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Hi this took me a few days to write but I love photography and was a pleasure, hope it helps.Photography TipsPhotography tips are everywhere, and when you know what to look for, it is a perfect way. But if you want tips to improve your photography, this list will come in handy as it covers everything there is to learn about photography. This list combines all the possible photography tips you will need to access.Photography Tips Basics: The Camera Buying GuideThis section talks about the camera buying and what are the key factors? The few important criterions for camera buying are:1) Understanding InterestsIt is important to understand your interests. The other choices will become clearer based on the interests. Pick out the top 3 or 4 genres you want to shoot, and the next few tips will help when this option is well worked out. Some of the genres that people generally start of with are fashion, street, wildlife, and landscape.2) Focus Points and SystemCross type focus points are faster. More cross-type focus points means faster focusing. This is important for you if you are going to take up wildlife or sports photography where speed is everything. More cross type focus points means faster and more accurate focusing, and thus more accurate in photography where speed is an important criterion.Phase Detection vs Contrast Detection vs Hybrid Focusing Systems – the Choice. Most of the modern DSLRs are using phase detection systems, which are slightly faster. Contrast detection works amazingly well in certain conditions, while the top cameras these days combine the two technologies to produce something much more powerful. Faster and more accurate focusing is a pre-requisite in some of the genres of photography, like bird photography. Taking birds-in-flight, especially, you need fast and dependable focus systems. But if you won’t be doing it much, why spend the extra amount looking for this particular feature?The above two features do provide faster and more accurate focusing, but the main idea is that it improves over already good focusing systems in modern day cameras. So unless you have a specific requirement, it isn’t really worth the extra moolah.3) MegaPixel CountMega-pixel is one of the big factors pushed by the marketing of the companies. But does it really matter? This question is universal to all the cameras – mobile, digital, DSLRs, etc. How much megapixels do we really need? The answer is simple – what is the end product. An un-cropped 2 megapixel picture is what is needed to be printed on a wedding album of standard size. You can easily print 5 megapixel pictures from your earlier phone models in albums. So who really needs the megapixels?A standard 16 megapixel picture at 300 ppi is enough to print almost 16.4” by 10.88”. This is good enough for banner sizes too. Any bigger banner sizes – especially if you are in commercial fashion photography – require you to have camera with higher megapixel counts. This can be achieved by 48 or 50 megapixel DSLRs the current generation has produced, or medium and large format cameras, which are way costlier and heavier.4) Sensor SizeBigger the sensor size, better the high-ISO performance of camera on the scale of dynamic range and lower noise. For photographers who have to consistently shoot low-light without the aid of direct artificial lighting, it is ideal to go for full-frame DSLRs. Candid Wedding Photography and Astrophotography are a couple of genres that need the bigger sensors.Bigger sensors also provide higher dynamic range, and the ability to shoot more cinematic images and videos. Cinematography with a full frame sensor camera is much better and refined, and more natural, as compared to the crop-frame sensor because the natural softness of the full-frame sensor while going from point in focus to the one not in focus gives it a realistic touch. In crop frame sensor, it is more drastic and less natural.4) BrandCamera brand does not matter, to be true. Its features do. However, some of the important tips, especially for starters, to consider a brand are:Some of the manufacturers have more lens availability than others. Some of them allow adapters to have other lenses used with them, although the original manufacturers don’t usually recommend. Then there are third party lenses. Combining all these factors, you would be able to know if the brand fits you if the lenses for your style of photography are available with them or not.When working in a team or with a few people often, it is ideal to have the same brand body as others. This allows an easy exchange of the lenses. Therefore, the choice of brand also depends on the body the team you want to work with uses. It isn’t easy to change body because the lenses all keep adding up, and body is a one-time investment. Therefore, this is an important consideration to make.5) ServiceService of the camera and lenses are not only dependent on the brand and their service centers, but also the local servicemen. Often, when warranty runs out, brands may charge exorbitant amounts for faults, and you may not like to pay them. Also, some of the cameras may not have enough service centers in the localities near you. Truly enough, some of the brands are almost entirely absent from some of the countries as far as service is concerned, despite having a cult status as a brand all over the world. Hasselblad is one such brand that doesn’t have presence as far as service is concerned in all the parts of the world.6) ErgonomicsThe first step towards finalizing a camera is actually the feel of the camera. No matter what anyone suggests, if you go to a local store and hold the camera, and it doesn’t feel right, then you won’t like using it much. Similar to choosing a wand, sometimes the camera body talks to the hand that holds it. It also depends on the size of your hand. People with big hands usually prefer bodies that have a bigger grip, and may also use a battery grip if needed.Photography Tips: The Equipment1) LensesThe Kit Lens: Kit lens is the most important lens for any beginner photographer. While it is not a recommended lens for professional shoots of higher order, it is the most perfect lens one can find for learning purposes. The most common kit lenses are 18-55 and 18-135 (for crop frame sensors), 24-70 and 24-105 (for full-frame sensors). These focal lengths are both wide as well as medium telephoto allowing you to experience architectural photography as well as portrait photography. The modern day kit lenses are also much faster compared to the predecessors. The kit lenses are also easy to carry around for the shoot, and can be left affixed to the body most of the times.Prime vs Telephoto Confusion: Lenses, in their construction, aren’t as simple as they are supposed to be. The refractions of the glass mean that the lens designer is working to eliminate chromatic aberrations. Prime lenses are better because the construction is simpler with less lens elements as compared to telephoto. Also, there is always a compromise in telephoto, while prime lens can be constructed to perfectly remove chromatic aberrations. This is the reason prime lenses are talked of when quality is concerned. However, some telephoto lenses have amazing construction, and the aberrations can also be minimized in post. For a studio photographer, prime lenses are idea as he doesn’t have to move around much. For a travel photographer, carrying and changing many lenses can be a hindrance. It is up to you, quality vs. a little compromise for portability and versatility.Brand Manufactured Lens vs Third Party Lenses: The present age has resulted in many of the third party manufacturers who make cheaper lenses with similar configuration to the ones from the original brand. While most brands have enough lenses for the camera bodies they build, some are still matching up their charts. The brand manufactured lenses are supposed to be better in every term as they know their bodies and constructions better. Also, they are richer in resources as compared to the third-party lenses, and have research teams and lens designers working from way before the third-parties. However, the present age third-party lenses have caught up. For a casual photographer especially, it is difficult to find a difference between a third-party lens and brand lens. And the difference in price is huge. Take an example of wildlife and bird photography lens 150-600 manufactured by both Tamron and Sigma. There’s no lens from either Nikon or Canon covering the same range. And at this focal length, the costs of their lenses go way higher than what Tamron and Sigma come up with. The professionals can always afford, but most of the semi-professionals and hobbyists will be happier with the quality of the third party lenses because of the price difference.The Weight: For a travel photographer, another important consideration comes is the weight of the lens. Getting a lighter prime 300 or 400mm is better for a travel photographer who also does wildlife as compared to a 100-400, which is bulky and much tougher to carry around. Especially for those who trek and those who travel by public transport – travelling light is the key.2) Tripods, Monopods, Gorillapods, etcTripods are an important accessory for a landscape photographer, an architectural photographer, etc, and a must-have requirement for a long-exposure photographer, an astrophotography, among others. Having a tripod can guarantee a stable shot by removing the handshake. Also, getting a straight composition can be achieved using a tripod.A tripod or a monopod comes with different heads – pan head, ball head, and gun head are three main ones. Pan Head provides for stronger and smoother panning actions, while giving much better stability and straight shots. Ball head is used for those looking for speed. So those who are involved in landscapes and astrophotography usually go for pan heads, while those involved in bird and wildlife go for ball heads. There’s also a gun-head that provides a pistol to hold on top of a fluid ball-head, and is basically an extension of ball-head. It can also be linked to the shutter button, and is the ultimate tool for the photographers who do speed shooting.The difference between a monopod and