Tips and Techniques

One of the best ways to perfect your photography is by learning tips and tricks from other professionals in the industry. This can give you an insight into the best photography techniques, and it may even make your job a little bit easier!

The camera enthusiasts and hard camera case providers over at Peli UK have spoken to some of the UK’s talented photographers, who have provided their essential advice for those starting out in the industry. As well as this, they’re supplying some of their own top tips to help aspiring photographers on their journey to becoming professionals. Read on to learn more…

Don’t always photoshop – Ariel Carson

“Ensure a broad range of non-photoshopped portfolio photography. A few images of people, kids and weddings are ok, but include plenty of examples of animals, architecture, black & white images, cars, landscapes, food, nature, retail products, war memorials and property interiors, too.” – Ariel Carson

Understand composition and exposure – Grant Sylvester

“Research and understand composition and exposure. I would Google things on those – they instantly give life to photos.” – Grant Sylvester

Try out everything at first -Drew Forsyth

“Shoot anything and everything.

There are two reasons you should do this. Firstly, when you’re first starting, you might not know what you really enjoy shooting, and the only way that you’ll find out is by actually doing it. Secondly, you’ll learn new skills by doing those jobs. Photographing food for a restaurant might seem very different to photographing portraits for a law firm, but the same principles about focal length, aperture, and ISO still apply.” – Drew Forsyth

Make the most of travel opportunities – Peli UK

If you’re starting out in the industry, you may not get the chance to shoot the most exotic and exciting locations at first. However, even the most simple locations can provide opportunities to create stunning photography, so be sure to persevere and make practise your photography wherever you travel.

Shooting a range of sceneries and locations is a great way to perfect your skills and diversify your portfolio, both of which will be useful assets to have further along in your photography career.

Show what you like to shoot

“Select your online portfolio carefully to reflect what you want to shoot. Hate shooting winter weddings? Don’t show them. More comfortable on location than in the studio? Don’t show studio shoots. Curate your portfolio and social media to appeal to your ideal client and they’ll soon start to find you.” – Lina Orsino – Allen

Family photography tips

“It isn’t easy at the best of times trying to get a photo of your little runaway toddler or small child. I know!

To get the best possible photos of children, try taking them when they are well rested and happy. You could even try when they are sat playing – the candid shots often turn out the best.” – Laura of Oh So Mummy.

Collaborate with others – Peli UK

On your journey to becoming a professional, make sure to collaborate with other artists and photographers. This can help you perfect your skills and take your photography to the next level.

As well as this, working with others can provide a different perspective, and you may get inspiration that will help you to be more creative with your work.

Over the course of the last decade DSLR cameras have made major inroads in the dominance of shoulder mounted or mobile camcorders for video production. DSLRs offer a number of advantages over camcorders, including full size sensors and the ability to use longer lenses made for stills photography.

For a long time Canon sat pretty on the top of the video DSLR pile with the 5D, the darling of film makers everywhere. More recently the other camera makers have caught up to a great extent, this article will examine seven of the best DSLR cameras for video.

Canon 5D mark iii

Firstly what for a long time was the preeminent video DSLR, now in its third incarnation. The camera is favoured for its ability to shoot in low level light, it’s 41 cross-type autofocus and general fantastic image quality. There are various other Canon DSLRs available of course, but the 5D leaves it’s stablemates standing as far as quality is concerned.

The main downside is the fact that the camera itself is showing its age a bit, having been released in 2012. It lacks some modern features like 4k and a flip out screen.

Panasonic Lumix GH4

The pretender to the 5D throne is the Lumix, which has increasingly become the DSLR of choice for video production companies over the last five years. A large part of this is because the Lumix is a mirrorless micro four thirds camera that shoots 4k at 24 and 30 fps.

Another big benefit is that the Lumix is unusual in that it can shoot videos longer than 29 minutes, 59 seconds. The Lumix is also very competitively priced compared to the Canon and is significantly lighter and smaller.

Sony Alpha a75 II

Strictly speaking not a DSLR, the Alpha is a mirrorless camera which provides incredible images at a more premium price. It has a full frame sensor and 169 autofocus points as well as 4k capabilities. One of the biggest benefits is the fact that the Alpha is mirrorless so is very light and small compared to other full frame cameras.

Low light capabilities are another big plus for the Alpha. This along with build in stabilisation and its compactness make this camera a real contender.

Nikon D810

This Nikon has been a strong contender for the 5D’s crown for quite a while, it has similar specs to the Canon. These include 1080p /60fps video, 36 MP full frame sensor 51 autofocus points. It also includes an updated sensor with an expanded native ISO range and great features including time lapse and a strong LCD screen. The price is also very competitive.

Canon 80D

Back in the reasonably priced end of the market is the Canon 80D. This camera is very popular for vloggers and the more entry level end of the video production market. The crop sensor does full HD at 60fps and has good, accurate autofocus. The 80D is really good for the Youtube crowd who don’t want to pony up a fortune for a 5D or a Sony Alpha. It’s excellent at most things as long as you don’t want 4k or full sensor action.

