Father’s Day:
Looking to take a great photo of Dad? Indoors or outdoors, we’ve got some tips to improve your images.
Outdoors portraits require attention to light. Watch for irregular shadows on your subjects. Remember to use your flash to fill in the shadows, even if you’re outside in daylight. This is especially important if Dad is wearing a hat.
Use Aperture Priority on your camera to blur out the background in your images. This creates a less distracting and pleasant background for your subject. The lower your f-stop, the more background blur. But pay attention to your shutter speed. Adjust ISO to keep your shutter speed between 1/60th and 1/2000th of a second.
Indoor flash photography is tricky. Harsh shadows can become distractions in flash photography. Use a flash diffuser. Diffusers soften the light produced by flashes and create visually pleasing images. Also try bouncing your flash off the ceiling. This will move the shadows closer to the ground and usually out of your images.
Remember that some of the best photos you will take of your family is of them acting naturally. Don’t wait for everyone to get together and post to take your photo. Take some photos throughout the day.
Graduation Photos:
Outdoors or indoors, the right lenses go a long way. Indoors use a lens with a low aperture. We rent several 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses for both Nikon and Canon cameras. This lens is ideal for indoor, low light shooting. When shooting outdoors, aperture is less of a factor. You’d be better with a lens giving you more distance. We rent a Canon 100-400mm and a Tamron 200-500mm lens for Nikon which would be ideal for outdoor graduation ceremonies.
If you’re taking blurry photos, raise your ISO. ISO is the sensitivity of your camera’s sensor to light. Make sure your shutter speed is at least 1/60th of a second. The higher the shutter speed, the less motion blur in your photos.
Practice makes perfect. Prepare yourself for the diploma transfer photo by practicing taking photos of earlier students making their walk.
Take your time. The leading cause of bad photos is panic and excitement. Take your time, focus your self, focus your camera, and take the right photo. Yes, burst mode is wonderful, but one great photo is better then a dozen blurry.
Have questions? Stop in to Bergen County Camera and let us help you become the photographer you want to be.