From Author Harold Davis:
I was recently asked to compile ten of my favorite tips and techniques from Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers. Here's a look at what I selected, along with the photos from the book that are used to illustrate each technique or tip and page references to text that explains the technique more thoroughly.
Briefly noted: these are not hardware tips (like what memory card to buy), these are photographic ideas that will help you stretch your technique and help you create the photos you can see in your mind's eye.
Top Ten Tips on Light and Exposure 1. Choose a wide-open aperture for low depth of field. Using aperture-preferred metering or manual exposure control, choose a wide-open aperture such as f/4.0. The resulting low depth of field, possibly combined with motion blur, will create a pleasing effect. (Pages 50-55.) | |
2. Use a slow shutter speed to blur the motion of water. Fast shutter speeds capture moving water crisply, and slow shutter speeds show water in motion as a blur. To create a very pleasing diffuse blur effect with quickly moving water, try a very long exposure time, for example, about three minutes. (Pages 92-94.) | |
3. Boost the IS0 to use noise creatively. | |
4. Don't worry about white balance. | |
5. Use a light box and overexposure to create a transparent effect. | |
6. To get your exposure right at night, try a test exposure at a high ISO. | |
7. Create a studio of your own. | |
8. Use the RAW data in a photo to extend the dynamic range of your images. | |
9. Transform your photos to black and white using color information in the photo. | |
10. Get your camera off automatic. When you use auto exposure, you are letting your camera make the important decisions about the exposure of your photos. Take back control! Getting your camera off automatic means learning to really understand exposures. Furthermore, once you know how to set manual exposures you may find that your exposure settings are better and more creative than those the camera would have picked. By using manual exposure, you'll also find out when it is appropriate to use an automatic or semi-automatic exposure mode. |
You may be passionate about photography, and own a digital SLR with perhaps more advanced equipment as well. But do the photographs you take with this powerful equipment come out as well as you'd like?
With this fascinating and beautifully illustrated book, you learn how to apply the techniques and principles of classic photography so you can make great images with today's digital equipment. Harold Davis, author and renowned fine art photographer, puts the focus in Practical Artistry on light and exposure, two crucial concepts you need to understand and master if you are to truly capture the images you see.
Davis presents a generous number of his own images in each chapter, complete with technical information and an explanation of what he was trying to achieve. These striking photographs not only illustrate the lesson at hand, but also serve as inspiration for your own efforts. Browsing the photographs alone will tell you a lot.
Topics covered in this book include:
- Camera, lenses, and equipment
- Understanding exposure and measuring light
- Relationship of aperture to shutter speed and ISO
- Working with depth of field
- Natural lighting, studio lighting, and the use of flash
- Light and color temperature
- Working with white balance
- Photographing at dawn or dusk
- Photography at night
- Capturing motion
- Telling a story with your image
- Capturing people, places, and things
- Setting up a digital workflow
- RAW processing and double RAW processing
- Adjusting exposure and reducing noise
- Black & white photography
- And much more
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