tripod is that a tripod has three legs and is stable; a monopod has one leg, and is essentially not meant for long exposures but to provide extra half or one stop stability while doing action photography. For bird photographers, monopod is far more versatile and useful, as also with sports photographers. However, long exposure photography isn’t really ideal with monopods.Gorilla pods are smaller pods that can be attached to anything, like a window, a tree branch, etc. They are useful for their ability to attach to any surface, and are very light to take. Ideal for travel photographers, they can have any head attached to them, and thus provide the value as well as portability.3) Filters (sub-heads UV, CPL, PL, ND)Lens filters are attached to the front element of the lens for various reasons. They are manufactured by many big brands, as well as small manufacturers. It is important to buy filters from reputed brands only because it is a glass that is getting attached to the lens. Therefore, it directly affects the quality of the image. Therefore, you could have a $1000 dollar lens providing excellent quality, the cheap filter in front of it could destroy it completely.UV Filter: UV Filters are simple pieces of glass which protect the front element of lens from damage. The thing about UV filters is that you either go for the best or you don’t use a UV filter at all. The reason is same – it doesn’t do anything special to image quality apart from cutting down some of the harmful UV rays. Its main purpose is protecting front glass of the lens. But adding a bad quality glass or plastic will turn the image quality to the level of the bad glass. So if you can’t go for the quality, handle the camera with care. You can even add a cheap filter, and take it out every time you are shooting. This will help in protecting lens from accidental damage when not shooting.CPL Filter: A CPL or Circular Polarizing Filter is a filter that polarizes light to remove reflections, haze, fog, etc. CPL is a must-have filter if you plan to shoot landscapes or architecture. For landscapes, it helps bring out the skies much better by removing the haze in the skies these days. Dehaze tools in current post-processing software don’t nearly work as well as the original picture, and this filter helps in getting that correct.CPL Filter also helps in cutting the reflections. So if you plan to shoot reflective surfaces, you can cut out the reflections by using a CPL filter – like shooting water, glasses, ornaments, etc. Shooting waterfalls, it becomes more important to have CPL with you, because the reflections on wet stones can spoil an entire shot. Same is the case with architecture, and the buildings having glasses etc.CPL is said to be most effective at 90 degrees to the source of light. However, keeping it at that angle is not advised because it might make it look unreal as well as cut out much of the light. An important point to note is that CPL actually reduces light by 1 or 2 stops, depending on the angle of polarization. CPL is less effective in wide angle lenses because the sky is too wide and CPL is more effective at some angles. All the area covered by wide angle lenses can’t be at same angle, and hence it isn’t as effective.ND Filter: Neutral Density or ND Filter is a filter that is used to stop light from entering the lens. An ND1 Filter will cut light by 1 stop. ND4 filter will cut light by 2 stops. ND 8 will cut light by 3 stops, and so on. ND 100 cuts light by 10 stops. Therefore, you need to compensate for 3 stops of exposure above your meter reading when you use an ND8 Filter.The most common usage of ND Filter comes for the landscape or architectural photographer. When there’s more available light and you are getting high shutter speeds even at low ISO, you need to cut light from entering. So if you are getting a speed of 1/60 at ISO 100 and f11, you can use ND8 to use 1/8 shutter speed at same aperture and ISO. You can use ND100 to use 16 seconds exposure at same aperture and ISO to get the correct exposure. What this does is slows down the motion. While shooting waterfalls, it is imperative to slow down the shutter to get the milky flow of water. ND filter helps in achieving the same, especially when there’s excess available light. Same can be done with the clouds, when we want the flow of clouds instead of them being still.Another use of ND Filter is in fashion photography. In this case, we keep the shutter speed constant but open up the aperture. When the light is more, which is especially the case in studio photography most of the times – it is imperative that we shoot with closed aperture to get the correct light. To have a shallow depth of field to create the beautiful blurred or bokeh background, we can use ND Filters to go from f8 to f1.8, depending on the requirement and availability of ND Filter.ND Filters usually come in two variants – variable ND Filter and fixed ND Filter. Variable ND Filter, as the name suggest, can vary the stops of light they cut, and usually have a range instead of a fixed number. For example, ND2 to ND 400 is one of the many variable ND filters available in the market. The normal ND Filters come with marking, such as ND8, ND4, ND100, etc. Variable ND Filters are difficult to make and costlier, but are one-time investment. With fixed ND, it is imperative that we know our end usage and zero-in on one number that will be used consistently.Graduated ND Filter: A variant of ND Filter is Graduated ND Filter. It has a gradual change from light to dark on the filter. The darkest part cuts out the most light while the lightest part is transparent and doesn’t cut the light. For landscape photographers, it is an amazing utility. You can simply expose your image for the ambient light on the ground, while the sky – which will usually be overexposed, especially during the golden hour etc, will become darker and the exposure of the image will be perfect. While it can be achieved in post, there’s no substitute of getting exposure right naturally and in-camera. This filter, though, is worth buying only after you have the basic equipment covered, and isn’t a necessity.4) Intervalometers and Shutter ReleaseA shutter release is simply a remote that is used to hit the shutter for the camera. While most of the times you won’t need a shutter release, it is useful when shooting tripod-mount long-exposures. When you use tripods, it means you are looking for a stable shot which does not have any handshake. However, there’s a considerable amount of shake that comes when we hit and release shutter button. One way of cutting that out is using timer mode and letting the camera naturally settle down before it takes picture. The more natural way is to use a shutter release.A simple shutter release will simply be a shutter button, connected to camera via a wire or infrared. The more advanced shutter release will allow you to set exposure manually, and use bulb mode to have longer exposures too. They will let you control all the settings inside of the shutter release, thereby making sure the camera and the tripod stay in exactly the same position as they were initially.Another reason where it is effective is while shooting HDRs or two frames at different exposures. Essentially, you can keep the position of the camera exactly same with zero shake, change the settings, and take as many shots at different exposures or timings as possible.Intervalometer is a shutter release that also has a function of taking pictures after a particular interval repeatedly, as specified in the settings. For example if you want to take a picture every 5 seconds for the next hour, you can use the intervalometer and do the settings. It is the most important tool you will ever need while shooting a time-lapse or a hyper-lapse. When you put in the settings, all you need to do is hit the shutter and wait for the time to expire or in case of hyper-lapse, hit the shutter once and keep moving.Shooting star-trails require you to have the same settings and shoot every few minutes, with 100 or more shots generally. These are then stacked in post-processing software. It is impossible to shoot without an intervalometer as even a slight shake in composition can destroy the picture because the stars won’t stack clearly. So, along with a sturdy tripod, an intervalometer is essential to shoot star trails.5) Camera BagsCamera bags are one of the lesser talked accessories that are as important as the other ones. Imagine having equipment worth thousands and lakhs of dollars and using a cheap bag which isn’t fit for the purpose to save some money – ultimately hurting the equipment. It has happened, and it will continue to happen – lenses do break and equipment does get hurt when the right bag isn’t used.Pciking the right camera bag depends entirely on the genre, purpose, and the requirement. A travel photographer would love to have a bag that is big enough to carry the 2-3 lenses that a travel photographer essentially loves, a space to tag the tripod along, as well as enough padding and water-resistance, as he doesn’t know where and in what conditions he might end up. Another important feature may be ease of access while traveling, where he can take out or put lenses back without having to stop everything. Also, the weight of the bag is another important criterion. Using these, one can pick up the bag that suits.A wedding or an event photographer, on the other hand, needs a camera bag that is big and can carry many lenses and has adequate padding. The weight of the bag isn’t a big problem, but the ability of it having different compartments is an issue. It is ideal to have space for memory cards, batteries, charger, etc.Photography Tips Physics: What are the Important Areas one needs to Understand1) Light and Inverse Square LawPhotography, the word, is derived from two words photos (Greek), meaning light (light is carried by photons), and grafias (Greek) meaning to draw. Literally translating, photography means painting with light. Everything about photography, therefore, starts and ends with light, and hence it becomes extremely important to understand the various important mechanisms related to light.There are three ways light is used in photography – natural, artificial, and mixed. Natural light is based