The large majority of all photos taken are shot from eye level. There’s nothing wrong with eye level but, well, it can get a bit samey after a while. The good news is that if you break the mould and try shooting from low down or high up, you new viewpoints will be more likely to create a visual impact that will stop people in their tracks.

Viewpoints – Shooting Low

There are lots of good reasons to sample new viewpoints and choose a low shooting angle. Here are a few of them:

Architecture

With architecture the usual aim is to keep the camera perpendicular to avoid the edges of the building converging inwards. Some types of building however, especially tall, modern ones, lend themselves to distorting the perspective in this way. The standard method is to select a wideangle lens, and shoot from as close as you can, tilting the camera up as much as you can. The greater the tilt, the more the distortion. Sometimes, if you really can’t keep the edges of a building straight, it’s better to go for extreme distortion than suffer just a little bit, as at least this will look deliberate.

Landscapes

Scenic shots often benefit from a lower shooting angle. Choosing a low angle emphasises what’s in the foreground, be it a fallen tree, an interesting plant, or the texture of the earth. If you’re on the coast or beside a lake, you can give more prominence to the rocks on the waterline. By shooting under a tree you can place an overhanging branch at the top of the image to frame the view beyond, but you may need to select a low angle to avoid the foliage obscuring the horizon.

Nature

Plants and flowers invariably look better when you’re shooting at their level rather than looking down at them from higher viewpoints. In many cases this will require placing the camera near ground level, so you may have to lie on the ground to look through the viewfinder. You’ll need a tripod of course, or some other form of support to hold the camera in position, and you should take a mat to lie or kneel on so you don’t get dirty. If your camera has a live view mode you may find this makes viewing and composing easier, especially if it also has a tilt and swivel screen. (If you’re in the market for a new DSLR and you do a lot of this sort of photography, this is a feature worth adding to your wish list.

Portraits

By looking up at your subject from a lower angle you make your portrait subject look more powerful and important. Combined with the right expression it can also help to make a subject look intimidating. When photographing children it’s a classic rule of thumb to get the camera down to their level, rather than pointing it down from above. In doing so you immediately enter their world and see things from their perspective which lends the image a greater sense of empathy.

Reportage

Trying to shoot candids without being spotted can be tricky. As soon as you put that camera to your eye people clam up, stop doing whatever it is that you wanted to photograph, or in some cases become hostile. One strategy is to shoot from the hip, with the camera hanging off its strap round your neck. From out of shutter-sound range, face the direction of your intended target and discreetly press the button. Set a wideangle focal length to ensure they’re in shot, and a moderate aperture to ensure good depth of field and make sure your subject is sharp. If it helps, set the self-timer, or use a wireless remote release and trigger it from your pocket.

Viewpoints – Shooting High

There are many reasons to choose a high shooting position…

Landscapes

Landscape and location photographers routinely choose high viewpoints to shoot vistas, whether an expansive mountain view or a city skyline. While a low angle will emphasise an object right in front of the camera, this object is also likely to obscure what’s in the middle distance. A high angle will place the camera above any such obstructions to provide a more accurate sense of relative distance from foreground to background.

Crowds

Raising the camera above your head to get a picture above a crowd is probably the most obvious reason to use a high angle. Whether at a sports event, concert or crowded club it’s the best way to avoid filling the frame with the backs of people’s heads.  If your arm isn’t long enough to get you the height you need, try attaching it to a monopod and holding the monopod above your head. Of course, you won’t be able to reach the shutter button so you’ll need to use the self-timer or a remote release. You’ll find a tilt and swivel LCD screen useful to help you compose accurately.

Portraits

A slightly high viewpoint is common practice when photographing people. Portraits are generally more flattering when taken from slightly above the subject’s eyeline, as it places less emphasis on the nose, nostrils and chin. But this is a subtle height difference. When you go for more extreme angles the subject’s relationship with the viewer changes. They become more subservient to the viewer and, depending on the context, can look vulnerable or lost in their surroundings.

Viewpoints – Useful Gear

Tilting LCD screen

If you have one on your DSLR, it can help you see to compose accurately when you may not be able to look through the viewfinder.

Remote release

A wireless or tethered remote release saves you having to crouch down or stretch up to take a photo.

Tripod

When shooting at awkward angles camera shake is a greater risk. A tripod that enables the legs to be splayed wide for low level shooting, or perhaps a tabletop tripod, can be invaluable.

Beanbag

An alternative to a tripod for shooting at ground level.

Monopod

A great way to get a high viewpoint. Attach the camera to the monopod and lift the monopod as high as you can.

Laptop

Some cameras come with software to enable you to connect your camera to a laptop and shoot tethered, even firing the shutter from the laptop itself.

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Leading Lines

Lines are capable of leading the viewer’s eye through the frame in different directions, usually either towards or away from a point of interest. Here’s our guide to photographing with leading lines.

Leading lines is one method that depends upon utilising scenic surroundings in a format to literally lead the eye following a subject through the image. It can be an addition that takes an image to that meaningful next level.

Lines are capable of leading the viewer’s eye through the frame in different directions, usually either towards or away from a point of interest. When you open a novel, for example, your eye has been trained to read from left to right from top to bottom. Imagery is different as the eye will grab at certain contrasting areas, yet still follow and ‘read through’ the image.

Composition of leading lines should consider viewpoint as this may provide a ‘look down’ onto natural lines such as pathways that wouldn’t be seen from ground eye level. Arranging natural lines also requires consideration of where you wish to place emphasis in the frame, as a line can lead to a key subject. Multiple lines can provide a more complex effect that leads the eye back and forth, though complex compositions can become unpleasant to look at. Leading lines often lead from the bottom of an image, leading into the centre or key thirds.

Splitting a composition with leading lines can also have an unusual yet appealing effect. By dissecting one area from another, a line can have a significant impact. Central lines can act as divisions or pointers from one area of an image to another too.

Leading Lines – Examples

Patterns

Leading lines don’t strictly have to be single, defined lines. Shooting at the right angle on a pattern, for example, can create real drama in an image and draw the eye through the frame.

Placement

Don’t always concentrate on placing the leading lines in the conventional position. Introduce the line from off-centre, and have it exit the frame at a differing position.

Emphasis

With a low angle and close-up to a leading line, you can add real impact to a shot. While leading lines are a great tool to draw the eye through a frame, they can themselves be the focus of a shot.

Multiple

Don’t always concentrate on just a single leading line in a shot. Introducing more than one can create a real dynamism, though don’t overcomplicate things.

Shape

Remember, leading lines don’t have to be straight. A meandering stream or winding road creates a sense of harmony within the shot.

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If you’re planning a trip abroad with your camera, keep the following tips in mind while you’re shooting and you’ll return home with some stunning images and interesting travel photography tales.

Explore

When you arrive, explore the area first. If you’re in a major city visit the tourist office for guides, maps and information on city tours. This will help you prioritise time between areas of interest.

Get Involved

Avoid just standing back as far as you can with a wideangle lens, as you’ll end up with the same shots as everybody else. Change your angles and try a telephoto zoom to focus on details for a more interesting range of images.

