Saturday, April 10, 2010

Digital Photography - Photographing Themes

Many of us fall into photographing themes of one sort or another. I love to photograph waterfalls and cascades, mountains, desert scenes, flower close-ups, lighthouses, water-powered mills, covered bridges, and sunrises and sunsets.


I find myself constantly looking for these themes wherever I go regardless of the purpose of the trip or photo shoot. Consequently, over many trips, I have built up a large stock file of these themes. Without really thinking about it, it created a good base for my stock photography.

With theme photography, you develop an eye for seeing theme topics. Along with the knack for seeing, you develop a procedure specific for photographing each type of theme. Digital photography tips one: photograph the subject of each theme the same way each time in different places.

For example, when I photograph water-powered mills, I photograph the device driving the main driveshaft whether it is an overshot wheel or vortex turbine. I also photograph the crown wheel coming off of the main driveshaft. Before I leave, I also photograph the mill race, mill pond and outside of the structure. By photographing these same subjects in each mill, I have built up a library of several different water powered mills each with photos of the aforementioned subjects. The various miscellaneous shots varying from mill to mill as I do not want to overlook the uniqueness of each mill as each one is unique in its own way.

With the photography also comes learning about each theme. The learning acquired through research, along with the photographs taken over a number of years, creates a knowledge base defining you as an expert of that theme which can result in a niche market for you. Eventually, through networking and other sources, you will be known as one of the go-to persons when someone has a photo need in one of your theme categories.

Themes can be general or more specific. For example, one of my themes is flower close-ups. One of my sub-themes within flower close-ups is orchids. Another sub-theme is wild cactus flower close-ups, so you can see you can get as specific as you want.

Themes can also be about the format of the photo. Some photographers have a theme titled panoramics. This theme is more about the format of the photo being long and narrow and not so much about the subject matter.

Still another theme category may be the format orientation of the photograph. Some photographers shoot certain themes as verticals. Some theme topics look better when shot in a horizontal format. Digital photography tips two: A flower photographed from the side at the level of the flower, including the stem of the flower, not only falls into the flower category, but also into the vertical format theme.

Some themes focus on photographs shot in black and white. Some photographers shoot only certain subjects in black and white and other subjects in color. Many of the subjects having texture look better when photographed in black and white as the lack of color focuses the eyes of the viewer on the texture of the subject without the interference of color.

Themes do not have to be of just the natural world. Some photographers shoot themes of subjects resulting from the hand of man. These themes range from architecture, to pottery, to machines in addition to many other subjects.Themes can also be of topics undesirable to look at, such as damage to the environment, air or water pollution, global warming, erosion, wrath of Nature and many others.

Some photos cross into other theme topics. A desert sunrise or sunset not only falls into the sunrises/sunsets theme, but it also fall into landscapes or into the sub-theme of deserts within the landscape theme. It is all in how specific you want to get as a photographer. The larger number of specific themes can lead to a larger opportunity for niche marketing of your photos.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless. You are bound only by how much time you have to photograph your themes and then marketing them.

If you liked this article, visit our Sunlight Digital Photography website for more tips and techniques. To further your digital photography skills, consider purchasing our digital photography ebook at our Business Writing Resources website. It is instantly downloadable, so you can start reading right away.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Great Images Through Metering

Almost all of the newer Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras have multiple TTL (Through The Lens) metering modes. Each manufacturer calls their metering modes by different names, but basically, they all fall into four categories: spot, center-weighted, multi-pattern and matrix metering, the last one being proprietary to Nikon.

Spot Metering - Spot metering, as the name implies, reads the light from a very small spot or portion of the overall scene. This mode reads the light reflecting from what is inside the small circle or rectangle in the middle of your viewfinder. It will not be more than 9.5% of the overall scene. With spot metering, you can pinpoint the area you want metered for reflectance light. The disadvantage is you pinpoint the spot you want metered for reflectance light.

Now wait a minute, how can pinpointing be both an advantage and disadvantage? The advantage is you are free to choose where to take your meter reading from in a scene. Just put the circle or rectangle on the area you want metered and press the shutter button half-way down to see the shutter speed and aperture settings.

The disadvantage is the TTL meter in your camera sees everything as middle tone or 18% reflectance. If the spot you pick is not middle tone, the exposure of the whole scene could be either over or under exposed. To get an accurate exposure, choose something close to middle tone, such as green grass, tan tree bark, blue sky or light brown flesh tone. Or as an alternative, take the reading and manually dial in exposure compensation to achieve middle tone settings. The spot meter can be difficult to learn, but once you have mastered it, you will find it indispensable when you want your subject, the part in the spot, exposed correctly in a high contrast situation.

