I play guitar and bass in a little band, and am into programming in my spare time.
I play guitar and bass in a little band, and am into programming in my spare time.
Member since:26.07.2000
Reviews:109
Members who trust:6
For the serious photographer there are two options when buying a camera. Either a state of the art digital machine, or the slightly outdated but considerably cheaper (cameras which use a system of mirrors to let the user see directly through the lens). If money weren’t an object, many people would choose a digital camera, however many of us don’t want to go out and blow a large amount of money on a digital camera. There may be a feeling when buying a digital camera that you are “settling for less.” This is by no means the case, and I aim to show you a few techniques that will enable you to take superb pictures with an SLR camera.
Personally, I use a Practika SLR from the mid eighties. In fact, I am only slightly older than the camera. Using this camera I have taken (if I do say so myself) excellent shots in Glasgow, mainly thanks to my dad who showed me how to go beyond point and click photography.
The first point to bear in mind is that you should pay attention to the light meter of your camera. Become familliar with it, recognise how much light is too much, how much is too little, alter your exposure accordingly.
On the subject of lighting, buy either a couple of different powered flashes or a flash that you can vary the power of. This will allow you to create lighting effects, give shade, whatever.
Focus can be used in several interesting ways with an SLR camera. Since digital cameras often have an auto focus feature, they may not allow you to fade areas of the picture as effectively as an SLR. This takes a little time, so it’s probably best to do this when taking a picture of a still image. Just point your camera at the object you want to focus on, then play around with the focus until you get a sharp, clear image of the person or object you wish to photograph, and everything else a little blurred. Some pictures I have taken using this technique include:
A late blooming flower against a background of blurred snow (the motion of the snow helped this) One person standing on the street with blurred people moving past
The number one tip I can give to anyne who isn’t using a camera on a tripod is to cary a bean bag or two in your pockets. You can rest the camera on them, put your elbows on them, an they will greatly reduce camera-shake.
You should also get a two times expander. While it cuts the light coming into your camera lens by half, it doubles the magnifying value of the lens.
The most important part of photography is not the camera, it is the photographer. If you can spot a natural frame, a possibility for added sense of depth, an interesting lighting shade, you will do just fine whatever type of camera you are using.
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Good opinion mate - absolutely spot on. As an SLR user over the last 15 years I am seeing to many people being wrapped up in this digital scene. Stay away from these freebie cameras they are giving away with new PC's (worth around £250). If you want to get serious with this digital buisness be prepared to splash out around £800 - £1000 for a camera which can boast around 5 million pixels.
Dec 14th, 2000
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