Details

Look for close-up details that help show the essence of a location. Sometimes it’s the smaller details that give us the most information.

Experiment

Don’t be afraid to overshoot, though not at the expense of good technique. Make sure you have enough memory cards and batteries to experiment with composition and exposure. Try different orientations and zoom in on details.

Time Of Day

Keep in mind what time of day will present the best light for landscape and architectural shots – usually early and late in the day.

Make Eye Contact

In between shots, drop the camera down so people can see your face; often a smile will show that you are non-confrontational.

Culture and Sport

Cultural ceremonies, dances and customs make for lively pictures. In crowded, touristy venues a good telephoto lens can help render the background out of focus. Sport can also be a good way to get an insight into a culture and its influences.

Tipping people

Tipping is a part of many other cultures, and subjects who are used to being photographed often expect it for the privilege of their picture. It’s worth finding out how much is expected in advance, and you can usually reduce the price by bartering. For the amount they would normally ask for, it’s not worth fighting about. This will afford you some flexibility in directing the shot and getting a good image, though it can sometimes lead to wooden expressions and unnatural poses.

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Carnivals take place in many cities and although they can all be colourful and spectacular, together with their own characteristics, none can compete in sheer scale and numbers to Rio Carnival, the annual celebration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

For the photographer, Rio Carnival is a riot of colour, spectacle and drama combined with stunning-looking participants whose energy is infused by the intoxicating music.

Forward Planning

Although it is all too easy to get carried away at an event like Rio Carnival, there is nothing like a little forward planning. For a start the first procession, or ‘school’ as they are called, begins at 10pm. The last one finishes around 6am! Apart from having the physical stamina to keep going, if you are shooting RAW, like I do, and only get around 40 shots on a 1GB card (this is the capacity I get on my new Canon EOS 1DS MK 2 which delivers 16.7MP), you will have to make provision for the downloading and storage of images.

Over an eight-hour period and seven schools it is easy to get through the equivalent of ten 1GB cards! As a rule I download my cards into my laptop and then back-up on my 80GB Firelite pocket drive, which NEVER leaves me! Remember, a digital image does not exist until it is backed up at least once.

Use Natural Light

The next consideration is the lighting. Remember, you are shooting at night and Rio Carnival will be lit artificially by floodlights and the illumination of the various floats. Of course, you could use flash, but with such a large arena even the most powerful unit will be pretty ineffective. The other point with flash is that even if it does work it could kill the atmosphere. So here I would only use it if I were closer in to my subject or using it in a slow-sync mode.

All the shots reproduced here were shot handheld with the camera set to an ISO of 400 and the white balance set to tungsten mode.

Choose a Vantage Point

I quickly realised that viewpoint was going to be essential. We can all get carried away by the occasion and think everything is wonderful but it rarely translates into a good shot. It became apparent early on that the best shots were going to be those taken close in or that could be taken from a higher viewpoint. Moving to the edge of the procession meant that I could get the close-in shots, while finding a higher viewpoint proved more difficult but not impossible.

Avoid Camera Shake

As I did not have a tripod I improvised by finding a wall that I could steady the camera on. This meant that I could shoot at speeds as low as 1/4 second and with the camera steady, the background remained sharp while the Rio Carnival dancers became slightly blurred, creating a real sense of movement. Be careful not to use too slow a shutter speed as the dancers could disappear altogether. I checked the LCD to make sure that I had got just the right speed.

Benefits of Image Stabilisation

Canon’s 70-200mm f2.8 image-stabilising lens has proved an invaluable piece of kit for me in many situations and the Rio Carnival was no exception. When shooting in low light and with the IS switched on, you gain the equivalent of three faster stops on the shutter. In other words, if the shutter is set at 1/30th sec, the effective speed is more like 1/250sec. Shooting with a tripod would have been out of the question so having this facility was an excellent feature and well worth the additional cost.

If you do use this lens with a tripod make sure you have the IS switched off. This is because the IS, when switched on, will not operate as it will detect automatically that a tripod is being used. However, because the lens uses the camera’s battery supply, it will still draw power and reduce the battery’s operating life by about 20%. When you’re shooting an event such as the Carnival it might not be possible to recharge the battery, so preserving power is essential. There are two shooting modes with this lens. If you are shooting hand-held, a stationary subject in low light or where flash is either prohibited or inappropriate; or you are being jostled by the crowd so that your footing is unsure, set the lens to ‘Mode One’. If your subject is moving and you are panning the camera then you will need to use ‘Mode Two’. In this mode the lens will detect that you are panning and will not try to compensate for the panning action. Either way the lens will use the camera’s battery power as described above and reduce its life.

John’s Top Tips for how to photograph Rio Carnival

1. 1. Always make sure that you have sufficient memory to record all the shots that you might take. Eight hours or more is a lot of shooting time and it is surprising how quickly you can get through a memory card.
2. 2. Be prepared to move about. If all your shots are taken from the same position they will look repetitive and boring. For this reason think ahead about the amount of kit you will take.
3. 3. Try different approaches. Although you want your shots to be crisp and sharp, carnivals are about vitality and movement. Try to capture this with creative use of the shutter.
4. 4. Always have a good supply of tracing paper or muslin to diffuse the light. Both these items are relatively cheap and you can even use them to soften daylight coming through a window.
5. 5. Be careful and vigilant. There is a fine line between being paranoid and being aware. Crowds are a magnet for the opportunist thief the world over and I found the Carnival as safe as anywhere, but…

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The more detail our cameras are able to resolve, the greater our appetite, it seems, for ‘creative blur’. When I helped to judge an international nature photo competition in Italy, the percentage of deliberately blurred images was impressive.

This reaction against the literalism of regular photography reflects a wish to show things in ways people don’t normally see them, perhaps to encourage them to look anew at familiar subjects. Blur is a form of visual shorthand where there is scope for the viewer to fill in the details of the subject’s identity: the pictures are more involving.

Anyone can take a blurred picture. Many of us do so unintentionally, and then find we have an interesting image as a result. The trick is to learn how to control blur through a combination of camera, subject and photographer movement, as well as understanding their interplay with shutter speed and supplementary lighting. While one or two of my blurry images come from my slide archive, the majority are made digitally, where the opportunities to refine a look at minimal expense are far greater.

This experimental aspect of blur photography is a large part of its fun and the lack of repeatability makes each frame unique. With at least three variables in play at any one time – subject movement, shutter speed and how the camera is moved (if at all) – there is scope for infinite subtle distinction between each frame in a sequence. So, take plenty and don’t be afraid to make a rough in-camera edit as you go along. While ‘chimping’ isn’t generally a good idea, frequent reference to the captures you’ve made already will help identify what’s working and what’s not, more quickly.

Motion blurring, as opposed to defocus effects, is more plausible when used to portray subjects that naturally move. Blur can emphasise speed or dynamism and that’s just not appropriate with, say, a boulder. Having said that, many people enjoy making blurred images of trees by moving the camera up or down during the exposure, in harmony with the subject’s form; lateral panning during the exposure rarely works. Deliberately blurred photographs rely on strong compositional structure to hold them together much more so than sharp images do; a lot of blending of form, texture and colour is happening already and therefore the need for strong, obvious shapes is heightened if the picture is to be deciphered by the viewer.