Center-Weighted Metering - Center-weighted metering is the most common of all the metering systems and the one used in all point-and-shoot cameras. Center-weighted metering reads light from about 75% of the center of the scene, weights it heavier, then reads the light from the remaining 25% of the scene and weighs it normally . This information is computed by the camera coming up with the final exposure reading. Remember, the overall area metered needs to average out to middle tone. Anything other than middle tone requires you to compensate by using the exposure compensation feature in your DSLR camera.

Multi-Pattern Metering - Multi-pattern metering is also known as evaluative metering. With this method, the viewfinder is broken down into several metering segments built around the auto-focus sensors. Once you choose the auto-focus sensor, a center-weighted metering pattern is built around that selected sensor. This system is basically the same as the center-weighted metering system except the center-weighted reading is taken from the selected auto-focus sensor instead of from the center of the viewfinder.

Matrix Metering - Proprietary to Nikon, matrix metering uses multiple metering segments arranged around the auto-focus segments in the viewfinder much like the multi-pattern metering system, but it also uses a database of actual photographic situations. This system works by each segment metered individually and assigned a light level. These light levels form a contrast pattern. The contrast patterns are then filtered through the database in the DSLR finding the proper exposure compensation for a given scene. With this system, no manual exposure compensation is needed because the metering system automatically does it for you.

When To Use Each Metering System - Each metering system has its own use in specific situations. Generally, center-weighted is best to use when learning how to take photos. As you master this metering system, you can move to spot metering. Here you will pinpoint a spot in the scene and manually apply exposure compensation. Use matrix or multi-pattern metering for rapidly changing light situations or when faced with highly complex lighting.

Now would be a good time to dust off your camera manual and read up on metering modes specific to your camera. Mastering metering modes takes your imagery to a whole new and higher level.

If you liked this article, visit our Sunlight Digital Photography website for more tips and techniques. To further your digital photography skills, consider purchasing one of our digital photography ebooks. All of them are instantly downloadable, so you can start reading right away.

Monday, March 1, 2010

How To Take Better Photos Of Fido

Nothing gets an “ahhh” quicker than a cute pet photo. Unfortunately, it can also be one of the most frustrating ordeals to get that photo. Below are some tips to make pet photography more enjoyable for both you and your pet.

Consideration for your pet
Before we go further, most important thing to remember while taking pet photos is the welfare of your pet. Yes, your pet will tire of being the subject of your study and he/she will tire even quicker if they are not enjoying the photo shoot.

Strike a pose
If you have a new pet, begin to train that pet to pose for photos right from the beginning. You can condition your pet to strike the pose when you say a command word such “picture” or “camera” or anything else you choose to call it. The key is practice, practice and more practice. Practice both the posing and the actual taking the photos so your pet will get used to the camera. Whenever possible take your photos with the flash turned off. Pets quickly tire of having that bright light repeatedly flashed into their eyes.

Rewarding good photo behavior
PAfter taking your pet’s photo, be sure to reward that acceptable behavior with a treat your pet enjoys. Make the photo session an enjoyable experience for both you and your pet. Also, if your pet knows a treat will follow a photo session, he/she will be more willing the next time to do it again.

Indoors or outdoors
Whether shooting indoors or outside, use natural light whenever possible. Normally it is a softer, less direct, light resulting in photos with less harsh shadows.

If you are shooting outdoors, try to control your background or throw it out of focus if it is distracting. If your pet is not of the cage or habitat variety, you can make a simple non-distracting background from a solid color bed sheet, bath towel or craft paper. If you pet is a tree climber, you can use the blue sky as a background.

If the weather is not conducive to taking photos outside, you can always pose your pet near a window or patio door and take advantage of the soft light filtering in. If you are going to shoot in an area not normally frequented by your pet, spend a few days getting your pet used to this area before the photo session.

Selective focusing
With any of the photos, you can blur the background by zooming in with a telephoto lens. These lenses inherently have a small depth-of-field so the background will blur. A telephoto lens also gives you more room to work without having to be right in the animal’s face. Be sure to focus on your pet’s eyes. If the eyes are in focus, the picture is a successful shot.

Viewpoint
Another technique is shoot from your pet’s eye-level instead of always shooting down. If the sun is in back of your pet, you will have to turn on your flash to fill flash mode to fill in the shadow areas and balance the light on your pet’s face.

