At my darkroom photography class, my teacher did this technique with us but I don’t know what it’s called, it definitely had a name. We made photograms and began to develop them but after being in the developer for 20 seconds, we exposed them again under our enlargers. It made the photograms have a silvery effect. Do you know what it’s called?

Actually "solarization" is something else. That is when film is grossly over exposed and the negative starts to turn to a positive.

What you are talking about is called the Sabattier effect.

http://pworkshop.tripod.com/sabattier.htm

Happy 2012 Everyone , wish you a great year ahead!

I have a Canon 450D & I love Photography. I’m trying to improve my skills somehow.
I’m trying to figure out what are the best settings on my cam to take outdoor pictures during the day in a way that the pictures come out alive & decent.

I also would like to know some of the editing techniques that are used in certain pictures like these

http://www.fashiondistraction.com/2010/11/fastlove.html

Yes I do know most of them use Photoshop but I’d like a bit more details in how to achieve the looks.
And also what is the best way to increase the contrast and exposure without making the picture seem as if it were fake or has been edited on a lot.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150459459571662&set=pu.168699921661&type=1

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=270200343041640&set=o.168699921661&type=1&ref=nf

Few examples of Photos That I’m talking about

If there are a few websites or YouTube channels the you recommend that would be great as well

Your advice techniques & help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you

None of these are that good, none would have been accepted by any editor I worked for, may be standards have dropped. No control over the lighting has been used on any of them.

When taking shots of models for fashion, cosmetic and magazines the photographer will, almost every time, use soft-boxes or reflective umbrellas and flash, or at least a few reflectors, they rarely (if ever) accept the light as it is. Lighting is so important, PS can’t make a silk purse from a pigs ear, you need good start images, a lot less PS and more camera was always the rule. (Was as I’m retired now).

Check out this site

http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/?__utma=1.1134379909.1325422586.1325422586.1325422586.1&__utmb=1.3.10.1325422586&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1325422586.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=%28organic%29|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=lastolight&__utmv=-&__utmk=43210917

I got a lot of my gear from them over the years.

In this video miss out the beginning part and move onto the shoot, you’ll see the difference that flash can make.

http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/using-the-hotrod-octa-softbox

PS is not the secret, good lighting is. The trick is to get all your contrast and control the shadows in the camera. I can’t emphasise too strongly how important this is.

Usually all I ever did in PS was colour balance, sharpening (usually selective sharpening around the eyes), skin smoothing (usually using Surface Blur) and removing the blemishes that even the best model has from time to time. That’s all that was usually required.

Chris

Might sound like a stupid question, but I have been studying all things light and I guess this is an opinion question more than anything.
I wish I was still at exam age dude, I really do.

"I wish I was still at exam age dude, I really do." Oh boy, so do I!!!

Principally, the difference is between continuous lighting and flash lighting. When shooting stills, it is of course possible to use continuous lighting, but then there is no opportunity to play with flash/ambient lighting mixes – with continuous it’s all ambient light.

Flash is more powerful in a short burst of time, to get that sort of power from continuous lights they need to be a high wattage, soooo they get hot. They need cooling, they are a fire risk and the model gets hot, sticky & sweaty, which is a pain for the make up artist to have to keep sorting out. All those difficulties are removed with flash.

There is also the difference that stills shoots tend to be relatively static, whilst video is often more dynamic, needing the use of lighting dollies.

Currently, I enjoy photography as a hobby, but would like to start taking more professional looking pictures. I usually take most of my photos of my family and friends and am interested in tips and techniques for good portrait photos. My mother is interested in purchasing a magazine subscription for me for Christmas and I was thinking that a good portrait photography magazine would be nice to have if there’s one out there. Last year, I got a magazine subscription that was basically all about the gear (cameras, lenses, filters, flashes etc) and it wasn’t what I was expecting. Any recommendations?

I do some portrait painting and have found inspiration in the paintings of famous portrait artists of the past, such as John Singer Sargent. 1940’s black and white movies have some great scenes that show lighting techniques.

Any techniques he used to do his photography.. please say.

Ansel has become world famous for his way of thinking of the correct exposure for a landscape shot (even though he worked with Fred Archer it’s Ansel that got the fame). It’s known as the zone system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_System

Im currently doing a gcse photography course and I am need of some photography techniques to help me in my course. Any will help and I have an Nikon slr and photoshop so I have the technology to try some out. Thankyou!

browse through different types of photography. Here’s mine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vangorkumphotography/sets/72157623193786470/

or some of other’s photos that i really like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vangorkumphotography/favorites/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/143/sakurafn.jpg/

As the title states – What post processing has been used on this photograph? I’m starting to learn the ways of photography. Techniques, ect. And I’m trying to figure out what has been done to this photograph. Any help?

Thanks to everyone in advance.

I see no evidence of post processing.

That is simply a shot that is called a back-lit photo.