Over the course of a decade we at Hightower have used each of the cameras featured in this article. You can see the results of our effects in our showreel here. As far as figuring out which is our personal favorite, until 18 months ago we would have said the 5D. However the Lumix has really turned our heads – shooting 4k at the price bracket it sells at makes it very appealing to the more budget focused video productions we are involved in.

Article by: Luke Cairns is an expert in video production in Brighton and London and is available for hire at www.hightower.video

Property photography goes beyond point-and-shoot actions. Proper care and planning goes into other photography niches. The property niche is not different. Your shots are supposed to impress your target audience by highlighting all the underlying attraction elements. Here are some top tips on how you can capture the best property photography.

Use the Right Equipment

To get the best results with your property photography, you need to have the basics in place. Most of top real estate photographers that supply magnificent images to top property websites, such as Spot Blue, will swear by these.

Wide-angle lens: Some of the best you can find in the market for general cropped frame shots are Nikon’s 10-24mm and Canon’s 10-22mm or 10-18mm. On the full-frame front, the Canon 17-40mm, Nikon 16-35mm lenses and Nikon 14-24mm are great options. Don’t want to shell out on those? Look for equivalents from Tamron and Sigma. These lenses allow powerful zoom out to capture large spaces without any unrealistic distortions.

Tripod: You can’t hold your camera by hand with serious interior photography. The results will look unprofessional. A tripod combined with a remote shutter eliminates the possibility of shakes during shoots.

Flash: Your camera’s standard flash is for leisurely shots. Experts invest in high quality flash to deliver truly robust shots.

Keep Flash and Ambient Light under Control

The lighting inside a room can be more than seven times darker than the outdoors even during the daytime. To get quality shots, you need to properly balance light coming in and light inside the room. You need to first of all understand how your camera’s shutter speeds affects the ambient light and how the ISO affect ambient and flash power.

Clear the Space

If there is a wide range of clutter around the property, your images will look unprofessional. Clear all clutter, arrange sofas, straighten beddings and turn on the lights for an invitingly warm shot. If there are locked doors that block light sources then get them unlocked, even if it means calling a reliable local locksmith!

Effective Composition is Vital

What are the best view points for your shot? Walk around the room to find them. In many cases, however, the best points are from corners of the room or positions that communicate the space or flow from one room to another. Take several shots from several viewpoints so you can review your images later and make more informed decisions on the perspective that works best.

Understand Your Settings

Taking your shots with ISO set on Auto will yield subpar shots. Keep it on 100 or 200 if you need shots that are devoid or noise or grain. You consider increasing your ISO from these levels if you need more power to illuminate the space. Your aperture should be set at f/8 as well for two main reasons. Firstly, that setting is the sharpest for your lens and secondly, the depth offered is wide enough to make the entire room the focus while allowing enough light for short shutter speeds.

These tips are bound to transform your property photography. Get practicing today!

A picture tells a thousand words, so the saying goes, and this has certainly become true in the digital age. Images have become the way to capture the attention of millions of online viewers, users of social media and owners of mobile devices, who have notoriously short attention spans. This is why charities should make use of imagery in their appeals to engage with their audience and raise money for their cause.

Everywhere you look you will see images: images on posters on walls, images on digital displays on billboards, and images in newspapers and magazines. All of them are doing the same thing: advertising. They may be accompanied by text, but this is often short and to the point. It is the image that captures the reader’s attention.

There is even evidence available to back this up. Apparently, only ten per cent of the information provided in an audio message is retained by the listener three days later, compared to a visual image with the same information that has a 65 per cent retention in the memory of the reader over the same period.

Studies have found that visuals involving colour deliver an 80 per cent increase in people’s willingness to read content, and 46 per cent of marketers claim that imagery is a vital element of their marketing strategies. Perhaps most importantly, studies have revealed that content accompanied by relevant images achieves 94 per cent more views than content that has no imagery alongside it.

You might be forgiven for thinking that advertising is not suitable for charities, but you would be wrong. Charities need to raise awareness about the problems they address and raise money to help address them and they could not do this without engaging in some form of advertising.

For example, an advert that alerts women to what they should be looking for in the case of breast cancer is not selling a product, it is raising awareness, yet it is still advertising for the charity. That particular campaign, admittedly, used text to get the attention of its readers, but it worked because the headline was sufficiently alarming to do that.

Other charity appeals use heartbreaking images to draw attention, such as the RSPCA’s use of an image of an adorable, yet sad-looking dog to raise money to combat abuse of animals. The idea was that readers’ eyes would firstly be drawn by the picture of the dog and then be compelled to read the text that provided further information.

Penny Appeal is another charity that teams relevant imagery with succinct copy. Its charity appeals often feature the faces of individuals alongside a snappy appeal headline, such as the OrphanKind appeal, or a computer-generated graphic, such as the Education First appeal.

