at an angle, hit enter.
Set the layer style Set the text layer’s blend mode to darken. The white text will vanish. Click the fx icon at the bottom of the layers panel to summon the pop up list. The layer style window will open. Set the style drop-down menu to emboss. Set technique to chisel hard.
Dig deeper Set the depth slider to 261%. In the shading section set the angle to 23 degrees and altitude to 48 degrees. This makes the shadows and highlights match the lighting of the source image. Extra effects Click the inner shadow attribute to activate and edit it. Set the distance in to 59 and size to 27. The direction of the ligting will match the settings used in bevel and emboss Set the blend mode to color burn and opacity to 100.
16 / JUNE 2020
ONE STAR WINNER 10 June
Why are you late Peter Fine
17 / JUNE 2020
ONE STAR WINNER 10 June
Arum Lilly
Tahlita Verster
18/ JUNE 2020
TWO STAR WINNER 10 June
Delicate feed
Tony Wilson
19 / JUNE 2020 COMPOSITION 101
TWO STAR WINNER 10 June
Blue eyes
Tony Wilson
20/ JUNE 2020
THREE STAR WINNER 10 June
Lion
Augusto Dias
21/ JUNE 2020
THREE STAR WINNER 10 June
Delicious treat
Caryn Wilson
22 / JUNE 2020
FOUR STAR WINNER 10 June
Sunrise above the clouds Clare Appleyard
23 / JUNE 2020
Salon Definitions extracted from the PSSA website DEFINITIONS Introduction For the purposes of competitions, salons and specialist honours applications, all images entered in any of the two media (Prints and Projected Digital Images) are each divided into three categories: Nature, Open and Photojournalism (PJ). There are two categories for Audio-Visual, Open and Documentary. Any event choosing to run with any of the defined categories in this document must abide by these PSSA definitions. Salons and competitions may choose to have other sections as well, and for these they may make their own definitions. However, the definitions must be clear and precise. Disqualifications should only be made when the salon director and/or judges are sure of their facts. PSSA reserves the right to withhold or disqualify any image which is considered to infringe upon the common laws of decency and copyright. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Members are reminded that they should read the rules of all events very carefully, as the rules may differ. MANIPULATION Manipulation shall constitute any or all of the following modifications to the original image: Adding an element to the image that was not contained in the original capture; Removing an element from the image that was contained in the original capture; Moving or repositioning an element of the image that was contained in the original capture; In the categories of Nature and Photojournalism, manipulation is not allowed. In Open there is no restriction whatsoever in the way authors choose to post process an image. The following actions are allowed and are not seen as manipulation: Cropping Correction of lens distortion, chromatic aberrations, purple fringing, lens vignette and vertical/horizontal perspective adjustments; Removal of dust spots or scratch marks from sensor or scanned images; The blending of different exposures of the same scene to broaden the dynamic range e.g. High Dynamic Range (HDR); Photo stacking to overcome the limitations of the digital sensor heat artefacts in long exposures. Focus stacking to widen the depth of field especially in Macro photography. In the case of Nature and Wildlife, HDR and focus stacking will not be considered as manipulation, and may be used provided that the end result is a faithful representation of the original scene. Please note: HDR and Focus stacking are not allowed in Photojournalism. Study the rules for each event as they will be unique.