Aside from the obvious portrayal of motion, blurring can also lend a subject an emotional dimension; with its identity ill-defined, it becomes more mysterious and intriguing.

I am especially keen on portraying people in a landscape this way because if you show someone in detail, the viewer can build a story round them with the setting taking second place. If, however, they are unrecognisable, they become part of that landscape, a mere presence moving through it. It also saves the need for model release forms!

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Motion at Night

We move into different emotional territory during the very long exposures needed as it gets dark – and the scope, by default, to represent movement. The latest generation of DSLRs have superb low noise capability and once cranked up to ISO 1000 exhibit (in a well-exposed shot) no more image noise than an ISO 200 image shot with an older camera.

Leave the shutter open for 15 or 20 seconds and you can shoot when it is too dark to see clearly. Skies will typically acquire a strong blue cast, sympathetic with that time of day, and the effect is particularly attractive when there are reflective surfaces such as waves or pale pebbles to borrow this cool cast. Most fascinating of all is to see the form that moving subjects – especially moving water – acquire during these long exposures, and how that varies between shots.

Within urban areas long shutter speeds present endless opportunities to convey subject movement, with the light trails left by moving traffic and the spinning lights of fairgrounds proving to be popular subjects.

We often hear people comment, favourably, that a painting looks like a photograph. Well, here is our chance as creative photographers to get our own back and make pictures that have a quality of distance from our normal visual experience, and in possession of an emotional content only ever found in the very best paintings.

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Know Before You Go

Camera Set Up

Set your camera to Shutter Priority (S or Tv) or manual exposure.

Set the camera’s drive mode to continuous.

Set the focus mode to servo, so you don’t have to wait for the lens to lock focus to take a shot.

Drive-by Shooting

Taking pictures from a moving vehicle is another way to capture motion. The obvious mode of transport is a car (make sure you’re a passenger, not the driver!) but this (above) was taken from the bows of a boat on a sunny day, with the blue sky, and reflections of other boats, creating the colours.

Photoshop

You might be tempted to create your blur later, using your editing software.  However, the Motion Blur and Radial Blur filters in Photoshop look most realistic when used to enhance existing subject movement, rather than creating it from scratch.

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Subject Movement

If you want to contrast a subject’s movement with its still surroundings, mount the camera on a tripod and choose a shutter speed slow enough to give the desired degree of blur. This depends on how far the subject is from the camera and how fast it’s moving, but you can start off at 1/8 or 1/15 second and see how that looks. Pictures of birds in flight generally require faster shutter speeds and you may need to pan with them to achieve the right balance of sharpness and blur.

Nikon D3, 1/15sec @ f/4 Niall Benvie

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Moving Water

Look beyond the obvious waterfall picture and think about how water reflects colour, especially over long exposures. White water will reflect blue in after-dusk shots but for something different, look at the less turbulent parts of a river.

Nikon D2x, 200mm, 4sec @ f/16, ISO 100 Tim Gartside

In autumn, many leaves may be present in the water column and during a very long exposure they may alter the appearance of the river altogether. Use a small aperture or neutral density filter (or both) to gain a longer shutter speed without overexposing. A polarising filter will also give you about one stop.

Nikon D2x, 12-24mm, 8sec @ f/13, ISO 125 Niall Benvie

For an alternative view, you can illuminate the water using flash to freeze its motion, while allowing daylight to light the surroundings, which will be blurred if you handhold the camera during a long exposure.

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Panning a Moving Subject

The unpredictability stakes are at their highest when both camera and subject move, ideally with the former in pursuit of the latter. Horizontal panning delivers a streaky background while retaining a degree of sharpness on parts of the subject, and is a great way to convey that the subject is in motion. It’s an especially popular technique with subjects such as motorsport and horse racing but can be applied to any subject in lateral motion, as shown here.

Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 1/10sec @ f/18, ISO 200 Niall Benvie

The trick is to move the camera with the subject to keep it in roughly the same area of the frame. Press the shutter button while keeping the camera moving and continue to follow through for a moment after the picture has been taken. The shutter speed you’ll need will vary depending on how fast the subject is moving, and the effect you want to achieve, but for pictures like these a speed of between 1/30th and 1/4 of a second should produce a good result. Try 1/15sec as a starting point. In bright light you’ll need a low ISO and small aperture to achieve such low speeds.

Nikon D3, 24-70mm, 1/6sec @ f/22, ISO 200 Niall Benvie

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Moving the Camera

Deliberately blurring a static subject puts your own stamp on a scene; the picture becomes about how you have moved the camera as much as the actual subject. Tree trunks lend themselves especially well to this treatment as it reduces the scene to its essential colours and forms.

Nikon D2x, 80-200mm, 1/4sec @ f/13, ISO 100 Niall Benvie

These two images were created in-camera. I started with a shutter speed of about a quarter of a second and, during the exposure, moved the camera either straight down, or sometimes with a little twist to create more texture.

Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 1/8sec @ f/10, ISO 200 Niall Benvie

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Capture Wind Power

Wind is a tricky thing to photograph, what with it being invisible, however it is fairly easy to record the effects of wind on the landscape – especially in the way it blows leaves and grass.

Mari Stirling took the seaside image late on a windy afternoon in February, during a brief moment when the sun peeped through the clouds. By fitting four stops worth of ND grad filters she was able to use a slow shutter speed of half a second which enabled her to record the motion blur of the grasses in the foreground dunes, providing a contrast to the sharply defined buildings and beach in the background.

Canon EOS 5D, 17-40mm lens, -4 stop ND grad filters, 0.5sec @ f/16, ISO 50 Mari Stirling

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Moving Clouds

To capture the movement of clouds across an open sky usually requires a long exposure time of several seconds. This means you’ll need a tripod and, if you’re shooting in the daytime, probably a neutral density filter over the lens to cut the light level down to enable slow speeds. Jesse Estes took this beautiful lake view in Oregon, USA, at sunrise. With a B&W ND3 Grad filter fitted to his lens, plus a -3 stop ND grad filter (to further darken the sky) he needed an exposure of 251 seconds. The cloud movements during this time have recorded as blurred streaks.

Nikon D300, Sigma 10-20mm, 251sec @ f/8, ISO 200, B&W ND3 Grad, -3 stop ND grad Jesse Estes

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Slow-sync Flash

Using flash during a long exposure can produce interesting effects, producing a sharp flash-lit image combined with a  blurred ambient one.

Determine what constitutes a good daylight exposure first, and stop down by -1 to -1.5 stops to subdue the background, then adjust the flash (by setting the EV compensation to -1, for starters, or try different manual levels) until you have a pleasing balance between subject and background illumination.

If you can set your camera to rear curtain sync, then do so: the flash will fire at the end of the exposure rather than at the start, resulting in a more natural- looking blur which seems to follow, rather than precede, the subject. In this image, daylight is the junior partner and provides fill lighting for the flash.