on the sun or the moon and the stars, depending upon the time of the day. Artificial light is of different types, like speedlights (or flashes), strobes, and continuous lights. Mixed light is one where natural light is used in combination with artificial lights.Modifiers are equipment which does not produce light themselves but help in modifying light. Reflectors, diffusers, blockers, softbox, beauty dish, barn door, are some of the light modifiers available to photographers. While artificial light can be controlled much more, natural light can be generally controlled only by reflectors, diffusers, and blockers.Reflectors are used to reflect light so that the original angle of light can be altered. If there’s an overhead sun, a reflector slightly below the model at an angle of 45 degrees can make it look as if the light is coming directly on her face from an angle below. Reflectors are used to increase light or manipulate the direction of the light. Reflectors are most commonly in three different colors – white, golden, and silver. Silver and golden reflectors increase the intensity of the light, while white keeps it almost the same.Diffusers are used to simple diffuse light so that it turns soft light instead of hard light. A hard light has more pronounced shadows, and has more contrast, and is excellent when showing shapes and details. However, it isn’t a light that is used for models. To avoid sharp shadows, open shades or window light is used. When shooting outdoor and none of these is available, diffusers come in handy. Diffusers turn hard light into soft light simply by making the source of light larger. When we use a diffuser in sunlight directly between the sun and the subject, it becomes the source of light instead of the sun.Blocker, as the name suggest, simply blocks the light rays that hit it, now allowing them to pass through. Black color is used in different mediums and variations to work as a blocker.Inverse Square Law is the law of physics with regards to light. It states that the intensity of light is inversely proportional to the square root of distance. The longer the light travels, the lesser it actually reaches based upon the law. The applications of this law are more in artificial and mixed light, yet they figure highly in terms of natural light and it’s impact.Inverse Square Law basically does not affect the natural lighting at all – when used without modifies or additional lights. The reason is that the distance of the sun from the earth is really big, in the vicinity of 149.6 million km. As per inverse square law, the intensity of light between two points, say 100 m away will be nearly the same, because the intensity of light at each point will be proportional to 1/149.6 million x 149. 6 million. A difference of 100 m would hardly have any impact.When using modifiers however, the equation changes. When using a diffuser for example, the source of light comes very close. Now the greater the distance with the diffuser, the lesser the intensity of the light. Also, another application can be about the distance between the two subjects with comparison to the modifier. If subject A has more distance than subject B to modifier, subject B will be exposed more, considering the natural light is falling equally (that is, both are in similar shade or sun).The reflector is the other modifier that becomes a source of light itself. However this one works along with the natural light or original light. Therefore, when used in natural light, reflector can be used to light specific subjects by using it only for them while the natural light powers up everything else. The application of reflectors is amazingly used by photographers to do the backlighting for a subject. The two ways to go about it are to use reflector as the backlight with original light falling from the front or slightly side, or using the natural light as backlight while the reflector is used to light up the subject. For a backlight, it is important to have the power of light higher than the original light to have a highlight. Therefore, for a reflector to be used as backlight, the silver and golden reflectors work much better than the white reflectors.The major application of inverse square law lies in its use in flash photography. The inverse square law gives us a guideline to work with the shadows and highlights, and also to even up the light or create contrast. Flashes, speedlights, strobes, etc, are fairly close to the subject we shoot – and also are high powered in most cases. This means that even a little distance between two subjects or two parts of a subject can create a massive difference.In events photography, photographers usually bounce the light towards the ceiling. This is to avoid uneven lighting on all the subjects creating badly exposed images as far as events go. When they bounce from the ceiling, the distance traveled doubles, making the light almost even, while also making the source of light for the subject to be ceiling (reflector). Therefore, the lighting is evened out, and the exposure doesn’t need to be adjusted continuously. Moreover, you are able to find the color temperature of the atmosphere as the intensity of light is much lower. If it was a direct flash, the light would have been of the color of the flash light.In group photos, it is best to keep the group as far as the strobes as possible. The reason is that due to inverse square law, if the group is near to the light, there will be huge difference in exposure for the subjects near the light and those far from the light. The same, however, will be evened out, when the distance is increased.2) Light – Directions and Three-Point LightingThree-Point Lighting is the standard starting light-setup for most studio photographers. It is based on three major lights. One key light, at a 45 degrees angle from the front of the subject. It is the major light that exposes the subject. The second is the fill light – which is used to fill the shadows resulting from the non-illuminated zones of key light. Backlight or rim light is the light that is used as a highlight from the back of the subject to separate it from the background.There’s also a kicker light that is often used, which is also used from the back but at an angle so that highlights are formed on the side of the face – usually giving a shape and punch to the face of the subject. Kicker light adds persona to the human subjects, most commonly.Both the kicker light and the backlight need to be higher in intensity to the key light, otherwise they will not show at all. It is only when the key light is properly exposing the subject and the backlight is higher in intensity than key light that the over-exposure will show in the form of highlights. The same is the case with kicker light. The higher the difference, the brighter the highlight will appear till it is white.Lighting ratio is the ratio of light between the key light and fill light. In essence, it is defined as K+F:F where K is key light and F is fill light. The higher the ratio, the higher the contrast, and the lower the ratio, the flatter the image will appear. Light intensity is measured as per f-stops. Light meter is used to determine lighting ratio. While the process of photography may be instinctive, it is important to understand lighting ratio as far as studio or artificial lighting is concerned. For example, getting the magazine cover look of a fashion and beauty magazine requires a flatter and more beautifying light as compared to a fitness magazine cover – which requires the cuts and curves to be accentuated by using contrast.Lighting direction is important in terms of natural photography more, wherein you can’t essentially control the light, and in some cases, even the subject. You can only understand and move yourself as per the available space. It also becomes important to understand the sunrise and sunset directions, and more importantly, how direction of sunrise and moonrise etc vary.While considering lighting direction – let’s consider only one source of light and one subject to start with. Now if the light is falling from the back of the camera, and if you expose for the scene, the subject will be under-exposed because the highlights forming on the back will have to be neutralized. If you expose for the subject, the background will be overexposed or burned. The contrast will be high and the image quality poor if the light falls directly in the lens. Using lenshood can cut out some part of the light leak and flares.If the light is falling from the side, the natural shape of the face will mean that one side is exposed much lesser than the other side. It will provide for more detailed pictures. Natural sidelights or angular lights are used extensively in food photography as well as boudoir. They both rely on soft light with details, and side light provides just the same. This light is high on contrast.If the light is falling from the front of the subject, the image will be flatter with fewer details. However, the image will appear more appealing because of the same, as the exposure will be even across the face.Most of the times, an angle of light is used in natural light shooting with modifiers being used to create extra source of light to create fill light, etc.The direction of light is important, also, because it has its applications in all forms of photography. Landscape photography and street photography are two genres that benefit immensely. Sunrise and sunsets are usually backlit, and exposed for the overall setting. This creates a challenge in finding the correct exposure; however the boost in contrast helps in creating attractive pictures. In travel and street photography, side lights and backlight provides the subject contrast and having them stand out.Nature has some of the modifiers already. Clouds act as natural diffusers and convert a harsh light into soft light. Water bodies are reflectors that provide beautiful reflections also apart from helping in expose backlit landscapes.3) Lens Mechanism and AberrationsCamera lens are different from telescopes, microscopes, etc, because camera is used to record images while the other equipment just help in observation. Therefore, there’s a scrutiny around the details produced by camera. Hence, the construction requires