Closing dates for upcoming Salons 2020 find the information brochures on the PSSA website
We want to encourage all or members to support these Salons in return for all the support we had with the EPC Salon 11 July 2020 4th Westwille National Salon 18 July 3rd Pietersburg FK Salon 01 August 2020 15th Krugersdorp National Salon ( 90 year anniversary) 08 August PSSA National AV salon 15 August 2020 1st Bethal National Salon 28 August 6th Bosveld National Salon 05 September 2020 5th Southern Suburbs National Salon
24 / JUNE 2020
FIVE & 5 STAR HONOURS WINNER
10 June
On the tip of the tongue Dino Bottega
25 / JUNE 2020
FIVE & 5 STAR HONOURS WINNER
10 June
Reclining Princess_ Hanli Smit
26 / JUNE 2020 MEMBER FOCUS ANDREW MAYES
Member FOCUS ANDREW
MAYES I’ve always enjoyed spending time outdoors, and have made a point to always have my camera with me when going on game drives and walks. Initially that was a Nikon Coolpix compact camera, but unfortunately that met its end 10 years ago in the Okavango swamp when the mokoro I was in capsized and us and all our belongings ended up at the bottom of the river. When I got back to SA after that trip I needed to get a replacement, so I took the opportunity to upgrade to a Canon DSLR and put more effort into my photography by attending some part time courses. My favourite genre is definitely Wildlife, however since I’ve joined the club I’ve been trying my hand at a few different genres, and have been enjoying black and white, and portrait photography, so I’m going to be focussing on improving in those 3 genres There are a few photographers I admire. Katharine Forsyth is a really great wedding photographer who I knew when she was still living in JHB and whose work also formed part of my decision to go the DSLR route. On the wildlife front I find Michael Tuckers and Tom Svensson’s work very inspiring and follow both their pages on facebook. Their photos are amazing. I also find Ernest Porter’s dedication to photographing the raptors at Walter Sisulu botanical gardens very admirable. I still have much to learn in my photography, so at the moment I’m just focussing on improving my skills to get better results. I think for me the biggest thing I would like to achieve is to look at my work over a few years and see that I am making progress, and to still be enjoying my photography at the same time Having said that though, it would be really great if one of my shots gets published in the getaway magazine, or any other travel magazine. and I would also like to start offering portrait photo shoots on a part time basis if possible. I’d also like to get promoted to 5 stars at the club eventually.
27 / JUNE 2020 MEMBER FOCUS ANDREW MAYES The club scene at Edenvale is amazing. I have learnt so much from the feedback I receive from the judges and other members, and it’s been great meeting new friends who are also just as passionate about photography. It has really helped me grow. In my camera bag when I go out on a game drive I carry a Canon 500D and 800D body, a Sigma 120-400mm Lens for the wildlife shots, 24mm and 50mm canon fixed focal lenses for landscape and scenery shots, a metz af-1 flash, and a bean bag to keep everything steady as well as some spare batteries and memory cards for backup. I have recently bought a Sigma 150-600mm lens though, so I’ll need to get a bigger bag soon too :)
Andrew Mayes PHOTOGRAPHY
28 / JUNE 2020
ONE STAR WINNER 24 June
I see you blending..
Linda Carter
29 / JUNE 2020
ONE STAR WINNER 24 June
Serenity
Linda Carter
30 / JUNE 2020
TWO STAR WINNER 24 June
Feasting Butterfly
Andrew Mayes
31/ JUNE 2020
TWO STAR WINNER 24 June
Happy Mantis
Andrew Mayes
32 / JUNE 2020
THREE STAR WINNER 24 June
African Jacarna
Stephen
Kangisser
33 / JUNE 2020
THREE STAR WINNER 24 June
Autumn emmarentia
Kenneth Kubheka
34 / JUNE 2020
FOUR STAR WINNER 24 June
Dandelion study
Des Alexander
35 / JUNE 2020
Diamond Ratings are for PSSA members only. For more information, and the application forms, download the PDF document from the PSSA website
Find below please find some important, general rules relating to this:
Diamond Ratings are for achievement by PSSA members in: - South African National and South African International Salons with PSSA patronage. - All other International Salons with patronage by one or more of: * The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain * The Photographic Society of America *The Australian Photographic Society * The Chinese Photographic Society * FIAP (Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique) * No more than 50% of your acceptance points may be claimed from overseas based salons General Rules Monochrome: No image already claimed in either Colour Open or Colour Nature may be desaturated and be claimed in the Monochrome Section. Application forms are to be found under the Salons tab on the home page of the PSSA website. Please return your completed application form to the Regalia Division of PSSA, with the necessary fee. As a PSSA member you automatically participate in the annual trophy competition,s namely the Impala Trophy, the Top Ten Awards and the Top Salon Points Awards, based on total salon acceptances over a year (calculated from 1 July until 30 June). Only three credits may be claimed for 1 digital image, print or audio-visual sequence. Certain images can qualify for both Open and Nature (e.g. Landscape with no human elements) but only a maximum of three acceptances per image is allowed. All credits are carried forward continuously as progress is made through the Diamond Rating. The onus to apply for advancement in the Diamond Rating will rest with the individual and not by automatic notification from PSSA. Acceptances received prior to joining PSSA may also be included up to one year prior to joining “Open” is everything that is not nature, such as sport, altered reality, pictorial, photo travel, etc. A category that allows both Colour and Monochrome images will be classified as open. Salon Judges will be credited with a number of points per section they judge equal to the number of Images in that section, on both National and International Salons. Judging points may not constitute more than 33% of the total number of points claimed. No more than 50% of your acceptance points may be claimed from overseas-based salons.