Props
Props are widely used in pet photography. Fido, with one of his favorite toys, will make a picture you will long endear for years to come. If you are not using a favorite toy, the key to using props in pet photography is to introduce the prop early, so your pet has time to become familiar and comfortable with the prop.

Controlling eye direction
You can control the eye direction of your pet in many ways. For dogs, you can train them to look a certain direction when a whistle is blown a set number of times. A flashlight can also be used and they will normally look in the direction of the light.

For cats, usually a dangling toy will work or they will respond by looking in the direction a voice came from.

Caged animals
If your animal is of the caged type such as a reptile, you can create a photography box to use as a mini studio. Line a cardboard box with a solid-color fabric or paper to avoid having to work around the wires of the cage. On the open side, place a piece of glass or acrylic. You can shoot down into the box or through the clear panel.

The best way to light this setting is with a bounced off-camera flash. The bounced light will be softer and the flash will freeze any sudden movement of the animal. If you are shooting through the clear panel, avoid flash glare by either using a polarizer filter or shoot at an angle to the clear panel so the light will bounce away from the flash and not back into the camera. Here again you could move the photography box near a window or patio door and take advantage of the natural light instead of using the flash.

Aquarium animals
For pets living in water, such as fish, you can use a flash, but it is better to use it off-camera and held over the top of the aquarium and pointed down into the water. If you have a light colored gravel on the bottom of the tank, the lighting will even out with light being reflected off of the bottom. If the bottom of the tank does not have light-colored gravel, try surrounding the outside of the tank on three sides with a light colored paper to get the light distributed as evenly as possible. If the tank happens to be near some natural light, you can try to use that also.

The key to pet photography is to make the photo session as enjoyable for both you and your pet. Part of that enjoyment is ensuring nothing you do to take the photo will harm or endanger your pet. Otherwise, all of a sudden it is no longer fun for your pet and it will be reluctant the next time to pose for pictures.

Pet photography produces some of the most-treasured photos you will ever take. Using the techniques above will assist you in capturing those treasures.

If you liked this article, visit our Sunlight Digital Photography website for more tips and techniques. To further your digital photography skills, consider purchasing one of our digital photography ebooks. All of them are instantly downloadable, so you can start reading right away.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Harvesting The Crop

In this post, we’re talking about how to make a good picture better though the use of cropping. The “harvest” is a better picture though the use of the techniques in this article.

So what is the perfect crop? The one that creates the strongest image – generally the crop that fills the frame with the subject. Remember the old advice of fill the frame? That advice is just as good today as it was in the past.

In any picture, there are many potentially better, or at the very least, different pictures. Framing as you shoot and cropping once the image is in your computer are two ways to find other, perhaps better, pictures in a scene or image.

Cropping
There are two types of cropping, in-camera and after-the-fact. Cropping in the camera involves using something as a frame around a scene. The frame can be natural or manmade. Natural framing could be overhanging tree branches, a gap between two boulders, a natural arch, etc. Manmade framing might be a doorway, arch, open window, bridge or a gap between two buildings. By framing an image, the field of view is more limited than without framing and it thereby draws the viewer’s eye right to the subject. Framing can be applied to just the sides of the scene in the viewfinder or it can also involve the top of the scene.

Framing
As I said above, usually framing is used to draw the viewer’s eye into the picture, however, it can also be used to hide a distracting element within a scene such as powerlines, waste receptacles or anything attracting attention away from the main subject.

Vertical or Horizontal?












Another consideration when framing a shot is to ask yourself if this shot is better framed vertically or horizontally. Long, tall subjects tend to look better framed vertically. You can also crop in a camera by using a zoom telephoto lens. As you increase the focal length of the lens, the angle of view gets narrower. By reducing the angle of view, you are reducing the amount of negative space around your subject and are thereby cropping the photo.


In-camera cropping
In-camera cropping is preferable to cropping after-the-fact because photos cropped in the camera gives you a full size photo to work with. For those times when cropping in the camera is not practicable, cropping after-the-fact is a viable, and sometimes the preferred, option.

After-the-fact
There are several other times when you may want to crop an image after-the-fact. You can crop in the computer to straighten a tilted horizon, or to reposition the subject in the scene using the Rule of Thirds. Several image-editing programs allow you to specify a standard print size. So you can take the image size on the screen and crop it down to a standard print size.