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Movement at Night

Night-time is a great time to capture motion – especially the movement of lights. Whether it’s the trail of car lights produced by the flow of traffic through the streets, or perhaps the moving lights of a fairground, results can be stunning.

Nikon D2x, 30sec @ f/16, ISO 100 Tim Gartside

Like other techniques illustrated here you’ll need a tripod and a longish shutter speed – in most cases several seconds to get the best effect. The tripod allows you to contrast the blurred movement with sharp areas like buildings and streets.

For good traffic trails find a spot with a constantly moving stream of traffic, and avoid areas such as junctions and traffic lights where cars will stop for extended periods. Remember that you’re not recording the cars themselves, just their lights, and traffic coming towards you will leave yellow trails while cars moving away from you will leave red trails. Start with an exposure time of around 10 seconds at f/11 at ISO 100 and experiment from there.

Some subjects will produce a very different image depending on when you shoot them. The images above were exposed for the same amount of time, although the wheel remained stationary in one of them.

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Zoom Bursts

Another great technique is to physically zoom the lens barrel during the exposure. You’ll need to experiment, but start with a shutter speed of half a second or longer and, if possible, use a tripod. Try different zooms such as 28-80mm or 70-300mm, and vary the zoom range and starting point for different effects.

Nikon D2x, 110mm, 1/10sec @ f/10, ISO 200 Tim Gartside

How to Shoot Subjects in Motion – Essential Gear

Everything you need to capture creative blurred images

Camera

Ideally a DSLR with low noise and high-ISO capability for after-dark shots, and low ISO settings for long exposures on brighter days. If it has a live view histogram, you can speed up exposure assessment with the camera’s long exposure noise reduction turned on (as it should be), for every second the shutter is open, the camera will take an equivalent amount of time to process the image. This is a nuisance at very long exposures but the live view histogram saves you having to wait to see if the exposure is right.

Flash

Popping a flash off at the end of a long exposure introduces an element of sharpness in an otherwise blurry image and adds extra  dynamism to moving subjects. A TTL flash allows you to follow the action more easily, but a strobe with manual control works well too, once you’ve determined a good balance between daylight and flash.

Niall uses: Nikon Speedlite SB800.

ND Filter

This reduces the amount of light reaching the sensor and allows you to make long exposures, even in very bright conditions.

Niall uses: A 0.9 (3 stop) Lee ND filter. alternatives: Choose round screw-in ND filters by Hoya, B+W, Tiffin or Kood (above), or square slot-in types for filter holders by brands like Lee and Cokin.

Remote release with timer function

This is very useful when you want to make exposures that are longer than the camera’s timed speeds.

Tripod

You thought you’d get away without one? Well you can for a lot of this work, especially if it involves introducing a deliberate shake to the picture. But for others that contrast still and moving objects, you’ll need a tripod to keep things sharp during long exposures. Don’t extend the central column if your tripod has one – you’ll greatly compromise stability, and extend the legs only as high as absolutely necessary. The fewer sections they comprise, the better. You can add to the stability of a tripod by hanging your camera bag from it with a bungee cord.

Niall uses: Gitzo 1340 alloy tripod with a Really Right Stuff ball head.

Lenses

I use my 80-200mm a good deal for this sort of work, but try to avoid zooming the lens during a long exposure as the result looks very mechanical.

Niall uses: Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 D ED.

Alternatives: Every manufacturer has its own equivalent fast telephoto, or you could look at one of these independent alternatives:

• Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG MACRO HSM II,
• Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF Macro.

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For such a small island we have a wealth of heritage dotted across Britain so, wherever you are in the country, there is bound to be a British Heritage site o close by to photograph.

These exquisite man-made structures range from ancient stone ruins, through to 21st century architectural structures, and even objects many of us may take for granted as they form such an everyday part of our lives.

Buildings and structures such as those covered by British Heritage offer a wide range of opportunities for the photographer that can serve to either bolster your image library or even challenge you to take a step out of your comfort zone. A location can become a theme in itself, a source of abstract or macro subjects, a backdrop or even a visual interest within a landscape.

In this feature we hope to introduce you to some new location ideas for you to try this summer and inspire you to find more of your own, as the list is in no way exhaustive. The tips and techniques are relevant to a range of different locations and hopefully, along with the images, they will help you to take better shots next time you’re out and about with your camera.

British Heritage – Places of Worship

Durham Cathedral sits high on the hill, making it appear to rise above the city

Every town or village has a local church and the majority are prime real estate for the photographer. With their stained glass windows, steeples, spires, and gothic details, they provide a range of opportunities for images.

Village churches are often the more picturesque and tend to offer larger grounds for wider compositions, while larger cities offer the grandness of a cathedral or an abbey.

It’s always worth spending some time planning your shot – especially if it is close enough to home to keep revisiting the scene – look for the best angles and the best time of day, when the sun is in the perfect position. Some may have floodlights that come on in the evening, and finding out when they come on will allow you to balance them with the dusk to keep some colour in the sky. If possible try to go inside the church as there may be details to shoot, such as candles or even the light coming through stained glass windows. Make sure you take a tripod though, as they may be dimly lit. The grounds may also include a cemetery; gravestones, especially older overgrown ones, can make great subjects or foregrounds and the interaction between the plants and the tombs is often an interesting juxtaposition.

How to Shoot Stained Glass Windows

The inside of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral in all its grandeur and some beautiful stained glass

First, turn off the flash – it will reflect off the glass.

Diffused, even light is best for capturing an even exposure across the whole window. On sunny days the shady side of the church will give better results.

Windows are usually high up. To minimise perspective distortion stand as far back as possible and zoom in to fill the frame. This reduces the angle at which the camera must be tilted.

Alternatively, create deliberate dramatic perspective distortion by shooting from close range and below, using a wideangle lens.

Fill the frame with the window, excluding as much of the church as possible, and take a meter reading from the window.

Set a mid-range aperture (such as f/8) and if handholding the camera make sure your shutter speed is fast enough to avoid camera shake (at least 1/60th second with your kit lens, or faster if using a tele-zoom). If you can’t achieve such a speed, raise the ISO setting.

Look for interesting details within the window to zoom in on. If the sun is shining directly through the stained glass window it can often project patterns of brightly coloured light onto the ground or nearby pillars, which can make interesting photos too.

Photography Tips For Church Interiors

The picturesque village church of St Peter’s in Oare, Kent

Check on whether photography is permitted. Sometimes a permit is required for photos, or for the use of tripods.

Don’t shoot during services and periods of worship, or photograph people at prayer without their permission.

If shooting towards the altar get as square on as possible to avoid distortion and achieve a symmetrical composition.

Avoid tilting the camera if possible, as this will cause the sides of the church to converge inwards, especially with a wideangle lens.

To balance your exposure, try combining shots using HDR effects.

Go Visit… Top UK Locations

1. 1. Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire
2. 2. Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire
3. 3. Durham Cathedral, Durham
4. 4. Peterborough Cathedral, Cambridgeshire
5. 5. Highgate Cemetery, London
6. 6. Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey
7. 7. St Peter’s Anglican Church, Oare, Kent

British Heritage – Ruins & Walls

Photographers may appreciate beauty and form but we also enjoy the dilapidated, the crumbling, and the ruins. In short, there’s nothing that makes a good photo like the barren remnants of a structure, well past its former glory.