to eliminate the aberrations are produces as a result of complex structures as much as possible.The objective of the lens designer is to make sure the lens can reproduce details and sharpness, and also allow enough light to expose images properly. The ability to reproduce colors as seen is also equally important. This, subject to the details the modern day images go through, with pixel-peeping being a common trait, makes the job of the lens designer a nightmare and requiring immense patience.The photographic lens cannot work as a magnifier simply because lenses aren’t built to provide extremely high resolutions. Hence, it can break upon enlargement. The modern day cameras have broken various previous standards, however, there is always a limit to the resolution of the cameras. The bigger the sensor, the higher the possible resolution. Also, higher resolutions depend upon the lighting conditions as much as the recording film or sensor.Chromatic aberrations are minimized by having a double of lens elements, the positive element of it having high Abbe number, matched by negative element of it having low Abbe number. Chromatic aberrations are a result of light refractions as they pass through the lens – over different degrees, depending on the curvature of the lens among other things. A fine convergence is achieved of different wavelengths in the visible spectrum.Infrared rays aren’t included in the above calculations, and usually the infrared rays are blocked from entering film or sensor. There’s an infrared photography genre developing though, and it has a different structure to it.Two other forms of aberrations are coma and astigmatism. Coma or comatic aberrations are inherent to the physics of the glass element. The rays propagating two perpendicular planes, when having different foci, produce astigmatism. They are removed in a similar way as to the chromatic aberrations, by coupling the elements. This sometimes results in lens having over 15 elements.Glass has been used in most of the history to produce lenses. High quality glass that is aimed at being more versatile, better quality, and lighter, and pushing the boundaries of existing materials, is the ideal lens material for the lens designers. High quality plastics have also been used for a considerable time. Some of the low-cost camera lenses have plastics instead of glass. Caesium and lanthanum glass have high refractive index and low dispersion properties. These are also in popular demand while creating the lenses. The photographers always talk about the glass of the lens, and it is important to understand and know the quality of glass. Why some of the lenses are higher priced than others despite being of a similar construction and focal length is because of glass itself.4) Focal Length and DistortionA normal focal length is described as something around 45-50mm on the 35mm of full-frame sensor. The normal focal length is closer to how our eyes view things, and anything wider or more telephoto than that causes distortion known as perspective distortion. This distortion is linked to the angle of view one has to use (which is determined by the focal length) to fill the frame. It could also be dependent upon the size of the object and the distance between the camera and the subject.Wide-angle distortion or extension distortion is when the focal length is wider than the normal focal length. This results in the objects closer to the lens being larger than in real while the objects father from the lens appearing much smaller. The variation results in the distortion that makes the subject overall look non-flattering to the eyes.Long-lens distortion or telephoto distortion is one where the compression occurs and distance between the objects can’t be determined. Distant objects appear almost same size, closer objects appear abnormally small and the far distance objects are too large. The comparative becomes difficult to discern, and the longer the focal length, the higher the compression becomes.The linear perspective changes are cause by distance and not the lens. However, to shoot a similar frame of subject from a wide-angle lens would require you to move closer, while from a telephoto you could step back and shoot it much easily. This is why the distortion actually occurs because the angle of view of the wide angle lens is much more and for the telephoto is much less.Photography Tips Camera Modes: Important Modes and Where to Use Them!1) Aperture Priority ModeAperture priority mode, as the name suggests, lets you set the aperture while the camera takes care of the shutter speed based on metering. ISO can be set in different ways. For example, you can use auto-ISO or fixed ISO, depending on your requirement. Some of the cameras let you use auto-ISO with a maximum cap – which allows you to work with the best range of ISO your camera can offer.When using exposure compensation in aperture priority mode, only the shutter speed changes (or shutter speed and ISO – if ISO is auto) to compensate for the difference in aperture. Therefore, if you’re shooting aperture priority at f2, ISO 200, and shutter speed shows 1/120, at an exposure compensation of -1, the shutter speed will increase to 1/250 (one stop faster to allow less light) while letting the aperture stay at f2.Aperture priority mode is often used in weddings and events where you are looking for a shallow depth of field. It is also a good tool in landscape photography, because you tend to use narrower apertures at the sweet spot of the lens. Therefore, the shutter speed, however slow, can be calculated by the camera itself.2) Shutter Priority ModeShutter priority mode, as the name suggests, lets you set the shutter speed while the camera takes care of the aperture based on metering. ISO can be set in different ways. For example, you can use auto-ISO or fixed ISO, depending on your requirement. Some of the cameras let you use auto-ISO with a maximum cap – which allows you to work with the best range of ISO your camera can offer.When using exposure compensation in shutter priority mode, only the aperture changes (or shutter speed and ISO – if ISO is auto) to compensate for the difference in aperture. Therefore, if you’re shooting shutter priority at 1/250, ISO 200, and aperture shows f4, at an exposure compensation of +1, the aperture will open to f5.6 (one stop wider to allow more light) while letting the shutter speed stay at 1/250.Shutter priority mode is the most common mode used for shooting sports. It is because the speed is important, and freezing motion – or having motion blur – is dependent on the play of shutter speed. This can be achieved best in shutter priority mode. Same is the case with shooting action – be it wildlife or birds.3) Program Auto ModeProgram Auto Mode is one of the popular modes because of the ease of use. Program Auto mode selects the shutter speed and aperture for you, and it lets you control exposure via exposure compensation, and also the change of the combination of shutter speed and aperture simply via a dial. So, if you have the camera if the camera is exposing at 1/1000 f5.6 and ISO 100, and you think the shot is underexposed by a full stop, you will be using a -1 exposure compensation. The camera will then give you exposure at 1/500 f5.6 and ISO 100. You can turn the dial to get the settings such as 1/250 f8, 1/125 f11, 1/1000 at f4, 1/2000 at f2.8, etc.Program Auto mode is useful when you know the mode well. It is suited to all forms of photography, and it really depends on the practice of the photographer. Someone who knows there exposure well can simply get the correct exposure within seconds. This is also a fast mode for those who develop the habit, and has the benefits of both aperture priority and shutter priority. The best genre for its use, though, remains street photography, because it allows a bunch of exposure combinations just at dial, and the creativity isn’t bound by change of settings all the time.4) Manual ModeEveryone is fond of speaking ‘if you don’t shoot manual, you’re not a photographer’. It is because in manual mode, you have to set both aperture and shutter speed, and camera meter will only help you know the exposure in the form of overexposure, underexposure, or perfect exposure based on your metering points and the area you use to meter.Manual mode is most effective shooting studio, where you meter everything externally and just put in the values. Also, it is used in every form of photography where you have the time and want perfection. Astrophotography and landscape photography are usually done via manual mode because the settings vary shot to shot, and there’s enough time given on composition and settings before the shutter is hit.5) Program Auto vs Auto vs Auto (without flash) ModeAuto Mode does all the settings itself, and even the use of flash (in-built) is dependent on camera itself. If it deems fit, the flash will pop-up, otherwise it won’t. Auto Mode without flash is same as Auto Mode, except that the flash is never fired. Program Auto Mode, however, lets you control exposure via exposure compensation, ISO controls are still with you (unless you use ISO auto), and the combination of shutter speed and aperture is available at the hit of the dial.Auto Mode and Auto Mode without Flash are a couple of fail-safe modes. If nothing works out, auto mode is the solution. Although if you are shooting Auto Mode, you really have no clue about photography, and DSLRs aren’t meant to shoot auto.Photography Tips: Camera Technical Aspects1) Aperture and Tips on using it (will go into sub-heads further)Aperture by Definition“a space through which light passes in an optical or photographic instrument, especially the variable opening by which light enters a camera.”Aperture is the eye of the lens – the opening through which the light enters. Aperture controls the amount of light that hits the sensor or the film. So if the aperture is wide-open, more light enters the sensor (/film), while a closed aperture allows less light.The more the light enters, the softer the image tends to be, producing a shallower depth of field. The less the light enters, the sharper the image tends to be, producing a higher depth of field. A shallow depth of field means that the image is in focus in a really thin