John Watson is the original founder of Photodoto. If you're interested in what John has been up to, you can browse his personal blog.
One of my favorite techniques when using a camera mounted flash indoors is to point it behind me. Unfortunately, this only works if you have a flash with a rotating head, so compact camera owners or anyone else stuck with a built-in flash are out of luck.
… Continue reading Indoor flash tip: point the flash the wrong way
One thing you can count on during the Spring and Summer months in southern California is the marine layer: a cool, foggy layer of air blown ashore each evening that doesn’t burn off until around noon. Every morning starts out cool and overcast. Overcast conditions aren’t typically what photographers talk about when they discuss beautiful light. The “golden hour” (dawn and dusk) is only golden if you can see the sun. But overcast conditions have their advantages as well and you can still take great photographs under a gray sky as long as you choose your subjects carefully.
A Walk Through Durham Township, Pennsylvania, is the photo blog of photographer Kathleen Connally. Honestly, if you haven’t seen it, or haven’t seen it lately, you’re missing out. Her site is filled with one sublime image after another. If you like to shoot landscapes, animals, or environmental portraits, she’s got a regular dose of inspiration for you.
Attempting to shoot a swinging child can be a frustrating experience. As shot after blurry shot fills your memory card you start to lose hope that you’ll ever get one in focus. Here are a few tips to help you photograph this difficult but rewarding subject.
Spring. You can always tell when Spring has arrived. The days are noticeably longer, the trees and flowers are in bloom, and everyone is taking photographs of flowers and dandelions. Everywhere you look is another one. To some it’s cliché and is something to be avoided. I disagree.
Photographs have always fascinated people with their ability to capture a fleeting moment, to freeze it and preserve it, in a very tangible way, forever. It’s an extremely powerful form of expression. But, through the use of creative exposures, a photograph can do much more than document the world and people around us. Photographs can record emotions, feelings, movement and pass those on to anyone who views them. One way of doing this is through the use of a technique called “panning.”
Yesterday I wrote a little bit about histograms and dynamic range. Histograms are a very useful tool for evaluating an exposure. You should activate the histogram display on your camera and learn to use it. But you must remember that a histogram does not, by itself, say anything about image quality. Histograms must be evaluated within the context of the image that they represent for them to have any value.
… Continue reading There is no such thing as a “perfect” histogram
Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake? — Leonardo da Vinci
Have you ever shot a photograph of someone with their back to a bright source of light such as the setting sun or sky? Was the person underexposed (too dark)? This is a direct consequence of what is called dynamic range and “compromise” metering being done by your digital camera. The human eye is an amazing thing. Modern cameras don’t even come close to touching the capabilities of your average, human optic system. One astounding feat is its ability to see detail in every part of a scene consisting of a huge range of dark and bright areas. You can see detail in shadow and in bright areas simultaneously. It’s something you take for granted — until you start taking photographs with a digital camera.
… Continue reading Managing dynamic range through better metering
Conventional wisdom says that prime (non-zoom) lenses are the highest quality lenses money can buy. But that wisdom is being challenged by high quality zoom lenses that match or even rival the sharpness and contrast of the best primes. Make no mistake, the best zoom lenses aren’t cheap or small. But the convenience afforded by a zoom lens, even an inexpensive one, to crop with a twist of the wrist or the touch of a button is hard to resist.
The ubiquity of the zoom on compact cameras and as part of SLR kits may have led some to believe that zooming in on a subject is the same as getting physically closer. But there is a big difference between zooming with your lens and “zooming” with your feet.
… Continue reading Zooming with your feet vs zooming with your lens
There were over 180 high-quality entries in the Grand Opening contest. Thank you to everyone who participated. It was a pleasure going through the entries even though it was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to just three who would take home the prizes. The judges were looking for technical excellence, adherence to the theme, and visual impact (the ones that really caught their eye). But these three winners stood out with unanimous appeal. So, without any further delay:
… Continue reading Photodoto Grand Opening contest winners announced