Part of Hadrian’s Wall, which snakes across England for 73 miles
but is at its best in parts of Northumbria

The word historic tends to have a bit more clout around the sites across the UK, as – unlike with some newer countries – our interpretation of old can often mean pre-10th century with some stone structures dating back beyond 2000BC and even to Neolithic man.

Stonehenge, the most famous stone circles in existence and a stunning photo location

The various remains tell stories of battles lost and won, invasions or even forgotten ways of life. Some of these retain their original forms while others have almost grown into their landscapes. For this reason it is often best to treat them almost as an organic part of a landscape than a subject in isolation. Think about the scene as a whole, rather than just your subject. Walls are a great visual aid to an image and can be used effectively to guide the viewer’s eye through the image and are best positioned to run from the bottom left towards the centre of your image, using a wideangle lens for maximum effect.

The Heritage Trail

If you’re looking for further inspiration as to places to visit, the Heritage Trail website offers an extensive database of locations, listed by type, location, name or searchable via a map. The site has been created by two fans of Heritage locations, and much of their data comes from them personally visiting the sites and experiencing them for themselves. www.theheritagetrail.co.uk

Go Visit… Top UK Locations

1. 1. Stonehenge, Wiltshire
2. 2. Flag Fen, Cambridgeshire
3. 3. Chesters Bridge, Northumberland
4. 4. Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland
5. 5. Silbury Hill, Wiltshire

British Heritage – Grand Buildings

One of our closest links to our past is in the buildings that housed our country’s nobility. The Kings and Queens, Statesmen and Lords of years past built many grand houses, palaces and fortresses, many of which remain intact today. Their effect on their surroundings is vast, as most were built more to impress than out of practicality, which makes them all the better for the photographer. Much like churches and cathedrals they offer a range of shooting possibilities, although, due to their larger sizes, can look even more impressive as part of a larger scene.

Castles especially are often placed on high viewpoints such as hills or cliff tops, making them easily visible from a distance. At closer range they may offer impressive grounds, with long driveways, arches, columns and ornate architecture. Many will be open to the public at various times of the year for a closer look, but for the early morning and late evening light you are likely to be limited to an external view. Some properties may also have restrictions on photography inside the ground, so it’s worth checking before you go.

Edinburgh Castle, seen here silhouetted at sunset. The castle towers over
the city on an extinct volcano and dates back to the 12th century

Go Visit… Top UK Locations

1. 1. Dover Castle, Kent
2. 2. Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland
3. 3. Corfe Castle, Dorset
4. 4. Warwick Castle, Warwickshire
5. 5. Windsor Castle, Windsor
6. 6. Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh
7. 7. Tower of London, City of London
8. 8. Flint Castle, North Wales
9. 9. Osborne House, Isle of Wight
10. 10. Hampton Court, London
11. 11. Brighton Royal Pavilion, East Sussex

British Heritage – Coastal Buildings

Our extensive coastline hosts its own share of cultural sights, some of the most recognisable being our many lighthouses and piers. Their designs are appealing in their own right but, by nature of their locations, they can create striking images.

Close up, both lighthouses and piers can offer interesting details but their main appeal is in their interaction with their surroundings, so capturing them under the right lighting is essential. The tide will also vastly affect your shots, though long exposures are often preferable and can calm even the roughest seas with a long enough shutter time. Some of the most photogenic examples tend to be those that are a little weather-beaten, or even falling apart. However, a pristine white lighthouse can look magnificent against a rocky backdrop.

Portland Bill lighthouse on the outcrop of the Dorset coastlin

Piers are generally best photographed either from their decking, looking out to sea or from underneath, seen from shore at low tide. A wideangle lens will exaggerate its perspective but it is important to ensure your camera is completely level to avoid distortion. Lighthouses can often be hard to get close to, so a longer lens is often useful to ensure it remains large in your composition. Conversely, a position further down the beach is generally preferred to include some of the coastline in the shot. Dawn and dusk will provide the most pleasing backdrops, though capturing one projecting its beam is always an added bonus.

Long Exposures

Increasing your shutter speed, or lengthening your exposure, is a favourite technique of many landscape photographers looking to bring some calm to their images. It has an effect of smoothing everything out, removing any moving elements and can also work to highlight stationary structures, such as buildings or rocks.

The easiest way to create this effect is to use your camera in Shutter Priority or Manual and physically set your shutter value – you’ll need at least 10 seconds of exposure for a really smooth look. Unless you’re shooting in near darkness, this may be too much light for your camera. If this is the case you can use a Neutral Density filter on your lens; these reduce the amount of light entering the lens by up to 10 stops depending on the filter used.

English Heritage

English Heritage looks after nearly 400 locations across England, including parks and gardens, castles, piers, prehistoric sites, and is even involved in the little blue plaques seen on buildings once occupied by notable figures in history around London.

Many of the properties are free to visit and others can visited for a small entrance fee, or by membership to English Heritage.

English Heritage told us that they are keen for visitors to take pictures at its properties, and encourage people to upload images to their Flickr group (www.flickr.com/groups/englishheritage/), however permission must be obtained to take images for commercial use.

Go Visit… Top UK Locations

1. 1. Brighton Palace Pier
2. 2. Southsea parade pier, Hampshire
3. 3. Beaumaris Pier, North Wales
4. 4. Swanage Pier, Dorset
5. 5. Southwold Pier, Suffolk
6. 6. Eddystone lighthouse, Cornwall
7. 7. Portland Bill lighthouse, Dorset
8. 8. Blacknore Point lighthouse, Somerset
9. 9. Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland

British Heritage – Bridges

Some of the most impressive structures across our countryside have no grounds or gift shop in sight. The soaring industrial construction of some of the various bridges that cross the gauges, rivers and valleys can leave you in awe and are just dying to be photographed.

Tower Bridge, London. One of the city’s most recognisable landmarks featuring a raising crossing to allow larger vessels to pass underneath

Their construction is primarily to perform a function, to allow passage of people or vehicles from one side to the other but in solving the technical nature of doing this, many have devised forms that look as impressive as the feat that they perform. Their sizes and positioning are so varied that it is difficult to completely generalise a technique for capturing them: the ultra modern millennium footbridge in Gateshead takes a different type of shot to the grand Glenfinnan Viaduct, over which the ‘Harry Potter’ famed steam train crosses. The most important thing is to give the structure a sense of scale, so try to include some of its surroundings.