ray, and the background and foreground of the subject in focus are gradually going out of focus. A high depth of field means that most of the parts of the image will be in acceptable sharpness, provided the focus points have been used correctly.An aperture too closed, however, may not provide a sharp picture due to the diffraction from the lens affecting the image. Generally, for an APS-C sensor, an f8-11 provides sharpest result while for a Full Frame Sensor; an f11-14 usually provides the sharpest result.There’s also the sweet spot of a lens, which people say varies in each piece. It is the f-number where the best quality is produced by the lens. The most common explanation of the sweet spot is that it is about one or one and a half stops closed to the widest aperture of the lens. And it varies, and is not fixed.Aperture is a lens feature. It means that aperture is in the lens because the opening of the lens allows the light that enters the sensor or the film. Earlier, aperture used to be manually controlled. Now, there are contacts on the lenses that connect with the camera body to have the aperture controlled electronically. While it is easier to control, it also provides more modes for photography. In a lens where you can’t control the aperture electronically, the camera modes won’t work.Aperture stops are defined as the values of aperture where the amount of light gets exactly halved or doubled as we move from one stop to another. The typical aperture stops are as follows:F1.0 -> f1.4 -> f2 -> f2.8 -> f4 -> f5.6 -> f8 -> f11 -> f16 -> f22Here, moving from F1 to F1.4, the amount of light entering the sensor is halved, while the opposite is true moving from F1.4 to F1. You may wonder that while the aperture isn’t exactly doubled, how come the amount of light is doubled. It is because the f-stop is the ratio between diameter of the lens and focal length, and the amount of light is calculated via the formula of pi*radius*radius. Pi = 3.14. Radius = Diameter/2. Diameter can be calculated using the f-stop formula. So if f-stop = 2, and focal length = 50, the diameter will be focal length / f-stop = 25. Calculating this way, the ratio of the various pi*r squares (or areas at different f-stops) changes and comes out to be nearly half or twice the previous or next value in the chart.Background blur and bokeh are both achieved by using a shallow depth of field. This is done by having the aperture wide open, as discussed above. There are two other methods of blurring the background; they are based upon focal length and distance. However, if both of them are constant, the difference between two images having background blur and sharp is the aperture settings. Bokeh is when the lights are in the background which is blurred, and they form circular patterns which appear flat and 2D.Aperture is also used as a tool to have a sharper scene all through. It is ideally used in landscapes and sceneries where all the parts of the image must be in acceptable sharpness. In case of larger scenes, an aperture of 5.6 onwards works well, and a tripod may be needed if the shutter speed is coming out to be slower.Aperture is used for storytelling in a great deal. Simply by blurring a subject and focusing on another can let us have the look at what the photographer wants to convey. One can also keep focus on different body parts. For example, if the hand is focused while the face is blurred, the photographer wants to showcase what the hands convey – is it the hard hand of a labor or a henna-clad hand of an Indian bride.2) Shutter Speed and Tips on using it (sub-heads)Shutter Speed is, in simpler words, the eyelids of the camera. Shutter speed is the duration of time during which the camera sensor or film is exposed. The shutter speed, simply, is the speed at which the eyes blink. Take for example the scenes when there’s darkness. The eyelids don’t blink often. This is because there’s less light, and the eyes are slowing the shutter speed to allow more light. Slowly, but steadily, you begin to see things because of even the smallest lights available in the scene.The definition of shutter speed goes like this: The time during which the sensor is exposed when the first curtain has fallen but the second curtain hasn’t, is called the shutter speed. It is the time duration during which the shutter is open and sensor or film is exposed to light.Earlier, the cameras used to have manual shutters. This happened when someone manually opened and closed the shutter for the image to be recorded. It wasn’t accurate, but it was something to work with for the earliest cameras. Therefore, the shutter used to be outside the camera. Even today, modern cameras have bulb mode, which basically means till the shutter button is pressed, the shutter won’t close (but will open at the first press). There was also a method of instantaneous exposure where best leaf shutters were used.The earliest cameras had shutters outside the lens, while the modern day cameras have electronic shutters inside the camera. The shutter speed is now controlled by camera buttons itself, and therefore camera modes have been easier to use. Camera shutters, and therefore shutter speeds, thus, are the camera body phenomenon. The shutter is behind the lens, inside the camera body.Camera shutter consists of two parts, first curtain and second curtain. So when the shutter is pressed, the first curtain opens up, letting the image be recorded upon the sensor or film. When the exposure time is done (or shutter button is released – as in the case of bulb mode), the second curtain runs and shuts down the sensor.In photography, the shutter speed is defined in terms of seconds or fractions of seconds. The shutter speed stops in photography are:1/8000 1/4000 1/2000 1/1000 1/500 1/250 1/125 1/60 1/30 1/15 1/8 ¼ ½ 1 2 4 8 15 30While moving from left to right, the amount of time the sensor is exposed gets halved, and hence the exposure gets halved. While moving from right to left, the amount of time gets halved, and the exposure is also halved.Shake-blur is the blur introduced due to the body shake or camera shake due to bodily movements when shutter is open for longer than our body can stabilize. This can be avoided by using the minimum shutter speed rule. The Minimum Shutter Speed Rule states that the shutter speed of the camera should be 1/100 or 1/effective focal length – whichever is faster. Effective focal length on a 135mm lens is 135 for a Full Frame sensor while 13.5 x 1.5 (or 1.6) in case of crop-frame sensor ~ 202.5. Therefore, shooting on a crop frame sensor with a 135mm prime, the minimum shutter speed needs to be 202.5 or the next stop after that – which is 1/250 (not 1/100 because 1/202.5 is faster than 1/100). Taking another example, shooting with a 50mm on a Full Frame Sensor, the minimum focal length needs to be 1/100 (and not 1/50, because 1/100 is faster than 1/50).Milky Way Photography requires you to use a maximum shutter speed, which is greater the visible motion of rotation of earth and the stars in the sky. This is so done to avoid movement of stars, which forms trails, and hence the Milky Way view isn’t clear. The Maximum Shutter Speed Rule for photography states that the shutter speed needs to be 500/effective focal length or lesser in order to avoid star trails in the Milky Way photography. Therefore, if you are using a crop frame sensor and a 24mm lens, the maximum shutter speed you can have is 500/24*1.5 = 500/36 = 13.8 seconds.Motion Blur is an art form which is used extensively by photographers to create something unique and creative, and tell a story via this tool. Shutter speed, apart from the technical aspects, is majorly used as a creative tool. Some of the examples where motion blur is creatively used are of sportsmen in motion - with parts of body which are moving, in motion, while everything else is still. In shooting cars, helicopters, etc, tires or wings can be shown to be in motion while the overall vehicle is frozen. This can be achieved by using a shutter speed faster than the motion of the vehicle, while slower than the motion of the wheels or wings. The same can be done in dance photography where hands or legs are in motion, while some part of the frame is still as a reference point.Long exposure photography is based on the motion blur only. Here, we put the camera on tripod and use a considerably longer exposure time, something in the tune of 10 seconds or above. While the frame doesn’t move, especially the structures, only certain elements in the frame move. These are the clouds, the cars, etc. The motion blur introduced by these makes for a pleasing and interesting perspective. The lights of cars help in creating car trails or light trails that are used in creatively composing certain shots.Panning – based on Motion Blur. Panning is a technique that is based on motion blur. It requires you to pan the camera in the direction of movement of the subject while keeping the focus button on. Instead of motion blur on the parts of subject (which may still appear), the background is motion blurred, giving it a completely unique look. It can be used in bird photography, where birds are further separated from background because of the panning, which blurs the background while the birds are sharp. Panning is one of the most difficult processes to achieve because you need to judge the speed and direction of the subject for the duration of the exposure time, while also being sure of focusing it correctly throughout the exposure. Anything off, and the shot will not work. It is, for the same reason, the photography that requires extensive study of the subject.Freezing Motion – freezing the subject to make it appear crystal clear and sharp. This can be achieved by using a shutter speed considerably faster than the movement of the subject. Wildlife photography requires faster shutter speeds, and so does action photography. A shutter speed of 1/2000 or faster is a common setting while shooting birds in flight where you intend to freeze their motion mid-air, or during a movement.While shooting with studio strobes or speedlights, the maximum shutter speed is determined by sync speed of the camera. Most of the cameras have sync speed of 1/160 or 1/200. If you set a shutter speed faster than sync speed, the