Don’t put your camera away once the sun goes down; there’s plenty of magic to record after dark, whether you’re in a bustling city or an isolated landscape. And you don’t require elaborate equipment if you decide to hand-hold your camera.
Photo Review tips section
Event shooting
Great action shots are rarely a result of good luck. Knowing where to position yourself, being there at the right time and having the right equipment set up correctly will shift the odds in your favour. So, too, will being able to anticipate the peak of the action and having fast enough reflexes and on-the-spot timing. Understanding how your equipment performs is also important.
The digital dark age dilemma
[August 2015] By breaking the nexus between analogue cameras and photos (the film era forced photographers to create hard copy images), digital photography created a problem which is yet to be fully addressed: the essentially ephemeral nature of digital image files.
Five key factors for action shots
Most photographers enjoy the challenge of depicting action in still photos, whether they shoot sports, dance, wildlife or simply family activities. The best shots capture the essence of the movement – speed, flow and/or position – in the instant recorded in the frame. Regardless of your level of expertise, all photographers must deal with five vital criteria when planning an action shoot.
Lens aperture for low light photographers
Lens aperture is an important criterion in any camera’s exposure adjustments. But, for low light photographers, it is equally important in determining the choice of which lens to use.
Big guns
The uses, advantages and disadvantages of shooting with longer telephoto lenses.
Lens accessories
The main accessories for lenses are hoods, filters and adapters and all have benefits and drawbacks. Some manufacturers supply lens hoods with lenses; others offer them as options. Filters and adapters are always sold separately.
Macro Lenses
There’s a lot of misunderstanding about what constitutes a ‘macro’ lens. True macro capabilities require the lens to be capable of 1:1 or ‘life size’ reproduction. Lenses that provide a 2:1 reproduction ratio (or greater) also qualify as macro lenses but they are usually highly specialised and not widely available.
Editing photos
Most cameras come with a software disk containing an image file browser and raw file conversion software. The browser usually combines facilities for transferring images from the camera to your computer with automatic cataloguing of image and movie files. In most cases the new folders created are identified by the date and time of the upload.
Video recording on a compact system camera
Almost all CSCs can record Full HD video movies. But whereas in DLSR cameras it’s only available in Live View mode, electronic viewfinders make it possible to shoot movies while holding the camera to your eye. This can have important advantages.