Depending on the angle, you will generally want to keep all of the bridge in the scene. Getting closer to the bridge and using a wide angle will make the scene look more dramatic, as will shooting from below, rather than above. If you’re shooting a footbridge try including people crossing it, if it’s a rail bridge try to capture it while a train is crossing – even as a blur.

he Forth rail bridge that crosses the Firth of Forth just west of Edinburgh

Go Visit… Top UK Locations

1. 1. Tower Bridge, London
2. 2. Clifton Suspension Bridge, Avon
3. 3. Millennium Bridge, Newcastle
4. 4. The Humber Bridge
5. 5. Forth Rail Bridge, Fife
6. 6. The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Llangollen, Clwyd
7. 7. Glenfinnan Viaduct (of Harry Potter fame)
8. 8. Severn Bridge, M48, Avon

British Heritage – Uniquely British

Though the majority of our heritage locations could be described as unique to Britain, there are some other features and buildings that don’t naturally fall into any of the traditional subjects but are well known enough to encapsulate the character of the nation. They are likely to be subjects that tourists will recognise and therefore must be considered worthy of being photographed. Some, like the Angel of the North statue just outside of Newcastle, are very much heritage sites, while the Punts on the River Cam in Cambridge, or the traditional London taxi or bus, are easily overlooked as subjects for those who see them every day.

The Houses of Parliament, the Palace of Westminister

National Trust

The National Trust cares for 300 inspiring historic houses and gardens across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Properties range from former workers’ cottages to the most iconic stately homes, and from mines and mills to theatres and inns, with thousands of volunteers helping to keep them alive for visitors. For a full list of locations visit the website www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Photographers looking to take pictures within National Trust grounds are subject to certain rules; primarily that the images are only for personal use, as anyone wishing to sell or publish their photos must seek permission first. A recent change is that photography is now possible inside most buildings, at the properties’ or manager’s discretion and without the use of flash. The rules are generally designed for visitors to take ‘snaps’, according to their guidelines, as any use of additional items, such as tripods, is generally discouraged at the discretion of the individual location.

A Hackney Carriage, or London Black cab, speeds through traffic

Go Visit… Top UK Locations

1. 1. Angel of the North statue, Tyneside
2. 2. The Houses of Parliament, London
3. 3. The Millennium wheel, London
4. 4. The Punts on the River Cam, Cambridge
5. 5. The Bullring, Birmingham
6. 6. Greenwich Observatory, London
7. 7. The Cerne Abbas Giant (rude man), Dorset
8. 8. The Long Man of Wilmington, East Sussex
9. 9. Concrete Cows, Milton Keynes
10. 10. Wembley Stadium, London
11. 11. Spinnaker tower, Portsmouth
12. 12. The White Horse, Westbury, Wiltshire

British Heritage – Stitching Panoramas

The technique of stitching images allows you to produce images much wider than your lens would normally allow at your current distance and also create a much higher-resolution file. The technique involves taking multiple slightly overlapping images and then combining them in software to produce one elongated image.

Traditionally, and even until quite recently, the process of stitching the images together in software has been a long tedious job and one reserved for professionals. To get the best results the camera should be mounted in portrait format onto a special Panoramic (or VR) tripod head. Recent software improvements however, have meant that not only can the stitching process be automated but it can easily correct for slight movement and distortion. This means that even with a quick handheld attempt, you should be able to get some impressive results.

It is still worth following these basic guidelines though, as it will make the stitching process easier and leave you with a better result:

1. Position the camera on its side (portrait format), as this will allow for maximum image height.

2. Set your camera to manual and turn off autofocusing once you have a point of focus. This will avoid your image changing in brightness and focus point across the panorama.

3. Overlap your shots by at least a third. The more information you give your software, the easier it will find it to match up your images and blend.

The post British Heritage Photography appeared first on Photo Techniques.

Metering is something most of us probably take for granted in modern cameras but it is essential for every single shot you take, whether you’re shooting in full Auto mode or completely manual.

The metering system measures the light entering the camera – through the lens (TTL) in the case of digital SLRs – and it then translates this information into relative shutter values, aperture values or stops. So when exposing manually you can use the digital reading to match what the light meter deems is well exposed; or when shooting in Auto it will provide the camera with the information to select the appropriate shutter speed and aperture values.

When it comes to making a camera, and to testing it, the metering system is as much an integral part as the focusing, processor and sensor. Each camera manufacturer has its own unique metering system and strives to achieve better ways of evaluating the light coming through the lens.

Most cameras will provide you with a choice of exposure modes for your metering as, although the system is clever enough to work out how to expose the image, it cannot predict if you want to get creative with your exposure or bring detail out of certain areas. When there is high contrast in the scene or strong backlighting, the metering system is forced to choose between shadow and highlight areas, as the dynamic range of the sensor cannot record to the same extremes that we can see with the naked eye. By changing the metering mode, you can choose whether you meter universally from the scene, give priority to certain areas, or simply select an area of the scene.

Exposure Compensation

Metering is only a guide for exposure as, in most cases, it will tell you the exposure needed to achieve the most even range of tones. But for creative shots this may not be what you require, and in some cases a balanced range can leave some areas over or under exposed that may be important to your shot. On these occasions it may be possible to adjust your metering mode to one more suitable, or even switch to fully manual and override its suggestions.

However, a much quicker method is often to use exposure compensation. This allows you to dial in a positive or negative value in stops, in relation to the given metering. Using the instant results from the LCD screen, it is easy to quickly access your image and make adjustments based on what you see.

Exposure / Metering Modes Explained – Evaluative/Multi-zone

This is the metering system at its most inventive and in full swing. The name can vary between manufacturers but is commonly known as Evaluative, Matrix or Multi-zone metering. For this the camera uses the entire image to determine the exposure. Primitive systems would just have taken a straight average, but today’s advanced systems break the image down into smaller sections (or zones) and combine this information to make a more informed choice as to the exposure.

This means that it can detect which areas are likely to be the most important and which to ignore for the exposure, so even with the sun directly in your image the camera can avoid making everything else too dark. Evaluative mode is the best selection for the majority of your images, and only for extreme cases, difficult lighting or specific effects should you ever need to stray too far from it.

Exposure / Metering Modes Explained – Centre-Weighted

Centre-weighted metering is a viable alternative to the evaluative option as it also uses the whole of the scene to meter but, as the name suggests, places a greater weighting to the light coming from the central area. It is the second most common mode, behind evaluative, to feature in any metering selection and makes use of the same sections of the image as the evaluative mode does.

Centre-weighted metering is often preferred by those wanting to photograph a particular thing, rather than the scene as a whole, and can work well for photographing people or objects in a scene, where the subject is the focus but you also want to show its surroundings.

Alternatively it can be useful when you have a particularly bright sky that could otherwise silhouette your subject, or for photographing a group of people in a scene.

Exposure / Metering Modes Explained – Spot Metering

If your subject is the only thing that matters, or you are dealing with extreme contrast or backlighting, use spot metering. This mode allows you to specify a very small area of the image, typically between 3% and 5%, which makes it ideal when the exposure is critical on certain parts of your image. Spot metering is very popular with portrait photographers who are looking to concentrate on skin tones. It can also be effective for wildlife shots of a subject in the undergrowth.

Spot metering is also suited to bright subjects such as the moon when you want to bring out its detail. The spot metering zone is an important ingredient to the evaluative and centre-weighted mix.

Exposure / Metering Modes Explained – Partial Metering

Partial metering offers a larger area than the spot (10-15%), taking in surrounding zones to form a central area, without including the rest of the image. This is a mid-way stage between the centre-weighted and spot options, and is ideal when it’s the edges of your image that could cause your metering system some problems. Not all cameras feature this mode, as similar effects can often be achieved using either the spot or centre-weighted options with a degree of exposure compensation to correct if necessary.

