There are photographers who choose not to shoot in Manual Mode. Instead, they prefer to use automatic by choosing between the Aperture Priority (A for Nikon and Av for Canon) or Shutter Priority Mode (S for Nikon and Tv for Canon). There are times though when these programmed modes will not expose the subjects correctly. To help solve this problem, one must learn how to use the Exposure Value Compensation or EV Compensation on the equipment.

What is Exposure Compensation?

It is so easy to get lost in the technical definition of the term. In order to avoid confusion, let us try to use something that everyone can understand. Exposure compensation allows you to tell the camera to adjust the amount of light it “sees.” It helps in keeping the image from being underexposed (too dark) or overexposed (too light with loss of details).

How Does It Look Like?

Look for the button on your camera that has the (+/-) sign. Press it to see a slider that looks like a ruler. You will notice that it has two sides, the right has (+) values which adds light to your image, the left has (-) values which lessens the amount of light entering the camera. The value is by default set to (0) in the middle.

How to Use the EV Function?

Even with good sensors there are times that your equipment makes an error in its calculations. The following scenarios show instances of when to use Exposure Compensation:

1. When you have a white or light subject like a bride in her wedding gown, the camera by default will adjust its settings and the result may be an underexposed image. In order for you to get the natural looking colours, you have to dial the controls going to the positive values. This will help to lighten the images whilst still keeping the details visible.
   
2. Black or dark subjects “confuse” your camera. Dark subjects are often misplaced by the device in the middle-grey area, resulting in an image without any details. To address this issue, you have to dial the EV down to the negative values. This will help bring the fine points back to your subjects. This setting is also good when dealing with backlit subjects.
   
3. Landscapes that have both light and shadowed areas can be a little tricky. In this situation, your camera will calculate the values according to the bright area. It can lead to washed out details with properly lit shadowed parts. To resolve this, you must be ready to compromise. Choose the value that would give you enough points of both the foreground and background. Be prepared to see some loss of details in the well-lit portion of your landscape.

There is no specific formula on how to get the proper exposure. The best way to learn more about your camera’s output and performance is through trial and error. Experiment with your shots. Take photos of everything and anything under different lighting conditions. Study and learn how to read the histogram of your photographs. This will give you a more accurate idea about the lighting conditions of your images. Once you determine what the problems are, take new photos adjusting the settings of your camera every after shot until you get a more natural looking image. Learn how to work with your equipment. Take the time to really understand your camera’s controls and the way it takes images. This would take you a long way when it comes to getting the correct settings every time you press the shutter button.

If you’re still unsure of what to do, here is an activity that you can try to help you gain more confidence.

1. Choose any stationary subject like flowers in a vase or fruits in a bowl
2. Place your subjects near an open window or any place that has ample lighting in such a way that the subject is properly backlit (See, In the example photo above, it’s a car/van in front of a bright sky)
3. Set your camera to aperture priority mode. Look at the top dial on your equipment, rotate it to A (Nikon) or Av (Canon)
4. Using the programmed EV value (0), take a shot. After the first try, adjust it to +0.3 then take another shot. Your third photograph should have an EV of -0.3 and so on…
5. Keep shooting and adjusting the values until you have at least 4 or 5 images with different Exposure Compensation values. Transfer them to your computer to see which one is better.

The key is in experimenting, as you can see from the above shot that the image taken at EV (-1) gives the best result – both the sky and the car are properly exposed with no considerable loss of details!

Whilst it is possible to correct the photo issues using various editing programs, it is best to start with a good shot. Try to take a photograph using different exposure settings and then go after editing if it’s really needed. Check which one comes out better. Will it be the underexposed photo, the overexposed or the one that you shot using the right settings?

After experimenting with your shots using the suggestions above share your images on our Facebook page. Please include the camera and settings that you used.  We hope that this post has helped to encourage you to pick up your camera and experiment with your shots!

 

About the Guest Author:

Nadia Hyeong loves following the latest news on gadgets, wireless technology, music and the latest developments from companies like Sony, Apple and O2. Feel free to follow her on Twitter and Google+

The objective of any pregnancy or ‘maternity’ photo shoot should be to make your client look amazing and feel great at a point when she may not feel at her best – in her later stages of pregnancy.