shutter will show in the image, either partially or completely. That part of the image will be black because the shutter is present, and hence the light does not reach the sensor. Many of the strobes and speedlights come with hi-speed sync. If the camera allows, this can have the shutter speeds go as high as 1/4000. What it will do is create moments where the shots are completely frozen, and sharpness is unmatched.Front and Rear Curtain Sync are two of the common flash sync methods in the camera settings. Only applicable for in-built flash, or for external flash which has compatible settings, these sync settings offer a creative insight into creating some powerful images. In front curtain sync, the flash fires as soon as the shutter is hit. In rear curtain sync, the flash is fired during the end when the shutter is about to close. With enough ambient light to use creatively, rear curtain sync can produce images of astounding quality and creativity.3) ISO and Tips on using itISO in digital is what used to be called as film speed in film photography. It simply refers to the sensitivity of the film to light. The more sensitive the film, the brighter the image will come out to be with all the other settings being the same. In terms of digital, it becomes like a digital brightness. We can increase or decrease the brightness to compensate for the exposure after setting the other two settings.ISO in films is fixed based on the film roll used. There are different film speed rolls in market, and there used to be plenty more in the heydays of film photography. The higher the sensitivity of light, the larger the grains used to be, which used to first show in highlights, and were called film grains. Most of the photo and video editing packages today have an option to add film grain to emulate the effects of the films in digital. Grains, therefore, have taken the position of a creative asset in photography as opposed to a compromise to increase brightness.ISO in digital can be changed simply by the settings in the DSLR or a Digital Camera. It can be changed for each shot separately, and the range of ISO in modern-day cameras is staggering. ISO in digital is a sensor phenomenon, and is simply a digital brightness processed by the camera processor. The sensitivity of light, when increased, creates noise, especially in the shadow region, as opposed to the highlights region in films. This, however, isn’t considered pleasing as opposed to grains. Some photographers have, though, managed to capture beautiful imagery simply by using high ISO noise as a creative tool. Modern image editing programs allow for some of the control over the ISO noise in post by reducing it through various means, while maintaining image clarity.In digital photography, ISO is described by a number in multiples of 100 (or 50 and 25 if we consider half-stops and 1/4th stops). The ISO stops in digital photography are:50 100 200 400 800 1600 3200 6400 12800 25600 and so onWhile moving from left to right, the sensitivity of the sensor doubles, and hence the exposure doubles. Moving from right to left, the sensitivity halves, and hence the exposure also gets halved.ISO has an impact on the dynamic range and color reproduction of the image. As the ISO moves up, the color reproduction and dynamic range goes down. The high-ISO performance of the camera body is determined by these two metrics along with the noise produced. Some of the top-end cameras of today allow you to go as high as 25,600 or even more while producing an acceptable image quality that can be used professionally.Auto-ISO, the digital tool that is the solution to all exposure problems. While shooting at high speeds and in dynamic situations, like wildlife photography, it is imperative that the settings need not be changed as often. What photographers tend to do is use a shutter priority mode and lock in other settings. However, light can change from shade to sun, and direction-wise too. Rather than missing a shot, what we can do is use auto-ISO with an upper limit. What this will give is a dynamic ISO based on the shot requirement, and provide us with the correct exposure every time we make a shot without having to change the ISO. The upper-limit settings in auto-ISO that most of the cameras offer helps in putting a clip on the maximum the ISO will go. It is important because, as we understand, there’s a range of ISO that we can work with, which produces acceptable image quality. If we go beyond that, we may get the image but it won’t be usage. To eliminate that, we use the upper limit of the auto-ISO setting.ISO performance is also dependent on the sensor size. While the modern technology has improved ISO performance overall, the sensor size still plays an important role in the ISO performance. In fact, the improvement in technology has pushed the ISO performance maximum for the Full Frame Sensors while pushing the limits of smaller sensors proportionately. Here are the sensor sizes and the maximum ISO that provides an acceptably usable image:Full-frame DSLR 3200 (or even more)APS-H 1200APS-C 1000Four-thirds 800Compact Camera/Advanced Phones 200-400These may vary based upon several factors, notable the technology used in making the sensors and camera.It is better to use a higher ISO in camera than digitally improve brightness later because that will result in higher grains as opposed to boosting ISO. It is because with boosted ISO and in RAW, camera captures more details, usually enough to produce good quality acceptable image when the image is not underexposed. Fixing the exposure later is a digital manipulation, and the brightness and the details at that level may not have been recorded at all. Therefore, the software fills in additional details, and a noise appears as a result of post-processing.ETTL is the term used in film photography – which referred to Expose to the Left. There’s no alternative to perfect exposure, however at times, it is better to expose to the left in film, especially when shooting at higher film speeds. The reason is that the grain is prevalent in highlights, and the details come out when slightly underexposed.ETTR is the term used in digital photography – which refers to Expose to the Right. Again, there’s no alternative to perfect exposure, but shooting at higher ISOs, it’s better to expose 1/3rd stop over to avoid the noise in the shadows. This also provides more room for post-processing. The noise in digital, as talked before, comes in shadows. Therefore, ETTR is the way to move forward.4) Focus Points, Modes, & SystemsIt is very important to understand how camera focusing works. Modern-day cameras have high speed focusing, but if you get that wrong, the focus can be at wrong place, or worse still, may not be focus timely. So there are different focus points, modes, and systems in DSLRs that need to be understood to get the perfect auto-focus. Of course there’s manual focus when you can’t get the auto-focus to work or when you have time and need to do manual focusing – which is irreplaceable really.Manual focus is used primarily in product photography and macro photography where auto-focus can fail. Especially while stacking, one needs to move the focus for every shot, and that is impossible to do via auto-focus, especially on a tripod. It is done using manual focus. Manual focus is also used in astrophotography to focus on infinity or slightly before infinity. Again, it is impossible to use auto-focus in such situations.Two types of auto-focus systems exist in DSLRs today. Active and Passive systems. While each has its pros and cons, usually the present-day cameras employ a mix of them both. Modern day cameras provide the best technology for focusing correctly that when done properly, the images will come out correct each time.Active AF (auto-focus) systems works by sending a beam of light towards the subject, which is then returned to determine the correct focusing distance, and hence assist in the focusing. It’s an accurate measure of focusing on subjects; however, the use of active AF systems is limited. First of all, it can only be used with stationary objects because moving objects will have distance changing every millisecond and the AF will fail. The other limitation is that it can work only when the subject is short distance away from the camera, up to 15-20 feet generally.Camera flashes with AF assist beam use the same Active AF system wherein a beam is sent to help identify the distance between the subject and the camera and then focus is freeze and shot taken. The good thing about Active AF systems is that even in low-light low-contrast situations, it can work while the passive AF system may not in similar conditions.Passive AF (auto-focus) systems works by detecting the contrast in the image to help focus on subjects. It is done by either phase detection or by contrast detection method. In phase detection method, when light goes through the lens, special sensors are used to determine the contrast in the image that makes the focusing easier. In contrast detection, the camera sensor itself is used to detect contrast in the image.When you have to focus on a white wall or a blurry or grainy texture, the passive AF system will struggle because it detects contrast in the image. By contrast, it means that black on white will clearly shine through but black on black with different shades will be difficult for camera to pick up.Focus Points are referred to as small squares which are part of phase-detection AF systems. The number and arrangement of focus points is important to the way the contrast is detected. The tiny squares help in finding contrast and nailing the focus, and providing a sharp image. The number of focus points depends on the manufacturer as well as the camera model. Higher-end models have more focus points and more advanced selection methods while lower-end models have lesser focus points. Higher focus points help in composing and focusing shot at different focus points, and also in focus-tracking in action photography.Apart from the number of focus points, it is the types of focus points that are important. There are two major types of focus points in the camera focusing systems. One is cross-type and the other is vertical type. Vertical type focus points detect contrast in