To crop in Photoshop, first open your image. Next, with your left mouse button, click on the marquee tool. Move your cursor to the upper left part of the open image that you want to keep.

With the left mouse button, click and drag down and to the right creating a rectangle. When you get it the size you want, release the mouse button. Now, move your cursor to the top-line menu and click on Image and then Crop.

Your image will now be the size of the rectangle you formed using the Marquee tool. The cropping tool shows up as a rectangle and you can move that rectangle over your photo to create a crop you deem the best.

What you are actually doing is cropping to eliminate nonessential or distracting elements within your image. You can also crop to a print-size photo, such as a 4” X 6” from a larger size image in your computer.

With Adobe’s Photoshop Elements software, you can crop a photo down to different photo sizes by specifying the height and width from the Crop screen. Once rectangle appears on your computer screen, use your left mouse button and move the rectangle to where you want it.  Click on the green checkmark on the bottom right corner of the image.The image is now cropped to the size you indicated and with just the part of the image inside the rectangle.

Another reason to crop is to isolate action. With action shooting, you don’t always have the time to switch lenses. So, as a result, you have extraneous elements around your actual subject. In these cases, take the image and then crop down to just the right amount of action. Lastly, you may want to crop to create a more compelling message or for artistic effect. Usually this last crop is most useful when you have a specific use for that image such as on a web site or in a newsletter.

Cropping, both in the camera before you take the picture and after-the-fact, once the image is in the computer, are tools to make good pictures great. Here is a great video on the cropping process.

If you liked this article, visit our Sunlight Digital Photography website for more tips and techniques. To further your digital photography skills, consider purchasing one of our digital photography ebooks. All of them are instantly downloadable, so you can start reading right away.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Fun At The Zoo

In this post, we focus (no pun intended) on how to shoot photos at zoos, wildlife parks, aquariums and nature sanctuaries. As in any type of animal photography, patience, persistence and creativity are the secrets.

Composition - When setting up to photograph animals in a zoo environment, there are several considerations The first one is varying your composition. Take some shots with the subject looking straight at you along with some looking left or right. To achieve this you may have to reposition your digital camera several times. This is the patience and persistence part. Use a tripod to maximize the sharpness of your photos.

The other part of composition is subject placement. Apply the rule of thirds. To use this rule, mentally create a grid by separating your viewfinder into three sections, both vertically and horizontally - like a tic-tac-toe board. The rule is to place your subject on one of the intersecting points in the grid.

Time of Day - The second consideration is time of day with early morning and late afternoon the best times to shoot. Photographing from sunrise to about 2 ½ hours after and again about 2 ½ hours before sunset to sunset, produces a soft, golden, highly directional lighting saturating the colors of the subject and background.

Another reason for shooting early or late in the day is the lack of crowds during these two times. And the final reason is the animals are most active early and late in the day. In the wild, this is when they normally hunt and eat. During the middle of the day, they are more lethargic and not as photogenic.

Illumination - Illumination of a subject occurs from three possible directions: the front called frontlighting, the back called backlighting, and the side called sidelighting. Each have their advantages.

Frontlighting minimizes shadows and thereby texture, but it will intensify color. If you are trying to accent the fur of an animal, this is not the best lighting. Use sidelighting instead.

Backlighting creates a rimlight effect. This type of lighting creates a glow around the subject giving it a halo type of look, but it also can fool the TTL in your digital camera and your subject can come out as a silhouette.

Sidelighting defines the texture of the surface of an object. It creates a 3D effect by highlighting the high points bathed in the directional light and forming small shadowy areas in those that are not with the result being texture - texture so distinct that your viewers can imagine how it feels just by looking at the photo. Of the three types of directional lighting, this best because of its texture accenting ability.

Chains, Fences and Enclosures - If you are trying to show the animals without their containment, you will want to try avoid showing the bars, barriers and wires. When this is impossible, their presence can be minimized by using a long millimeter lens and shooting at wide apertures to blur both the foreground and background.

To make a chain link fence disappear, put the front of your lens up to the fence and centered in one of the openings. Set the lens aperture to wide open and shoot. This will give you a very shallow depth-of-field thereby obliterating the wire of the fence and softening the background.

While shooting in this non-natural environment, shoot close-ups to minimize the environment. In wildlife parks, where the environment is more like it would be in the animal’s natural habitat, create an environmental portrait by including more of the animal’s surroundings. Here, you will want to use a smaller aperture to hold both the foreground and background in focus.

