BetterPhotoJim

Windy Weather Flower Pictures - Not Easy!

Wind and direct, high-contrast light are the bane of the flower photographer existence. When scouting for floral subjects, you want to note the wind factor. If there is the slightest breeze, be prepared to wait patiently in between exposures. If the wind is fairly strong or steady, you have two choices: come back at another time, or use something to block the wind, such as a light tent.

Iris © Jim Miotke All rights reserved

Taking crisp windy weather pictres is extremely difficult. When photographing flowers in the wind, often the only thing you can do is wait patiently for the wind to die down. If you are using a tripod and a remote shutter release (highly recommended!), you will have an additional advantage here. You will be able to watch the flowers for stillness without having to continue looking through your viewfinder.

Have a great week!

The Helpful Histogram

The histogram helps me balance contrast and stay away from overexposing highlights!

Tower of London, England © Jim Miotke All rights reserved

Film photographers are at a tremendous disadvantage when it comes to dealing with contrast in a scene. When I used to shoot with slide film, if I noticed a very bright area in my composition, I either had to eliminate it or use a graduated neutral density filter in an attempt to even out the contrast. Don’t get me wrong, I love my grad ND filters. However, they are only good when I see a clear (and generally straight) line between dark and bright areas.

Here's where digital shines: when I see bright spots and dark shadows, regardless of where they are in the photo, I turn to my histogram. After taking a shot of a subject with something white or bright, I glance at the histogram in my camera. If I see a thin vertical line on the far right of the histogram, then I know that I have to change my overall, cumulative exposure value. I do this by adjusting my exposure compensation, turning the dial so that the indicator moves left, to the negative numbers. I take another shot, repeating this process until I see that right vertical spike disappear. The resulting image may be very dark but I am usually not too concerned about this. I know that, when I open the image up in Photoshop, I will be able to deal with those dark areas, and even out the contrast.

Hungry for more information about histograms? Why not try this great new course at Betterphoto.com.

Hooray for the histogram!

Photoshop Filters vs. Glass Filters on Your Camera

Reflections in Lake Te Anau © Jim Miotke All rights reserved

Often digital photographers ask me, "Can you get the same effect from the application of a software-based graduated filter in Photoshop as you would using the glass (or resin) ND filter at the time of shooting?"

And I would say no. Although you can use plug-in filters in Photoshop that darken a part of your image, I would only turn to this as a second resort. I do indeed do just that from time to time (PixelGenius and Nik make good software filters to this purpose)... However, I really prefer using the glass, on-camera filter at the time of shooting. It is by far the best way to go and will give you the most dynamic, evenly exposed images.

Have a great weekend!