But it is important to get the imagery right. Unlike commercial advertising, which always likes to present a positive spin to whatever product or service is being sold, charities often use a negative image to tug at the heartstrings. There is no proof, however, that even in charitable appeals negative images work better than positive ones.

The key in such instances is to ensure that the image is relevant to the campaign and to the wording. The image has to be telling part of the same story as the copy. If it does not do this, then negative or positive, the advert will not be successful. Also, the image has to be, or at least appear to be, real. Any image that appears faked in some way on a charitable appeal will raise doubt in the mind of the reader about its authenticity and so discourage them from donating.

So what should a good fundraising advert include? Well, it’s generally accepted that colour works better in black and white, but as with anything, there are exceptions to this rule. The use of people in advert imagery works better than objects, and one person is better because it provides a focus for the reader, especially if that person is looking out of the image and at the reader. The biggest no-no in any charitable appeal is the use of stock photography, as this is unlikely to be directly relevant to the story being told.

Studies have proven that, when it comes to raising awareness, engaging people’s attentions, and ultimately raising money for a particular course, there is nothing to rival the power of the image. Charities need to embrace the opportunities that the online world offers by developing appeal campaigns that have imagery at their core.

Finding the perfect shot is never easy, but when you’ve got a crowd of people, unexpected movements and poor lighting to deal with it can be even tougher. Live events, whether it’s a concert or a sporting showdown, offer some great opportunities to capture an inspiring shot, but only if you’re prepared.

As with all environments, live events pose their own set of problems. Is it indoors or outdoors? Are there multiple people to focus on or just one? How close can you get to the action? These are just some of the questions you’ll have to ask yourself if you’re prepping for a live event. Of course, there’s never a “one size fits all” set of standards you can follow if you’re looking to whip out your camera at a live event.

Here, we’ve picked out some things you need to consider by analysing two unique environments.

Live Poker Events: Finding Your Target in Bad Light

Since the early noughties, poker tournaments have been mass-participation events with thousands of players riffling chips in unison inside some of the top casinos in the world. One of the biggest problems photographers have when taking pictures inside a poker room is the lighting. The lack of windows and therefore natural light makes them dim in places. This problem is compounded by the fact you can’t use a flash inside the building.

To counter this, it’s important to turn up the ISO on your camera and, if possible, uses lenses with an aperture of 2.8 or less. Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, you then need to find your target. Live poker tournaments are a mixture of amateur qualifiers and established pros, which means you need to know what you’re looking for before you start.

Let’s assume you’ve been drafted in to take pictures of players at the World Series of Poker who have won satellites online through the event’s iGaming partner, 888poker. These players will have won their seat online via one of 888poker’s qualification tournaments and be virtually unknown to the community at large. Because of this you’ll have to become adept at reading name tags/ID numbers, skulking around the poker room floor and taking the perfect picture without disturbing them.

A Stage Show: Know the Action, Know Your Position

Assuming you’re permitted to take pictures inside a theatre, the one obstacle you’ll have to overcome is privacy. Stage shows, such as a play, place the audience in darkness for a reason: they want each individual to feel as though they are alone with nothing between them and the well-lit stage.

Breaking this dynamic is a no-no for everyone involved which means you can’t overstep the mark as a photographer. Unsurprisingly, you won’t be able to use your flash, but the main challenge you’ll face is the angle of your shot. Getting into a position where you can capture the full panorama of the action without disturbing the audience or actors isn’t easy.

One tip you can use to improve your images is to use a long lens. Anything within the 70mm to 200mm range (Canon’s EF f/2.8L II USM is a good option) should help you improve your reach and allow you to snap away from almost any angle. Another way to increase your chances of taking the perfect photo is to anticipate the action.

Just as it is important to memorise who your targets are at a poker tournament, it pays to know the running order of a play. Having an understanding of the action will allow you to manoeuvre yourself closer to the stage when it will have the least impact on the audience and then retreat when necessary.

Dynamics Are As Important as Equipment

As you can see from these two examples, taking the perfect shot at a live event is as much about your equipment as your own positioning. Knowing the context of your surroundings, where the best shots will be and what the mood of the situation is will all help you to tailor your strategy in the most appropriate way.

In fact, that’s probably the most important lesson you need to learn when you’re photographing a live event. Getting the technical information is easy enough, but having a clear understanding of what’s going on around you, what you’re permitted to do and how the action will flow are the things that will really make your shots pop.

Creative studios and design agencies are growingly creating their own digital services and products, rather than just creating them for clients in order to feed an insatiable app market. Here you can get advice from some of the best, people who are already making a success at it, such as Strange Thoughts, MPC and ustwo. These two are some of the most successful instances of innovative companies creating their very own and unique commercial digital products by engineering a startup culture amidst their ranks, having recently developed the million-selling game Monument Valley.

According to the CEO of ustwo, Scott Ewings as of now the market is probably the hottest place to be. People who have scars and those who have created digital products are the ones that are most looked for in the world right now. Startups are after them, retailers are after them, banks are after them, everyone wants them and because of that they are now starting their own companies. People who possess those sort of skills are in a huge demand.