As a photographer it’s your job to use flattering lighting and suitable props to bring attention to a woman’s bump without making the woman feel self-conscious or exposed. Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or are worried about shooting your first maternity session, here are some tips designed to help enhance your shots:

1. Timing

The best time to take a pregnancy photo shoot is at some point during months 8-9 when the woman’s belly is nice and big. Of course, this is just a guide – 9 months might be a little late for some clients so it’s worth consulting with each person in advance.

2. Comfort

If the photo shoot is being carried out at your studio, ensure that your client feels comfortable and looked after. As it’s a maternity shoot, you’ll need to ask her to take some degree of clothing off to show off her bump, so it’s vital she feels secure. Provide her with a private changing area, or at the very least, a screen. Also, it always helps if she brings a familiar face with her, whether it’s her partner, mum or friend.

3. Clothing

During the shoot, first take some shots with full clothing on. Once you’re happy with the assortment of those shots, ask your client to put on some under bump jeans and a vest top (you’ll have to remind her to bring these beforehand).

4. Materials

In terms of background fabrics and cloths to drape around your client, buy lots of lengths of chiffon and floaty material - some in blue and some in pink work nicely if your clients know if they are having a boy or a girl. I also recommend keeping a selection of neutrals and black and white for them to choose from.

5. Lighting

Lighting is one of the most important aspects of pregnancy photography. Studio lighting should be used to make shots subtle and beautiful. Start off by placing flash lights behind the woman to create stunning silhouettes of the bump. As they show off just the rim of the bump, the client doesn’t need to worry as much about stretch marks or pregnancy rashes.

I also recommend trying natural lighting with window light behind the woman. This will give your photos a beautiful, ethereal feel. Using white chiffon to drape the mum in further adds to this natural, subtle look.

6. Props

I personally like very natural images, but it can be fun to incorporate baby building blocks that spell out 'baby' or the baby's name or nickname (parents often have a pet name for their bump). Baby scan images and measuring tapes are also popular props to use to bring a more personal meaning to the finished image.

7. Poses

In terms of poses, it’s very much a case of trying out different ones to see which ones the delicate mum-to-be is comfortable trying out. Below, however, are some of the most popular poses with both clients and photographers:

• Client standing with her side facing the camera, silhouetted with a light behind the bump
• Same pose as above, but with a small amount of soft lighting in front, lighting the bump and face a little more
• Client looking down at her bump, with one hand on top of it and one at the bottom
• Mum sitting down and holding her bump, with legs to one side, looking upwards towards the camera
• Lying on her back with legs in air and ankles crossed. Do give her some support so she can rest her legs as a pregnant woman can’t hold her legs in that position unaided
• For standing poses – as you would with a model, emphasise the curves of her body, so get her to bend her knees and arms. This creates space between limbs and ensures even more flattering, beautiful photos
• Above all, remember she may be 7-9 months pregnant so try not to make it too much like an aerobics workout!

Do you have any other worth mentioning tip to share? I look forward to see your views in the comments below ;)

Lisa Gill

About the Guest Author:

Lisa Gill is a UK based professional photographer and training provider with many passions – pregnancy photography being one of her biggest! You can connect with her on twitter @LisaGillPhoto.

What comes to your mind when you see a photo in black-and-white tone? Do you think it’s too archaic to think of? Well, think again! Black-and-white photography has started attracting many natty photographers from around the world. And here are the two solid reasons why many people still prefer monotones to full saturated colours:

1. A photo in black-and-white tone allows you to focus on lights, shadows, textures and lines, which are obviously difficult to discern in case of a full coloured tone!

2. Black-and-white tones are evocative to cheerful memories of the past.  For example – A wedding photograph in black-and-white tone will be more poignant to look at, than just a plain coloured one.

Well, this post is not to teach on how to shoot in black-and-white, instead, how to convert a coloured photograph into black-and-white tone in Photoshop!

It’s always a better choice to convert your coloured photos into black-and-white using post-processing techniques, than to directly shoot in black-and-white at the first place. There’s a good reason for that – A photo shot in black-and-white tone is very difficult and time consuming to colourize using Photoshop and, on the other-hand, a coloured photo can be very easily converted into a black-and-white one! So, in this way you have an option to preserve both the tones :)

How To Convert A Coloured Photo Into Black-And-White In Photoshop?