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5* & 5 Star Honours Winners 24 June
Tailspin
Dino Bottega
37 / JUNE 2020
5* & 5 Star Honours Winners 24 June
SImplicity
Antonette Bezuidenhout
38 / JUNE 2020
SPECIAL SUBJECT “Abstract” Winner
People walking in the rain Hanli Smit
39 / JUNE 2020
SPECIAL SUBJECT “Shadows” Winner
Shaddow
Dave Gordon
40 / JUNE 2020
FOCUS ON VISITING JUDGE
Kathy K A Y
I have always loved photography and for as long as I can remember, I was taking photos and sending the negs off to have prints made. To be honest, I wasn’t all that good, although I was very often the designated photographer at family and social outings. My life changed in 2009 when I was persuaded to join the Hibiscus Coast Photographic Society. I loved club evenings and couldn’t wait to enter my images and hear the crits. I would jot down the comments and go home and make the changes suggested. I have never forgotten how crushed I would be when my image was not up to standard and try to remember that whenever I crit other photographer’s images………. Slowly , with plenty of practice and listening to my mentors (in particular Henry Oppel), my photography improved and I eventually started judging club images and then salons. I love photography and am continually learning from and being inspired by others. As a result, I try to give back what I have learnt. My favourite genre is wildlife photography, and I am content to spend every holiday in the bush, patiently searching for that perfect shot. I also love all other types of photography, in particular seascapes. Because I do our monthly set subject blog and often judge, I have made a determined effort doing JAP courses and independent reading, to try and understand and appreciate all other categories. I am fortunate in that I have been awarded my APSSA as well as EPSSA(cls). My proudest moment in photography was walking into the Skukuza shop (in Kruger National Park) one day, and seeing my image of a baby baboon on the front cover of ‘photo tales’. My most rewarding moment was winning a national photo competition, the prize being a fully inclusive 5 day safari for two people in Botswana, with Pangolin safaris.
41/ JUNE 2020 IMAGES BY Kathy Kay
Gemsbok in serious fight 1st prize in Pangolin wildlife competition
Help mom I am falling
Cover photo on
‘photo tales’
42/ JUNE 2020 IMAGES BY Kathy Kay
Pink and Blue will do
And I can fly
Polo crosse champs surge forward
Due to the National Lockdown our Photo Club meetings were suspended, Kathy Kay did remote judging via Zoom The Committee and members of Edenvale Photo Club want to take this oppertunity to thank Kathy for Sharing her images with us and affording us her presious time
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Some Tips for Night Photography
Night photography techniques to capture detailed scenes with limited lighting Taking pictures at night can be quite challenging for beginners. It requires you to manipulate ISO, aperture, and shutter speed among many other things. Follow these useful techniques to help you shoot in the dark. Once you learn the basics, you’ll find out that night photography is really fun. Don’t be afraid to experiment and you’ll be rewarded with stunning images you’ll be proud of.