only vertical lines while cross-type are 2-D and detect contrast in both vertical and horizontal lines. Cross-type sensors are more effective, and hence the more cross-type sensors in the camera, the better the focusing it will have.Center-focusing point is the most important focusing point in the camera. Whenever in doubt, switch to only center-focus point, focus, and re-compose. Most of the cameras manufactured have a center focus point that is the most accurate and it also eliminates confusion of focusing. For example, if you have all focus points activated and the scene has plenty of contrast, the focus can be at many places. With center focus point, you are in control of where you are focusing.There are two major focusing modes in the cameras, and plenty of derivatives out of them. These are single area focus mode and continuous focus mode. In Nikon, single area focus mode is called AF-S while it is One-shot AF in Canon. In Nikon, AF-C is the continuous mode while it is AI-SERVO in Canon.As names suggest, AF-S is used for focusing on single point and then shooting. Most of the times, it requires subject to be focused before it shoots. This means in case there’s no focus, the shutter won’t go through due to the focus error and the image will not be formed on the sensor.AF-C is used while tracking subjects. Be it wildlife, birding, or acting photography, AF-C is the method used to track focus on moving objects. After the tracking, they may be used in panning shots or freezing shots, but the camera keeps looking for focus continuously in it. More focus points, and more cross-type focus points help in shooting tracking shots or action shots. While shooting at this mode, most of the times you need to keep the focus button pressed to track the focus while shooting. This is where back-button focusing helps.Back-button focusing is a technique where instead of half-pressing the shutter button, the focus is done via a separate back-button. This helps in different ways in different types of photography. For example, it could be used to focus and re-compose the shot to provide better focusing control when it isn’t easier to focus. It can also be used for tracking focus in AI-SERVO or AF-C mode where you can hit the shutter button when you have the desired composition and subject in focus. Also, burst mode in action photography is possible only when you have back-button focusing activated. Back-button focusing also makes sure you don’t accidentally re-focus an image as you look for different compositions and framing for the same subject.Composition Tips1) Rule of ThirdsThe most common and often spoken of rule in photography happens to be Rule of Thirds. It is considered like a life lesson for every budding photographer. The idea behind the rule of thirds is to make your eye automatically reach for the subjects in the image – where you actually want them to see. This is based on studies of famous paintings and photographs of the past – all somehow managing to follow this rule.As per rule of thirds, a frame is divided into thirds horizontally and vertically, so that there are 9 equal parts of the frame. The four points where horizontal and vertical combine are the major points where the subject of interest must lie. The subject of the interest is where the photographer wants the viewer’s eyes to be directed.Modern day post-processing software allow cropping, rotation, lens distortion correction, etc. This allows the photographers to perfect their shots in post-processing too, if they aren’t done to perfection while shooting. The high megapixels also mean that the images have much more scope to crop, especially if they are meant only for digital viewing and not for any other purposes.This also helps because while shooting wildlife or birds, we tend to use center-focus more than other points. Therefore, with speed of shooting action, we often get centered subjects than properly aligned as per the rule of thirds and the negative space. It means that post-processing corrections become all the more important, because if the shot is taken, it can be adjusted but a missed shot to compose better can hurt badly, especially in wildlife. Pro-photographers, however, are capable of composing well inside of the camera itself, but this tip is a precaution to first get the shot correct until you are well-versed with art of focusing and recomposing or using other focus modes and points than center.2) SymmetryBefore understanding symmetry for photography, it is better to just look out and observe the symmetry in nature and architecture, and practically everywhere we can lay our eyes on. Be it the leaves, or the buildings, there are several examples or symmetry all across us. In the patterns and designs of clothing, or the way many of the products are designed – symmetry is a way to make things look natural and beautiful. Even human body follows symmetry loosely.Symmetry, in photography, is an amazing technique that can help bring photographs to life. If you have seen great architectural photos, one of the most common factors you will find is the symmetry in most of the top photos. Obviously, it is not a rule to shoot symmetry, but symmetry adds that extra beauty to picture. Symmetry looks beautiful when done well, because it can make anything around look pleasant.Shooting centered subjects also requires one to follow symmetry, unless there’s something creative about the frame. Symmetry allows the viewer’s eyes to feel relaxed and at the subject. If there’s an uneven frame on either sides, more likely than not, the subject will likely get lost.This is also used in cinematic shots with main lead and crowd behind. The placement of crowd is based on symmetry where left and right appear equal and properly spaced on either sides. In case it isn’t an even placement, the eyes of the viewer can get distracted, and the main lead won’t be able to stand out of the crowd.An important consideration while shooting for symmetry is to actually be at the right height and the right line for the shot. Distortion is removable, but is not easy, and hence the symmetry of the imagery can fall. It is especially difficult to balance a frame in post when it has distortion because distortion is always heavier on the edges than the center. Hence, being as close to center line and correct length will help save the shot. Cropping can be fixed in post-processing. Landscapes and architecture have plenty of options to shoot symmetry. They are usually done with wide angle lenses. This is all the more reason to be at the correct place and correct angle to shoot as the distortion is more in wide angle lenses.Fish eye lenses and ultra-wide lenses are a unique case in itself. They offer a very large angle of view, and there’s almost always a curvature instead of straight lines. They are mostly used creatively, or sometimes used with post-processing in mind. For them, the composition needs to be nearly perfect in-camera. This means that you need to absolutely master the skills with the lens for composing for fish eye or ultra-wide lenses.A unique example of forced symmetry is reflections. While there’s no real symmetry, but due to reflections, the symmetry gets forced on to the composition. It could be partial symmetry or full symmetry – based on the framing. If a full reflection is taken perfectly, it is a full symmetry. If anything less than the whole reflection is taken, it is partial symmetry. This form of symmetry is possible while using mirrors, or more commonly by using water bodies. This technique is used in landscape photography for composing tranquil and beautiful landscape pictures.The unique case of symmetry and rule-of-thirds co-existing is possible. It is because, apart from the four major points, there are also four parallel lines that may help in composing frames. Also, while there may be symmetry in the frame, there may be an element which is perfectly placed so that it’s reflection (or symmetry) and the subject fall almost nearly the major points of focus. It is more likely to happen in case of reflections as we can compose the shot so that major point coincides with one of the four points. Now its reflection will automatically fall at the opposite point from that (based on composition and the reflection point), and thus it will provide a case of symmetry being followed, yet rule of thirds not being broken.3) Leading LinesLeading lines are the most common form of composition used in architectural photography. Even in portraits, fashion, etc, it is one of the common techniques to lead the eyes to the subject. Leading lines are parallel lines that appear to be heading towards infinity.Leading lines are used as a subject in itself, while composing images without a particular subject. Or, they are used in combination with a subject, to which the eyes are directed. Railway tracks, buildings, roads, etc, are some of the subjects that offer leading lines visible for shooting.For shooting leading lines, vantage point and angle of view become very important. If a wrong angle is chosen, the lines may appear to be going parallel. However, for leading lines, a slightly upward angle usually helps. The lines must appear as if they are going to meet but don’t usually meet.Leading lines can be used in combination with either rule of thirds or symmetry. However, these rules may be ignored completely, and focus can be left on leading lines and the subject to enhance the photography composition, and create an image that is eye-pleasing.4) Golden RatioGolden ratio is actually a mathematical term or formula, derived from Fibonacci sequence. Fibonacci sequence is the sequence of numbers where the third number is the sum of the two previous numbers. Therefore, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 is an example of a Fibonacci sequence. In golden ratio for photography, squares are created based on the above numbers, and a spiral is created, which is used to compose photographs.In simpler words, when division of a frame happens as per the Golden Ratio, the ratio of the length of the longest section to the length of the smallest section will be equal to the original length of the shape divided by the longest section. The ratio comes around 1:1.618. In reality, a spiral is formed, which helps in