Before you start the conversion process, please note that - not just every photo looks great in b/w tone. You have to identify the types of photos first…

Here are some of the photo themes that look wonderful in b/w tone:

Child Photography,  Wedding Photography,  Portrait Photography and Wildlife Photography (For rest, you can always experiment)

Step1. Open up your image in Photoshop and navigate to Image –> Adjustments –> Black & White (70% of the task is completed here itself!). A pop-up window will appear soon after that. You don’t have to change any colour value there. Just click OK!

Step 2. Navigate to Image –> Adjustments –> Levels.

Tweaking with levels gives you a wide range of control over the shadows and lights of your black-and-white image. Tweaking the ‘input levels’ make your shadow areas more darker and the light areas more lighter while tweaking the ‘output levels’ does the opposite. So, adjust the sliders a little bit in accordance to your editing taste and till you get the desired results!

If the photo gets a little bit over-exposed, move the lighter slider in the ‘output levels’ a little bit to the left and if it gets under-exposed, move the shadow slider in the ‘output levels’ a little bit to the right.

Here are the slider values for the photo that I’m converting (that’s just for an example, your slider values might completely differ in accordance with the tone of your photo)

After all that, just click OK! and save your photo. Here are my results…

Can you feel the magic of the above monotone? While the coloured one appeared just plain and distractible, the converted one brings the main subject into focus. The tone is calm and soothing to the eyes!

So what’s your preferred tone? Coloured OR Monotone. I look forward to hear your thoughts in the comments below :)

Though we have covered almost all the basics of digital photography on DCP, but i believe that recapitulating all the important terms together will be a treat, especially for those who have just started out with photography either as a hobby or as a career.

1. Aperture

Aperture is the opening of your camera. Thus, It is the aperture only which decides the amount of light that can pass through your camera lens. Obviously,  the larger it is, the more light can pass through your camera lens and the smaller it is, the less light can pass through the lens. Controlling the aperture size of your camera is directly related to f-stop values (please refer term #6)

Usage - Its usage comes handy when shooting under varying light conditions. For example - while shooting under bright light, as when shooting under a full blown sunshine, a lower value of aperture OR a higher f-stop value is usually preferred.

2. Shutter Speed

It's the measure of how fast or slow your camera snaps the subject. Technically speaking, It's the measure of the time for which the camera lens is let open to snap the subject. Quite obviously, shutter speed is measured in seconds. It can be 500th of a second, 20th of a second, 10 seconds or even 25 seconds (it all depends upon your camera)

Usage - Shutter Speed is mostly used to simulate the motion of an object. For example - if you would like to simulate the motion of a fast moving train in your picture, you should reduce the shutter speed. Likewise, to freeze the motion of an object, you will have to increase the shutter speed. It's no more a secret, doing long exposures is actually based upon the concept of controlling shutter speed.

3. ISO

It is the measure of how sensitive your camera is towards light. For point-and-shoot cameras, ISO is the key element that controls the shutter speed since you don’t have any access to modify the f-stop values there. That’s probably the biggest limitation of having a point-and-shoot! Learn more about aperture, shutter speed and ISO here.

4. Depth of Field

It's an art of simulating the selective focus of your eyes to your digital camera. Do this little fun experiment - close one of your eyes and try to focus on your finger by bringing it closer to the other eye. You will find that your finger is focused against a soft or blurry background. This is called natural depth of field and you can very easily simulate this natural optical phenomena with your digital camera! Learn more about depth of field in detail here…

This is a shot i took with my camera last year and it is a perfect example of shallow depth of field:

5. Rule of Thirds

Or the rule of composition. According to this rule, if you want to achieve perfect composition in your photos, then you have to divide your frame into 9 imaginary equal squares (two equally spaced parallel lines running horizontally and two vertically). Then place your subject on either of these lines or on any point of intersection (obviously by moving your camera)…This video explains it very well ;)

6. f-stop

This is perhaps the most confusing term in the world of photography. I will keep it as simple as possible -The f-stop number inversely controls the aperture size (the opening) of your digital camera. The higher the f-stop number is, the smaller is the aperture size of your camera and vice-versa. Thus, it indirectly controls the amount of light and depth of field of your camera (refer term #4)

7. Exposure

Casually speaking, Exposure is the amount of light being superimposed on your camera’s sensor while it snaps a picture. High exposures make them look washed out while low exposures make them look dark.
It has a direct relationship with the aperture and shutter speed of your camera as both of them control the amount of light entering the sensor of your camera.