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A sturdy tripod is a must
Before delving into night photography, you need a sturdy tripod. Taking photographs in dim conditions requires long exposures, which means your camera has to be steady at all times. Get one that can handle a heavy camera, preferably made of aluminum (or carbon fiber if you have more money) since it’s both light and durable. Use your tripod’s bubble spirit level to determine whether your tripod is straight or not. Alternatively, you can turn on your camera’s virtual horizon (typically found in the camera menu) to make sure your equipment is leveled. Also, consider buying a mini tripod for tricky angles. Sometimes, the best vantage points for your night shots may be in places where regular tripods can’t fit. With a mini tripod, you can shoot beautiful night shots from the ground or even a table top.
Use manual focus
Autofocus in modern cameras may be highly reliable, but it’s still not foolproof. Its weakness is especially evident when taking pictures at night, where your camera struggles to adjust because it’s dark. Using manual focus ensures your camera doesn’t randomly focus on any part of the scene you’re photographing. Turn your manual focus to infinity (∞ symbol on your lens). To ensure that the scene you’re photographing is crisp, turn on the Live View Mode and press the Zoom-in button (the one with the magnifying lens icon). Magnify the subject you want to be in focus, then adjust until it’s pin sharp. Don’t switch on the autofocus function any time during the photo shoot. Otherwise, it will override anything you did manually. This technique may take a while to get used to, but it’s more reliable than your autofocus in poor lighting.
Use low ISO
If possible Using high ISO seems to make sense when shooting at night, but doing so also increases the noise in your images. The newest high-end cameras these days are so advanced, they allow you to take noiseless pictures at ridiculously high ISO settings (up to ISO 3200 or more). However, for most consumer cameras with limited light sensitivity range, sticking to a lower ISO is the most practical approach. Learn the limits of your camera’s ISO levels. To do this, take some low light test shots with different ISO settings. Examine the photos and find out at which ISO level it becomes too noisy. If it looks unusable at ISO 1600, then stick to settings lower than that. Just because your camera can shoot up to ISO 25,000 doesn’t mean you should use it. Since you’re using a tripod, It’s safe to keep your ISO low. Instead of bumping up the ISO, use slower shutter speeds and wider apertures, instead. ISO 100 may be impractical for night photography, but ISO 400, 800, or even ISO 1600 should be enough in most situations.
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When shooting at night, switch your image files to RAW
JPEG is the perfect file format for most casual photographers since they don’t take up too much space on your memory card. JPEG files can also be uploaded without being converted into another file. However, this file format also compresses your image files drastically, making it problematic when you’re shooting scenes with high dynamic range. When shooting at night, switch your image files to RAW in your camera’s menu. RAW files take up a lot of space on your memory card, and your images need to be edited afterward, but at least the quality of each image is preserved. Shoot RAW RAW is the best option to avoid grainy pictures due to low light and post-processing. Unlike JPEG, RAW files maintain their quality even after post-processing. After editing your image file, you can always convert a RAW file to any format you want, including JPEG or PNG.
Take test shots
Unlike taking photos in the daytime, night photography requires you to be more methodical. You can’t simply press the shutter when you’re shooting in low light situations. You need to know the exact settings to use for your camera, and to do that, you need to take some test shots. Taking test shots lets you to experiment with different creative shots. If you’re wondering if it’s possible to photograph light streaks, then tinker with the settings to figure out how you can achieve the shot you want. You can also try various perspectives to make your image more interesting. It also allows you to fine tune your camera settings. If your initial settings produced a dark picture, then adjust it again until you find the correct exposure. Play around with different ISO levels, apertures, and shutter speeds. First, take a regular photograph in either Aperture or Speed Priority. Take note of the aperture and shutter speed settings, then adjust incrementally until you find the ideal exposure. If you want a quicker, more refined method, you can try also try bracketing your shots.