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Welcome to the mysterious world of Neutral Density filters, a land of black magic and alchemy, combinations, improbable mathematical formulae; a land with a language all of its own: NDs, Grads, Big Stoppers, Hard and Soft edges, point threes, sixes or nines, and so the list goes on.

Actually it isn’t that scary. Mastery of this useful accessory can improve your pictures, and requires no more than some very simple maths, honestly!

So what is a Neutral Density filter and what does it do? Why have one in your camera bag?  Read on and all will be revealed.

Neutral Density (or ND) filters are grey in appearance and are designed to reduce the amount of light entering the camera, thus creating the need for an increase in the overall exposure time, but giving no change in the colour or hue of the image.

Why should you want to increase the exposure time? Well, because it will enable the creative use of movement and blur in an image. For example, you may wish to produce a blurry misty effect on a waterfall or the sea but the sun is too bright and even at a small aperture the exposure may not be long enough. By applying an ND filter, the exposure will be increased and enough time will be created for the water to move during the exposure. The longer the exposure, the more silky blur is created.

Not only is using an ND great for creative water shots but also for any image where there is movement, such as cityscapes with people and traffic moving or where clouds are moving through an image. Using an ND filter will open up new and exciting ways of looking at the world around you.

These images demonstrate the awesome power of Lee Filters’s Big Stopper (see below) which blocks 10 stops of light and enables the use of long shutter speeds, even in daylight. Here I used it in conjunction with a 0.9 (three-stop) Neutral Density Grad, to give me a two-minute overall exposure time.

Neutral Density filters come in a range of densities or ‘stops’. They are usually available in two, three or four stops – or, more technically, point six, point nine and one point two. Basically .6 = two stops, .9 = three stops, 1.2 = four stops. If you are using a .6 ND you increase the exposure by two stops – for example, a one-second exposure becomes four seconds.

Why Use Neutral Density Filters?

Neutral Density filters are ideal for adding a bit of extra oomph to a shot that may otherwise be a bit boring. It gives the shot more energy and dynamism. As a pro it’s also great to be able to give the client more choice.

Neutral Density Filters – ND Grads

A Neutral Density Graduated filter (also known as an ND Grad) is very similar to a Neutral Density filter but has one major difference. Instead of covering the whole filter and therefore affecting the whole of the image and exposure, it will run from a clear filter and gently fade into a neutral density, allowing only part of the image to be affected.

ND Grads are used primarily to control the exposure between the foreground and sky of an image. Usually the sky will be the brightest part of the image and the foreground the darkest. Meter for the foreground and the sky will be massively overexposed; meter for the sky and the foreground will be too dark.

The solution is to meter for the foreground (the darker area), meter for the sky (the brighter area) and note how much brighter the sky is – probably two, three or four stops. Set the camera to the exposure reading for the foreground and use an ND Grad of the appropriate strength (two, three or four stops) to darken the sky, thus balancing out the exposure of both foreground and sky. After a little practice, the procedure of metering for the foreground, metering for the sky and applying an ND Grad will become second nature.

How to use an ND Grad

Step A

Take a meter reading from the foreground. A shot taken at this setting would have an overexposed sky.

Step B

Take a meter reading from the sky. A shot taken at this setting would have an underexposed foreground.

Step C

Work out the difference in stops (eg. 3) Expose for the foreground, and add the appropriate Grad (eg 3 stop) to darken the sky.

Neutral Density Filters – Hard or Soft?

Now just to complicate things, ND Grads are available in Hard and Soft gradations. I use the Lee Filters system and I find that despite the name, Hard Edge Grads are just perfect for landscape photography and don’t give you a hard line or edge running through the image. Ninety-nine times out of 100 I will use a Hard Edge Grad for my landscape images. Occasionally though, a Soft Edge Grad can be indispensable. When working in woodland where the trees are top-lit and you just want to hold the exposure back in the upper portion of the image, a Hard Edge Grad will produce too much of an exposure difference and you will end up with tree trunks going from light to dark. With a Soft Edge Grad the gradation is very subtle and less pronounced, which is ideal when you have subject matter running into the graduated portion of the picture.

One important point is to set the camera to manual exposure before shooting. If you have the camera set on a Program mode, the meter will think the sky has gone dark when you apply the ND Grad and will try to compensate and make the image brighter, thus negating the use of the grad and leaving you back to square one.

The more you stop down a lens, the more a graduation becomes apparent. With digital cameras, unless you need a huge depth of field, you should normally be working at about f/8 to f/11 as these apertures will be using the sweet spot for sharpest results from the lens. These apertures are ideal for Hard Edge grads as they will show no line or edge through your image at all, but you do have to be wary of your focal length. The wider the focal length of your lens, the sharper a Hard Edge Grad may be, so you may wish to switch to a Soft Edge Grad to counter this. Certainly once you are working with extremely wide lenses a Soft Edge Grad will be a must.

Once you start to play with Neutral Density filters and Grads you’ll realise how simple it is, and you’ll soon be able to start combining the two. Use the ND Grad to control the exposure difference between the foreground and sky, and apply the overall ND to increase the exposure of the whole image, as to create subject blur or movement.

Neutral Density Filters – Which Do I Need?

Most Neutral Density filters are available in two, three or four stops  (below) but, if this isn’t enough of an exposure increase and doesn’t create the effect you want, you can combine multiple filters for extra strength.

There are also a couple of 10-stop filters on the market, including Lee Filters’s new Big Stopper (below, centre), a 100mm by 100mm square filter that fits into the regular Lee holder, enabling it to be used in conjunction with other filters such as Grads. B+W’s 10-stop filter is a circular screw-on filter, which is a drawback if you want to add other filters too, such as Grads.

Both the Big Stopper and B+W filter have a slight colour cast due to the material they’re made from and the way that they transmit certain wavelengths of colour, and so are not truly neutral. However, one click of the auto white balance button in raw processing will bring them back to neutral. Lee Filters Grads also come with hard or soft edges (above, left & right). The soft ones are useful for uneven horizons.

Neutral Density Filters – Round v Square

I’m biased and I’ll admit it. I have been using a square system for years (Lee Filters) and it’s an incredibly versatile and flexible system, although in fact the Lee filters are rectangular. With the Lee holder, and with the cheaper Cokin system, you can use Grads very accurately by sliding them through the holder and placing them exactly where you need them – for example, on a horizon wherever that may be in the frame. At the same time you can use the square NDs or even the Big Stopper because the extra slots in the holder allow this flexibility.

Circular filters are fine if you are just using an ND filter, but as soon as you need a Grad then screw-in systems have a few drawbacks. Placing a Grad accurately on the horizon means moving the whole camera, not just the filter, which changes your composition. It means you have to position the horizon to suit the filter, rather than vice versa. If you are using a 10-stop screw-in circular filter (the filter being totally opaque), it becomes very difficult to use any other filters in front of it. With a square system such as Lee you can use Grads for exposure control, compose the image and then slide the opaque Big Stopper in without upsetting the composition.