8. Bracketing

Bracketing is the art of capturing 3 or more than 3 photos (of the same subject) with varying levels of exposure (usually low, neutral and high). This is usually done to merge all those photographs into a single vivid HDR using post-processing techniques.

Did i miss something OR is something still not clear? Feel free to comment on this post below…

As a digital photographer, on occasion you might need a hardcopy of your images. Printing your work is an alternative way to share your passion with a hardcopy that you and others can hold and feel, and that deserves more attention and it’s often perceived as ‘special’.

With so many options and considerations to take into account, selecting the most suitable printing media is sometimes a confusing one. So in this post, our guest author Joseph Eitan walks you through four important tips to simplify the whole process!

1. Narrow Down The Type Of Paper

Printers use either laser or Inkjet technology to disperse the ink on the paper. In the case of Inkjet technology the ink is sprayed microscopically onto the paper and in the case of Laser technology powder is laid loose on the paper and must go through a hot fusing process in order to become permanent.

Photo paper that is designed for one technology should not be used on the other, as it will damage it. The vast majority of photographers use Inkjet as their preferred printer type, as Inkjet can print in higher DPI (Dots Per Inch) resulting in colours, especially skin tones and solid colours appearing accurately.

2. Size Of Photo Paper

Photo papers are available in predefined sizes designed to accommodate a number of printing needs. A common mistake is purchasing the wrong size resulting in further printing costs of ink and paper due to reprinting. While it is possible to cut to size a measurement which is too big, it will result in wasted time and unnecessary costs. Naturally the same base paper in its larger measurement will cost more than in its smaller measurement. If the print is too small for your needs, there is no other option but to reprint. Sizes vary from the smallest 10x15cm to the largest A3 oversized before you enter the world of large format media.

10cm x 15cm – These are the smallest photo paper sizes that most printers can safely accommodate. This measurement is aimed at standard photo albums. You may also come across it as 6”x4”.

13cm x 18cm – Slightly biggest, they too are designed to fit into standard photo albums. You may also come across it as 7”x5”.

A5 and A4 – Standard A4 sheet is precisely double the size of an A5 sheet. These measurements will be supported by all Inkjet photo printers and designed for photo frames (desk or hanged on the wall).

A3 and Oversized A3 - Standard A3 sheet is precisely double the size of an A4 sheet. It is reserved for the professional world, as it requires an A3 printer.

3. Photo Paper Quality

Quality in photo papers refers to two aspects. The first is the durability of the print before it fades or in low quality case becomes yellowish. The second is the tones and colour representation from what your digital camera captured to the printed result.

Two means to measure the quality of the base paper that is used and the weight of the paper:

Base Paper – Photo papers contain a receiving layer designed to hold the ink without soaking the paper which results in cockling (waves on the paper caused by over inking, which happens when printing an image on normal bond paper). The type of receiving layer will influence the colour palette of the print. Budget and lower quality photo papers use cast coating, while higher quality use PE coating and Micro-porous coating. PE coating will result in higher definition due better stability and humidity resistance.

Paper Weight - Weight is measured in GSM (grams per square meter) and refers to product per unit of area or product density. The higher the weight is, the better the printed result will look in terms of actual colour representation. Bond paper, which is your normal uncoated printer paper, will normally weigh between 80 to 90 grams per square meter, while photo paper can even exceed 300 grams per square meter.

4. Photo Paper Finish

Once you have decided on the most suitable size and quality for your circumstances, you need to choose the finish. Photo papers are coated in a translucent layer designed to enhance its appearance. It is measured in level of glossiness from high to low.

Glossy Finish – The most common finish, glossy finish contains the highest level of glare. While it makes viewing from a direct angle superb, viewing from an angle might prove limited. It becomes apparent when photos are hanging for display and people crowd around the photos from all sides.

Satin Finish – It includes some level of glare, but naturally less than glossy. You may come across satin under its aliases of pearl and Lustre in which levels of glare will vary.

Matt Finish – While glossy and satin contain some level of glare, matt is the only finish that is completely absent of any glare properties.

So, how are you planning to get your digital photos printed? Still in some doubt? Drop your comments, we would love to hear from you!

Joseph Eitan

About the Guest Author:

Joseph Eitan is the founder and Managing Director of the photo paper retailer - Photo Paper Direct. For further information, tips and tricks read the Photo Paper Direct blog.