SET SUBJECT CALENDAR
July
NIGHT LIGHTS
Aug
TEXTURES
Sept
PEOPLE AT WORK
Oct
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
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Do bracket exposures
It can be challenging to nail the perfect exposure when taking pictures at night. Minimize guesstimating your settings by bracketing your shots. This technique involves taking a series of photographs at different exposure settings. Each picture you take incrementally gets brighter or darker. Ideally, one of those photos will give you the exposure that you want. You can bracket your exposure either manually or automatically. For manual bracketing, set your camera to either Aperture Priority or Speed Priority. Take one regular photo, then use the Exposure Compensation button (the button with +/- symbol) in the subsequent images to adjust the exposure. Automatic Bracketing function is found in your camera’s Shooting Menu. Apart from giving you a selection of exposures in-camera, you can also use the bracketed pictures to create High Dynamic Range (HDR) images. By combining several images in an editing tool, this technique recreates the exposure range and the details that a regular camera is unable to capture.
Shoot in Aperture Priority Mode for static subjects
If you don’t yet fully understand how Manual Mode works, then feel free to use Aperture Priority. Shooting in this mode lets you choose the aperture you want and automatically selects the shutter speed. Aperture Priority is the quickest way to take pictures at night. Once you set your camera to this mode and choose a wide aperture, you’re ready to shoot. As long as you don’t have moving subjects, this mode is the safest way to take nighttime photos. It’s also perfect for shooting static scenes like buildings and landscapes. However, since it doesn’t let you change the shutter speed manually, it’s hard to know whether moving subjects (such as people or cars) in your photo will be blurry or sharp. If you want more control in photographing moving objects, then you need to switch to Manual Mode or Speed Priority Mode.
Play with different shutter speeds
If you want to capture moving objects like the cars in the image above, then switch to Shutter Priority. Just select the shutter speed, and the camera automatically selects the aperture. This mode helps you produce impressive light streaks and dreamy landscapes at night. Once again, test shots are necessary to achieve the effect that you want to create. To shoot colorful trails, you can set your camera to low shutter speeds (from 1/30 down to 30 seconds). Just keep in mind that the slower the shutter speed, the longer the light trails. Using the widest aperture setting for long exposures isn’t necessary. Sometimes, the combination of really slow shutter speeds and wide aperture can overexpose an image. You’d be surprised how much light your camera gathers even in dimly lit environments. When you’re in Shutter Priority Mode, just look at your camera’s selected aperture, and you’ll see that it can be as small as f/22 for an exposure of a few seconds long. Shutter Priority is also perfect for photographing the night sky. Typical exposure times for photographing stars is between 10 seconds to 30 seconds. Remember that the stars move across the sky, so if you expose your shot long enough, you’ll see start seeing star trails.
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Experiment with Bulb Mode
The longest shutter speed for most cameras is about 30 seconds. However, sometimes you’ll find yourself in situations where 30 seconds isn’t enough to make a proper exposure. That’s when Bulb Mode comes in. This function allows you to open the shutter as long as you press the camera button. In most cameras, Bulb is typically found after 30” in Manual Mode. Using Bulb Mode effectively overrides any automatic functions set by the camera, so you have to be comfortable using Manual Mode to use it. Since you’ll be opening the shutter for more than 30 seconds, select a larger f-stop like f/8, f/11, or even f/22 for exposures that last a few minutes. Using a smaller aperture lessens the chances of overexposing your shot. For extremely long exposure times, you can use the lowest ISO possible for your camera. Like all the other modes discussed in this article, take some test shots and adjust accordingly until you get the shot that you want. Bulb Mode requires more confidence to use, but it also allows you to experiment freely. Because it lets you expose an image without any time constraints, it’s perfect for “light painting” where you can “scribble” or “draw” in the air using light sources such as a flashlight.