Browsing all posts in "Digital Photography".

The Importance of Perspective

How large do you suppose these rocks are? Could you pick them up in your hand? Step over them? Are they the size of your bed? Your car? Your house? Well, now take a look at this photo: That’s me up there! Here’s another angle. Here’s another one. Pretty mountain stream? Or enormous Upper Falls [...]

Four Things We All Need To Remind Ourselves

1. It doesn’t have to be a difficult picture to take, in order to be a worthy picture. I was talking to a photographer friend of mine the other day, and asked how he composed a particular shot we were looking at. He gave me chapter and verse on lighting, light modifiers, angles, the inverse [...]

This and That

By Steve Russell From time to time I like to write an article that covers multiple subjects, none of which would make a complete article alone. I haven’t done this in a while and thought now would be a good time. This photo has nothing to do with the article, I just liked it when [...]

Two Initial Impressions

I recently purchased a Canon EF 2.0X III Telephoto Extender and a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM 1-to-1 Macro Lens, and I wanted to share my initial impressions with you all. First, the 2x converter. Construction is very solid – it’s made of the same gray/white body material that the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L [...]

Expose for the Sky

A reader recently asked, “I’ve read a lot of photography articles where they say to “expose for the background” or “meter for the subject”, then “recompose and shoot”. When I do that, it still doesn’t work! My camera just adjusts the exposure for whatever I’m focusing on. For instance, if I want to take a [...]

Three Items of Equipment No Photographer Should Be Without

By Steve Russell The title of this article begs for part of the answer to be camera and lens but then I wouldn’t have anything to write about or I’d have to title the article Five Items… In other words, I’m going to assume that the camera and lens is a given and not count [...]

My Favorite Subject to Shoot

By Steve Russell With today’s equipment and technology, photography has become so simple and ubiquitous that anyone can take photos. Whether you use a $6,000 professional model camera or your cell phone, you can capture photos. However, all the equipment and technology available won’t guarantee that you will take good photos. That has to come [...]

Zone Focus Explained

Zone focus is a technique that allows the photographer to essentially “set and forget” the aperture and focus. When used correctly it adds speed and convenience to your shooting experience, especially in situations when fast-moving subjects outpace auto-focus capabilities. Zone focus is also known as “f/8 and be there,” a term that was coined by [...]

Light Meter Basics

One of the most essential items of gear that a photographer must have in his or her arsenal is a light meter (even though Steve didn’t mention it in his last article, and yes I jump at the chance to tease him). Some would argue that the light meter is just as important as the [...]

Essential Equipment for the Serious Photographer

By Steve Russell For discussion purposes let’s assume that a year or two ago you decided to take the plunge and upgrade from a point & shoot camera to DSLR. The first thing you probably learned was that in the beginning your photos weren’t any better with the DSLR and in some cases not as [...]