Neutral Density Filters – Know Before You Go!

Create Movement

Use an ND filter to reduce the overall exposure so you can use slow shutter speeds in daylight to blur water, clouds or action.

Combine Filters

You can add ND and ND Grads together for a stronger exposure-blocking effect.

Round Or Square

With solid ND filters it doesn’t really matter whether your filters are round or square, but for Grads get square ones that you can move up and down in the holder to line up with the horizon.

Darken Skies

Use an ND Grad to balance the brightness level between sky and foreground to retain more cloud detail.

Hard Or Soft

Grads can come with harder or softer lines of graduation. A Soft-Edged Grad is ideal for uneven horizons, or when elements protrude into the sky.

Aperture

The smaller your chosen aperture, and the more wideangle the lens, the sharper the graduation of a Grad filter will appear.

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The LCD screen

One of the primary camera viewing options, all digital cameras have an LCD screen to review your pictures – on compacts they’re also usually the only means of viewing the scene.

Some, but not all, DSLRs enable you to use the LCD screen to shoot with – a feature known as ‘Live View’.

LCD screens vary in size between 2.5 and 3.5 inches. Larger screens make viewing easier but size isn’t the only factor.

Screen resolution affects the sharpness and clarity, and how much detail you can see. The brightness, and the quality of the anti-reflective coatings, determine how easy the screen is to use in bright sun. Some LCD screens can tilt and swivel, useful for high or low angle shooting.

Tilting LCDs make it easier to see when shooting at high angles

Electronic Viewfinders

Electronic viewfinder (EVF) camera viewing options are found on Micro System Cameras and some fixed-lens cameras and are essentially a tiny screen inside the camera.

They offer several advantages over optical versions. First, they show the same information as the LCD screen, so you get full shooting data etc.

Also, EVFs enable you to see the effect that changing the exposure, white balance and other settings will have on your picture before you take it.

Cameras with EVFs can be smaller than those with mirror assemblies. On the downside, EVFs lack the degree of connection with your subject that DSLR viewfinders give you.

Cameras with EVFs do not have an internal mirror

Optical Viewfinders

Few compacts have an optical viewfinder any more, but on a DSLR the optical viewfinder is the camera’s most distinguishing feature.

By using a 45° mirror and a prism assembly, a DSLR shows you the exact view through the lens.

The image is bright, clear and almost like looking at the subject itself. The viewfinder enables you to compose and focus, and displays some shooting data, but doesn’t show the effect of exposure, and other settings on your image.

Most DSLR viewfinders only show around 95% of what the sensor will record, missing out the very edges, but some more expensive models show 100%.

Optical viewfinders in DSLRs view directly through the lens

Live View

The Live View feature on those DSLRs that offer it has the same advantages over the viewfinder that an EVF does: full data display, and the ability to preview the effect that changing the exposure, white balance etc will have on your shot.

DSLRs, however, are not best used at arm’s length  – they’re heavier than compacts, for a start – so Live View is best used only for shooting at high and low angles where it isn’t possible to see through the viewfinder, or when using the camera on a tripod, when you’ve set up and focused and are waiting for the right moment to press the shutter.

Viewing options

Most cameras enable you to select from several viewing modes to aid your shooting, when using the LCD screen or EVF.

EXIF Data: You can usually choose to have the shooting data visible on screen so you can see your settings, or turn it off so you get a clean view of your composition without distractions.

Grid View: superimposes a grid on the screen to help keep your horizons level and buildings straight. Some optical viewfinders also offer this.

Histogram: shows the spread of tones in your image in graphic form to help with exposure. An average scene should have a wide spread of peaks across the graph, rather than being bunched at one end. Some cameras can show a live histogram of the scene before you shoot it, while with others it’s only on playback.

Shadow/highlight warning: On playback, this causes areas of the scene that are over or under-exposed to flash as blocks of solid colour.

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For a subject to be recorded clearly, the camera’s lens needs to focus on it, and to do that the camera needs to know how far away it is. And in order to know that, it first needs to determine which, of all the elements in the scene, is the subject. It must do all this in fractions of a second, otherwise you’ll miss the shot.

Simple cameras feature a single focus point in the centre of the frame, but more sophisticated cameras employ multiple points around the frame to quickly identify and focus on the subject. This also makes it easier for the camera to detect moving subjects and even predict their trajectory, removing much of the user fuss of focusing your camera.

Focusing Your Camera – Focus Modes

Single-Shot AF

Single-shot AF can be used for focusing your camera when conducting general photography of static subjects. The lens focuses and locks onto the subject when you press the shutter halfway. If your subject moves between focusing and shutter release in the meantime it may not be in focus.

Continuous AF

Use this for moving subjects. As long as your finger is on the shutter the lens will keep refocusing as required, and you can shoot at any time, even if the lens hasn’t focused yet. Most cameras use a Predictive AF system in this mode which, by analysing the speed of movement, can anticipate where the subject will be when you take the shot.

Continuous AF mode is best for photographing fast-moving subjects

Auto AF

In Auto AF mode the camera starts out in Single Shot AF mode but automatically switches to Continuous AF if it detects subject movement.

Manual Focus

Manual focus is ideal for situations where both the subject and camera are in fixed positions and you want to take multiple shots, or for when AF is unreliable (e.g. in low light).

Focusing Your Camera – Focusing Points

Multi-Point AF

Modern DSLRs employ multiple focusing sensors, arranged in a diamond formation around the frame, and outlined in your viewfinder. When your camera focuses, the active points usually light up red so you can see which area the camera has focused on – in most cases it’s whatever is closest. You can usually switch some of these points off and use smaller clusters or even a single point.

Multi-point AF systems are designed to ensure that it’s the boy, not the more centrally placed shrubs in the background, that the lens focuses upon

Multi-point AF is useful when the main subject is off-centre

Single-Point AF

Ideal for subjects that are generally in the centre of the frame, or when your main subject is not the closest to the camera. If your subject is off-centre you’ll need to use the focus lock. Point the focus point at the subject, then depress and hold the shutter button halfway (or press the AF lock button, on the back near your thumb) before recomposing to shoot.

Face Detection

Many modern cameras feature Face Detection, which is a form of AF in which the camera can recognise a face, or faces, in your scene which it then focuses on. Face Detection works very well, so if portraits and family snaps are a major part of your photography, it’s a good idea to ensure this feature is switched on in your menu.

Depth of Field

A camera can only focus on one plane of distance at a time. In addition there is an area in front of and behind the point focused on that appears sharp to the naked eye. This area is known as the Depth of Field (DoF).

The shallow depth of field here rendered only the closest subject in focus. To get both faces sharp would have required a greater depth of field

AF Assist Lamp

Many DSLRs feature a small lamp on the front of the camera to help the camera focus in low light, by projecting a patterned beam onto the subject for the AF to lock onto.

Focus Activation

With some cameras you can separate the focusing from the shutter button by assigning the focus to the AF lock button on the back. This is ideal for when you don’t want the camera to refocus every time you press the shutter but may randomly need to refocus at moments of your choosing. You’ll find this option in the set-up menu.

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