The photographer exposed for the hand which was in shadow and let the background overexpose

Here are the details of that shot

Filename:sakurafn.jpg
Size:143Kb
Resolution:600 x 600
Camera used:PENTAX PENTAX K-x
Orientation:Horizontal (normal)
Focal length:18.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 27.0 mm)
Aperture:f/5.6
Date/Time:2011-03-22 17:24:47
Exposure time:1/80
Lens F-Number:f/5.6
ISO:320
Whitebalance:Custom
Metering mode:Multi-segment
Exposure:Manual
Jpeg Quality:JPEG (old-style)

Learn about composition, light, exposure and depth of field. Then practice by always thinking about the light, the composition, the exposure and how much or how little depth of field you want. Doing this will help you avoid falling into what I call the "machine gunner mentality" – take 300 exposures and hope – HOPE – a few are worth saving. I’ve no doubt someone will tell you to: "Just go out and shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot. That’s how you gain experience." This is about the worst advice you can get. The only "experience" you’ll gain is in taking snapshots. Good photography requires thinking – thinking about your composition, thinking about the light, thinking about the exposure, thinking about depth of field. Since thinking requires time there is no way to be thinking about those elements if you fall into the "machine gunner mentality". The goal should be quality, not quantity.

Here are some sites you should spend time on:

http://www.digital-photography-school.com

http://www.kamerasimulator.se/eng/?page_id=2

http://www.photonhead.com

http://www.illustratedphotography.com/photography-tips/basic

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Another technique you need to learn is to pay as much attention to everything else in the frame as you do to your main subject. Look for litter, power lines, dead branches, an overexposed area in the background, a dull sky – anything that might be a distraction to someone looking at your pictures. By doing so you’ll learn that a slight change in your composition can eliminate or at least minimize any distractions.

http://www.flickr.com/drifter45h/3991210245/ After settling on this composition but before releasing the shutter I picked up 3 cigarette butts, a discarded tissue and a plastic bottle.

Don’t fall into the "Oh I can fix it in Photoshop" mentality either. The idea is to "Get it right in the camera" and keep your use of an editing program to a minimum. An image file that suffers from a blurry image caused by subject or camera movement or is underexposed or overexposed or is out of focus is a lost cause. You might be able to improve it if its only slightly under or over exposed but if its out of focus or blurry all you’ll be doing is wasting your time.

So learn to concentrate on the light, the exposure, the composition and the depth of field and learn to pay attention to everything in the frame.

just out of curiosity(:

Whatever it takes to get the shot I want.

wondering if i should upgrade my camera body or just accesorize what i already have?
i have the canon rebel xs with two lens the 70-300mm and the 18-55mm
a bower flash which never gets used .

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nature-Wildlife-Photography-by-Megan-Webb/206243579403220 here is my work . i do mostly animals and nature and was wondering if iwere to upgrade what would be the best camera for me to get , also what are some tips and techniques you think i should work on. i feel my work is good but i like to have other peoples opionions.

The Xs isn’t a horrible camera and I honestly believe that you haven’t come close to hitting it’s limits with your current skill (based on your portfolio).

As you mainly do wildlife and landscapes, lighting gear isn’t going to be very useful to you.

My first suggestion is lay off the editing. You over edit all your images like crazy, it lowers any artistic value they might have had.

Next, learn about photography. I don’t want to be nasty but you could get MUCH better pictures than these with the gear you currently have.

Learn how to expose your shots manually. You seem to have a knock at finding some nice shots to shoot but the images are desaturated and blurry and it’s not because of the camera.

If you don’t have a tripod or monopod, get one.

When shooting with a telephoto, to keep the image as crisp as possible, try to shoot faster than your focal length. I know, I sound like han solo explaining that the millenium falcon is fast by saying he did a run in 9 parsecs (a measure of distance) instead of time but bear with me.

Let’s say you are shooting with your 70-300 at 200mm focal length, to minimize blurriness, you need to shoot at 1/200th of a second or faster (1/400, 1/800 …). This is to combat motion blur caused by the shaking of the super long lens as you press the shutter release.

Also, don’t shoot at the widest aperture possible. All lenses have what’s called a "sweet spot", an aperture with image clarity is best, that sweet spot is one or two fstops higher than the minimum so if your prosumer lens can do let’s say f5.6 at 200mm then your sweet spot would be around f11. this is especially true of consumerglass like the Signma 70-300 f3.5 – 5.6 … pro glass like the Canon 70-200 f2.8 are much clearer (but are also 4 times the cost).

If f11, 200mm, 1/250, ISO 100 doesn’t give you enough light, play with your ISO a bit. With the Xs, you should be good up to ISO 400 at least, giving you 2 extra stops of light.

Learning how to use your camera will improve your picture much more than upgrading the body or buying new glass … admitedly, if you have money to spend … a good lens is a good idea but you need to buy a GOOD lens … not that consumer crap with variable aperture.