Cloudy or Sunny-Which is Best For Photographs?

Many photographers, especially professionals, will say that overcast cloudy days are best. However, this is actually more for practical reasons rather than aesthetic ones.

One advantage of cloudy days is that because of the lack of dark heavy shadows, there is less contrast and it is much easier to find a good exposure. There is usually quite a range of exposure settings that will look good.

The light on an overcast day is soft and this is normally much more flattering for portraits. Also, the light is more or less the same in all directions, which gives you much greater freedom, for instance, in choosing a suitable background for portrait shots.

The biggest disadvantage of cloudy days is that your pictures can often look dull and flat. This can be a particular problem for landscape photographers. Another problem is that a cloudy sky (unless it's very dark) is often much brighter than it looks and can easily just bleach out to a flat white in your photographs. If you reduce the exposure so the sky turns out the way it looks, everything else in the picture may be badly underexposed. It is best to try and include as little of the sky as possible when shooting on cloudy days.

When the sun comes out

On sunny days, things are very different. Colours are brighter, richer and more saturated. Everything in your pictures is more clearly defined and your photographs may even look sharper because the sunlight will bring out any edges and textures. Even the blue of the sky will come out more like it looks to the naked eye.

The other big difference is that the light is now very directional and that is very important for photographers. Unlike on a cloudy day, the direction you shoot in, relative to the sun, will now make a tremendous difference to your photographs. Almost everything will now look much better from one particular angle, depending on how the sun is striking it.

This angle keeps changing throughout the day so something that looked stunning in the morning can seem quite ugly in the afternoon. In landscape photography, the direction of the sun makes a great deal of difference. Many landscape photographers will visit a location at different times of the day just to gauge the effect of the changing position of the sun.

The worst time of day is probably mid-day, when the sun is directly overhead, this is not really a flattering light. The lower in the sky the sun is, the more interesting its effect on the landscape. This has led to photographers naming the hours after sunrise and before sunset as "golden hours". It's not just the colour of the light that makes them golden, but the direction too.

Another advantage of sunny days is simply that there is more light around, which always helps in the pursuit of photography. It means, for example, that you can keep the ISO number low for better quality or use a faster shutter speed for less chance of camera shake.

The downside of shooting on sunny days is mainly that the high contrast may make choosing the right exposure quite tricky, but by no means impossible. If in doubt, just shoot several different exposures and choose the best one later. The issue of the sun's direction can be a blessing or a curse. Most things will look better in sunlight, but more often than not, only at one particular time of day and from one specific angle.

What's best?

For portrait photographers, probably overcast most of the time and landscape photographers are much more likely to prefer sunlight, especially at the beginning and end of the day.

Colin Aiken is a professional photographer based in the United Kingdom. His new website is full of photographs, useful information and news about photography. Take a look at: http://www.lovethepictures.co.uk

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Digital Photography During Any Kind Of Wealther

If you are a photographer you know that bad weather does not have to stop you from going out and getting that fantastic digital photograph. This is your chance to get that kind of photograph that you can't just go out and take on any kind of day. These photographs can really show some crazy weather shots, like lightning storms, or just a dreary, rainy afternoon, and snow shots are very cool to see.

The harder it is for you to capture these kinds of photographs the more money someone would probably pay you for them. If you're an adventurous kind of photographer these kinds of shots will be just ideal for you. With safety in toe, take a calculated risk in order to create the perfect digital experience.

If you are taking digital photographs outside in the rain you will notice the way the rain tends to make everything around just shine. Whether your in the city or out in the country, looking across a field of grass or flowers, everything just seems to kind of sparkle. This can create a really nice photograph. Actually the rain, along with a few good size clouds can create just the perfect natural light setting, removing any fade outs or shadows that might appear in your digital photograph otherwise. With a little bit of rain you will have the chance to create some really great landscaping photographs or even of the wildlife that surrounds you, if you're in the right spot at the right time. Just make sure you have something to cover up your lens to keep the droplets away. You don't mind the rain but when it gets on your lens that could be a problem.

Taking a photograph of lightning can be complicated, you have to snap it at just the right time and that is very unpredictable. You will have to have a tripod for taking these kinds of photographs and a rather long shutter speed. You can hold down your shutter manually if you'd like so that all you have to do is shut it on your own as the lighting passes through the sky or slams down onto the grounds. You'll want this kind of photograph to be as bright as you can possibly get it, to get that full affect.

Snow photographs are a very appealing photograph to create. The light from the snow creates such a nice contrast along with all of it's surroundings. Capturing a photograph of the snow melting off the tree limbs or using the snow as a nice background for whatever your main object is that you are photographing. Some nice nature shots or friends and family playing in the snow, or you could even get a nice portrait type picture with snow all around.

You can do so many things when using digital photography, even things that may seem a little bit extreme. Making sure you have all the right gear and the drive to get out there and take risks is all you need, no matter what mother nature has in mind for that occasion.

Professional engineer in the IT industry engage in marketing online,home base business. Visit us at: http://www.emarkethall.com

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Interior Photography

Interior photography is very demanding and the photographer must be sensitive to all the elements that will appear in the final print. Most rooms consist of small objects that look good in the room, but in a print, these objects may cluster the image.

Photographing interiors involves working within a confined space, so the first thing you need is a suitable lens. Most of us would prefer to use a wide-angle lens, but this lens causes problems with image distortion. Distortion is a large and common problem when shooting interiors, but can be reduced if you use a lens with the focal length set between 80 and 100.

Interior images should be bright, with perfect exposure and have fresh vibrant colours. This is the standard used by publishers all over the world. To achieve this the photographer must be able to control these elements and have a very good understanding of light.

Light will play an important part when photographing interiors. Most of your images will be shot with a low shutter speed, because natural light levels will be very low, so a tripod will be needed. If the natural light is good, use a reflector to bounce the light into the dark areas of the room.