If you are in a wildlife park with a driving route, shoot from inside your vehicle. Use a window camera mount or a bean bag. Be sure to shut off your vehicle’s engine to minimize camera movement.

If shooting through a glass barrier, try to find a piece of clean glass and place the lens hood up against it to minimize reflections. If using a flash, use it off camera and hold it at a 45 degree angle to the camera and up against the glass.

As far as sensor speed ISO, for the outside shots, use a slow ISO such as 100 on sunny days or 200 if cloudy. For indoor aquarium shots, use ISO 400.

Summary - Shooting at the zoo is exciting. Where else can you get, in one location, a collection of animals from around the world. Take your time, plan your shots and enjoy the photography of animals. If you are marketing these photos, do not try to pass them off as shot in the wild.

If you liked this article, visit our Sunlight Digital Photography website for more tips and techniques.

To further your digital photography skills, consider purchasing one of our digital photography ebooks.  All of them are instantly downloadable, so you can start reading right away.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Composing For Impact

Composition controls how much impact your photos have on the people viewing them. Below are some tips and techniques you can use to maximize the impact of your photos.

Rule of Thirds –

The rule of thirds, also known as the Golden Grid, was discovered by the ancient Greek painters. The rule says to mentally divide the scene in your viewfinder into thirds both horizontally and vertically. If your main point of interest is a static spot, place it on one of the intersecting points. If your main point of interest is horizontal, then place it on one of the horizontal lines. Place vertical points of interest on the vertical lines. Using this technique by itself, will give your photos impact.

Other factors influencing impact on your photos include:

- Framing

- Depth

- Focus

- Viewpoint

- Brightness

- Color

Framing –

Framing is used to draw the viewer’s eyes into the photo – right to your subject. Once you start to look for items to use as frames, you will see them all around you. They can be natural or man-made. Tree branches and limbs, doorways, and windows are three popular ones. A mistake many make when first using framing is placing their subject too far away from the framing. When that happens, the subject appears small thereby losing the impact of the framing.

Depth –

The illusion of depth occurs when there is a noticeable distance between the foreground and background. Photos showing depth tend to draw viewers into them. When two items of the same approximate size graphically appear to be different in size, the eye interprets the small one being farther away from the larger one. Atmospheric haze contributes to the illusion by making the smaller item appear lighter in color.

Focus –

The viewer’s eye naturally goes to the object in focus. Use this phenomenon to your advantage. You can make this happen by using selective focusing. Having your subject in focus and the rest of your photo slightly out-of-focus happens when you use a small f-stop number. Using a small f-stop equates to having a very small amount of your photo in focus from the front of the scene to the back.

By focusing on your subject, you will ensure your subject is in this small plane in focus. The farther you move both ways away from the plane of focus, the more out-of-focus the items appear.

Viewpoint -

Viewpoint is the physical placement of your camera at the time the photo is taken. Before taking a picture, look for other viewpoints. Try shooting from a position higher than the subject, a position lower and finally, from a different lateral position. See how these viewpoints change the way your subject appears in the viewfinder. Digital cameras are great for this because you can take a photos from several viewpoints and instantly see the photo. Now you can keep the one(s) you like and discard the ones you don’t without having to pay for the processing and printing.

Brightness –

The brightness of a photo is the greatest contributor to the feeling of that photo. A photo having a very light tonal range, known as high-key, conveys a feeling of youth, hope, beauty, or softness. Often, you will see a beautiful young girl or flower portrayed in a high-key setting. Conversely, low-key photos imply seriousness, sobriety, age or impending danger. A photo of an impending storm will convey the feeling of danger.

Color –

In a photo, color serves two purposes. It sets the mood of the photo and enable us to distinguish the different elements in that photo.

The more color of an object contrasts with its surroundings, the more likely that object will become the subject of that photo. Location photographers use very colorful props when photographing people. It identifies them as the subject and separates them from the rest of the photo.

A uniform color of a photo overall establishes a mood also. A photo having a bluish cast will convey a feeling of coldness. A reddish color conveys a feeling of hotness, endangerment or adventurer.

Experiment with these compositional factors the next time you shoot photos. If you are visually aware of these factors, your photos will have impact.

There are many more compositional factors that will give your photos impact including position of the horizon, line, balance, contrast, shape and pattern. I chose the seven discussed in this article as they are some of the more overlooked compositional factors.

If you liked this article, and you would like us to ghost-write you an article or ebook on digital photography, please contact us and request a quote.