If the natural light is not good enough you will have to use a strobe unit. Try to bounce the light off a photographic umbrella to soften the light in the room. If you are using more than one light have some reflectors with you.

Composition is very important when photographing interiors. Here are some pointers that you may find useful and helpful:

Look out for lines that will lead to the focal point of your image. By leading with lines into the main part of the scene you will draw observers into your photograph. These lines don't have to be straight. They can be a row of seats or interesting converging vertical objects.

Simple foreground objects are also perfect for composition. Patterns on a floor can give your interior a greater sense of depth. Use a small aperture (f/22) to keep the entire scene in focus.

Try to frame your scene with some of the elements in the room. This will focus attention on the main part of the picture.

Tiles on the floor and walls can be very handy as composition when photographing a room - use the tiles to focus attention on the focal point of the room. When photographing bathrooms, if possible exclude the toilet. Always try to exclude anything that you think is distasteful.

Sometimes framed pictures hanging on walls will appear distorted so it is best not to include them. If you are photographing someone's home ask the owner before you move items.

Good interior images are not easy to take but the rewards are great if you can master the trade. If you are unsure of the standard, buy some of the magazines that use these images. Publishers pay fine prices for well exposed, good quality indoor images.

TJ Tierney is an award winning photographer and a freelance writer. To find out more information visit his free http://www.goldprints.com photography and http://www.goldprints.com/digital_photography.html digital photography site. His site also contains a free http://www.goldprints.com/photography_competition.html photography competition

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Colourful Balls on the city area

Basic techniques for taking great landscape photos

Basic techniques for taking great landscape photos
People often enjoy good landscape photographs because of the almost magical nature of the photos to transport the viewer to the location that was photographed. Although seemingly simple to take, only photographers who are aware of some key techniques will take very good landscape photos.

If you look at a few of the really great landscape photographs, you will be able to identify a certain amount of common elements to them. There is a foreground portion, appropriate composure or framing and they will all draw on the rule of thirds one way or another.

The foreground

When you consider landscapes, they are often vast, breathtaking areas which can be awe-inspiring when you are physically present. To reproduce this effect in photography, you need to present the viewer with a sense of dimension. The best way to do this is to include an element that can be easily distinguishable in the foreground.

This way, you show your viewer the true size of the landscape and they will be able to relate to it better. One main point to remember in landscape photography is that your pictures need to be in focus from foreground to background. The way to do this is to shoot with a narrow aperture. This is also referred to as using a high f/stop.

You need to scout your landscape area first for elements which you can use as foreground elements. Consider the following example: you’re shooting a lovely vineyard located in a mountainous region. One element you can easily include is an individual grape vine. Since the vineyard will be scattered with these vines, you can frame your photo to have one or two of these vines in the foreground. Since there will be so many of them, the viewer will be able to follow the line of vines towards the distance thereby gaining a sense of understanding of the vastness of the vineyard and landscape itself.

Different photographers prefer different elements to depict as their foreground. Some other examples of this are using a car to photograph a long, winding road or a boat on a beach. These elements themselves can be the subject of the photograph as well.

Otherwise there are instances when an old metal railing is used in the foreground to photograph a big city in the background. If executed correctly, mis-matching foreground and background elements can be quite compelling. Think Central Park in New York City with grass and trees in the foreground and big buildings in the background.

Composition

Composing or framing your photograph is another way you can draw attention to where you want your viewer’s eyes to go. It adds more context to your subject. Framing elements can be objects like trees, a window or doorway. Some photographers use the technique of placing the branches of a tree on the upper part of the frame that seem to ‘point’ to the landscape you are photographing. Having framing elements in your photographs to ‘lead’ the viewer’s eyes to your subject or by surrounding your subject is usually a good technique to learn.

When framing your subjects in this manner, make sure you don’t make the mistake of drawing attention to your framing elements by not focusing correctly. Since you’re taking landscape photography, use a high f/stop to gain good focus on both your foreground and background elements. Ideally, you would want your framing elements to be a little less prominent than your subject. One sure way of doing this is to use the light creatively to render the framing elements slightly darker than the subject. Think of an archway which is slightly shadowed which leads to a large garden and castle.

The Rule of Thirds

This often misunderstood and badly used technique is practically essential in landscape photography. Because of the nature of landscape photography being so wide, a certain amount of structure is required. Achieving this structure is easy by applying the rule of thirds. The basic idea of the rule of thirds is that the frame can be divided into 3 horizontal and 3 vertical sections. The ideal locations to place the important points of your composition is where these lines meet. In landscape photography, the rule is invaluable to photographers who need to determine where to place foreground and horizon. It can either be 1/3 sky or 1/3 land.

A simple guide to colour photography

There are four main types of colour that you will come across in photography.Most award winning photos will usually contain only one type of colour.

Contrasting Color:
Two colours that when placed together cause one to dominate the other.The contrasting colour for red is blue and for yellow it's green.

Complimentary Colour:
Two colours on opposite sides of the colour wheel,which when placed next to each other make both appear brighter.The complementary colour for red is green,for blue it's orange,and for yellow it's purple.

Monochromatic:
A photograph taken in shades of only one colour.Not always the realm of black and white but where all colours appear as the same tonal range,think soft lit landscapes,moody window shots,David hamilton nudes etc.Usually seen as neutralcolours,such as browns and greys,very dramatic if used in the right context.

Spot Colour:
A monochromatic picture can be turned into a masterpiece simply by adding a spot colour.Adding a red or yellow spot colour lifts the picture dramatically.

The Art of photography-interior shot

this two photography taking at the singapore conference hall,during my photography assignment,i am using Nikon D80 camera to cupture this 2 image.