If you enjoyed this article on travel photography, you'll enjoy my ebook titled How To Improve Your Travel Photography. You can purchase it from this link and instantly download it for your digital photography reading pleasure.


If you would like to read more useful articles on digital photography, please visit my photography website, Sunlight Media Digital Photography.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Festival Photography

Spring signals the arrival of festivals, parades and other community events. It doesn’t matter if you are four or eighty-four; these events are fun for everyone. Below are some basic photography tips and techniques to maximize your photography at medieval festivals, civil war reenactments and Native American pow-wows.

Festival Photography Basics -

Find a great spot. This usually involves getting to the event early so you have a choice of spots. Don’t expect to get into the areas where the press photographers shoot, though. That usually requires you to have a Press Pass. If the event is being televised, try to get close to the area where the TV cameras are located. The passing bands and other parade members are the most lively when passing this area.

With the right lens, you can get great photos shooting from a sidewalk or bleachers. If you’re shooting from a sidewalk, stake your claim early. If you’re shooting from bleachers, get up a couple of rows higher than street level. Also check the location of the sun and try to position yourself so it will be at your side or back. Avoid shooting into the sun.

Deciding on which camera and accessories to use -

If you are using a compact camera, one with a Zoom lens range of 38-110 or greater should be adequate. If you are shooting SLR, carry both a 28-80mm and a 80-300mm zoom lens. Also, carry a flash. As with all flash photography, know the range of your flash and stay within it. Many photographers don’t think of using fill flash during daylight hours, but fill flash will prevent dark face areas especially if your subjects are wearing caps or hats that shade their face.

As far as sensor speed, use an ISO 200 on sunny days and ISO 400 if it is overcast. The higher ISO will give you more motion-stopping shutter speed on cloudy days, but still your photos will have great vibrant color.

Medieval Festivals -

If you like festivals, it is hard to beat a Renaissance Festival. Check out RenFestUSA to find out where the nearest one to you is located. There is something in almost every state. Most feature a medieval castle with a full royal family, knights in armor, village tradesmen and of course, court jesters.

All festival participants are in traditional costumes which are usually brightly colored and very ornate. It is easy to shoot photos of knights in shining armor jousting or craftsman practicing their medieval trade.

Civil War Reenactments -

During the summer there are many events reenacting Civil War battles. The Re-Enactment Headquarters website lists those events.

Usually included in a reenactment is an encampment where the participants and their families live in tents for several days. Horses, authentic clothing, flags, and other period paraphernalia add authenticity to the event.

You will find numerous participants willing to be photographed. They may ask for a print in return, but that is a small price to pay for the privilege of shooting. In this setting, semi-candid photos – pictures of the people interacting while “working”- are the best. Take pictures as they cook over an open campfire, discuss battle plans and don their colorful uniforms. The battle recreations usually take place in the afternoon, but get there in the morning to shoot individual pictures as they prepare for the “battle”.

Native American Events -

Pow-wows, the traditional dance and music competitions, are incredibly colorful events. Stop by this website for a nation-wide listing of events. Arrive at least an hour before the dancing and music begins to ensure you get a good seat. Try to get a few rows up in the bleachers so you can shoot down and eliminate distracting backgrounds.

These competitions tend to get very crowded so it is difficult to photograph individual participants, but it is still possible if you work at it. Use a 100-300 mm zoom lens to get those tight shots.

Before and after the actual competitions, walk around the grounds with your camera. Here you will be able to get some individual shots, but ask permission before shooting and observe the rules of courtesy.

Portions of the events may be closed to photography and those will be announced beforehand. Respect the wishes of the tribes as during these times, as these portions of the events are very sacred to them.

Asking Permission -

When photographing large groups or parades, you really don’t need permission because photography is taken for granted. However, when you photograph individuals or small groups of participants, ask permission first. If they decline, observe their wishes and move on.

Try to develop a rapport with the individuals before asking permission to photograph them. Your semi-posed shots will be much better.

Aside from the entertainment value, photographing these events gives you an opportunity to develop your people photography skills. Even if you are a shy photographer, soon you will be caught up in the moment and snapping away.

In Summary –

Use the tips and techniques presented in this article to take some great colorful festival photos. Once you see your results, you will be hooked on festival and event photography.

If you enjoyed this article on festival photography, you'll enjoy any of my three digital photography ebooks. You can purchase it from this link and instantly download it for your digital photography reading pleasure.


If you would like to read more useful articles on digital photography, please visit my photography website, Sunlight Media Digital Photography.