identifying places of interest in the photography.While golden ratio appears similar to the rule of thirds, the golden ratio is actually a spiral, while rule of thirds is about parallel lines and points. Therefore, the focus points are actually lesser, and there’s a pattern of major crosses we talk about. The best examples of golden ratio are often found in macro photography where patterns are naturally spiraling.4) Negative SpaceNegative space is the one that helps in giving the focus back to the subject. It may or may not follow the rule of thirds. Negative space is basically the area in the frame where absolutely nothing is happening. Creative photographers have often used negative space to distinguish their photography from those of their peers and competition. When used creatively, it can create magic and truly everlasting pictures.This technique is used many times in action photography where the direction of action is left to be blank or empty – the negative space. Be it shooting birds-in-flight, footballers in action, racing cars, people running, the trick is to leave the area in front of them empty. If you don’t leave space in the direction of the action, or the direction in which the person is looking, there will be a feeling of claustrophobia in the eyes of the viewer.5) Eyes and EmotionsFor portrait photography, the most important part of a photo is the eyes. The eyes display emotions, and when done well, they can create magic. The same art is used by successful models and actors – to use their eyes to emote. While it is the job of the models and actors to emote, for the non-professionals, one needs to use different approach to catch the best of the eyes.The first is to make the subject extremely comfortable so that they don’t really have any hesitation left. It is the job of the photographer to make their subject comfortable, be it via conversations, communication, music, etc. Talking to the subject while shooting helps, as it takes their minds off the process of shooting. Conversations, especially about the subjects that touch those humans, are something that can spark the emotions in the eyes that are not easy for even models and actors to emote. It will take time, this process of getting the look in the eyes. However, when achieved, the picture will actually speak.The other technique is to shoot candid. Shooting candid means you aren’t letting the subject know that you are shooting them. This technique is used in weddings and street photography – to catch a natural emotion or reaction of the subject. It often involves plenty of practice for a photographer to be able to shoot candid, but the end result is always worthwhile.Lips are the other part of the face that is important in depiction of the emotions. If you go through the covers of all famous fashion magazines, the lips convey almost as much as the eyes. It is important to let the face relax so that the lips don’t appear stiff. A technique to do that is to ask the subject to open the lips slightly. It relaxes the lips as well as lengthens the face slightly – taking off all the tension from the face.Body language is another major part of shooting portraits. Even in silhouettes, we can make out the feeling from the image. It is possible only because the way we walk and stand delivers a message in itself. Even in personality development, there’s a considerable stress on maintaining the body language correctly. The correct posture can lead to stronger images, while there may be more candid relaxed postures that are able to convey a different message. It is important, though, that in all the cases, the body is in proper shape and doesn’t look stiff or tensed. For non-actors and non-models, it is possible to feel tensed while getting shot. Therefore, the tip of conversations and having them do things will make them relaxed.The subject, when shooting a portrait, tends to imitate the body language and expressions of the photographer well. Therefore, the photographer must be a good model himself or herself to be able to make lives easier for the subject. It is much easier to imitate the photographer, or follow him, than copy a pose from a magazine or a book.Another important aspect of shooting is about letting the subject know that they need to make their poses comfortable. Different people have different flexibility level, and same pose may not suit all. Instead of making them relaxed, it may turn them more tensed and stiff. What is ideal is to let them own the pose – make it their own. So they take the pose from a reference, but follow it to their comfort, and modify it too – under the guidance of the photographer.6) Breaking RulesRules are meant to be broken is an old saying. However, it is said, to break the rules one must know them. Also, there needs to be an understanding about why these rules work, and when it needs to be broken. You don’t break a rule because you want to break a rule, you do so only when you are certain it won’t work any other way. And that is where the experience comes into play.Tips by Genre1) Fashion and Portrait PhotographyFashion photography is defined as any photography whose purpose is to show clothing and accessories with the purpose of selling the products or documenting the fashion. Fashion photography is considered as one of the most commercialized forms of photography, whose nature is about selling products by any means. It is considered a fake form of photography. However, fashion photography is also considered as an art of selling, of making people and products look beautiful. This is where photographers have excelled in displaying the clothing and accessories in the form of art over the years and produced some of the most compelling conceptual photography.Beauty photography is another form of photography similar to fashion photography. Here, though, the photographer’s idea is to sell products that enhance beauty. Skin care products, hair care products, cosmetics, all of these come under beauty photography. For beauty photography, the requirement often considered was to look absolutely flawless.For fashion photography, the first step is to create a concept. Think about stories, think about inspiration, work around themes, and come up with a concept you really want to showcase. If you see the fashion stories around the globe, some of the most brilliant stories ever made are based on solid concepts. Some are even based on news clippings, which were turned to fashion concepts by using the right models, clothing, and accessories. It’s not just about making them look good, unless it is commercial photography. It is about telling a story.The sources from where you can create concepts are the news, history, movies, TV, books, magazines, and travel. Some of the best stories you will create are the ones that will be the result of you working on some idea that came while doing something unrelated. Not only do these activities help in coming up with concepts, but they also help in creating the complete look. Especially for new photographers, it can be inspiring to see movies which cover the complete set, make-up, costume, etc., and display it beautifully in cinematic language. Videos are, after all, pictures in motion. It also helps you understand how angles and focal lengths work.For fashion photographers, no preparation is enough preparation. If you are going to recreate something, prepare to the last minute detail. And then prepare some more in case things don’t work out. If you are going to create something new, prepare for it even more. Anything can ‘not work’ at some time, especially if it is something creative you’re looking to do. Therefore, preparing for everything, and then over-preparing for it is the key.Meet the team and discuss the ideas you have days before shoot. The team includes make-up artists, stylists, lighting artists, etc. You, as a photographer, are the captain of the ship. You need your team to put efforts to sail in the same direction, and for that you want them to be in the same page. Meeting the team and discussing also helps refine your ideas, and understand their viewpoints. The decision is yours, but it helps to hear other ideas which can potentially add to the equation.Plan a mini session with the models, if possible. Meet and discuss the ideas with the models you will be having for the shoot. In case it doesn’t work out due to scheduling, you can always converse while the model is on the makeup table. It is important to think in exactly the same direction because the models are the ones getting your message right across. It isn’t anyone but the models who will be the face to your story.You also need to understand that it is a photographer’s job to make models comfortable. When you are starting out, you will likely be working with newer models. This will be a learning curve because you will be always giving directions. The idea is to make them comfortable and give them time. If you hurry them or aren’t understanding to them, you most likely won’t be able to achieve the result you actually intended. Photographing newer models require you to do more directions, and yet be encouraging at the same time.Work on the mood boards is the essential part of the life of a fashion photographer. Mood board is something where all the ideas about the shoot are conveyed pictorially. So a mood board usually consists of pictures that convey how the look of the shoot will be, how the expressions are needed, the clothing, the props, the color theme, etc. All the details are put together in such a way that everyone can understand the idea behind the shoot really easily. Instead of writing lines about the ideas, it is best to show the team what is wanted out of them and where the ship is heading.Grow with your limitations if you want to break the barriers. When we start out, we dream of having a dedicated team, proper equipment, access to every location, huge studio, backdrops, etc. But when we start out, or even when we’ve actually made something out of ourselves, we realize it isn’t always possible to have everything. There will always be limitations to how we can work. Those who grow are always the ones who are able to outsmart the limitations of resources and people to create a result similar to what would be with those resources. It also adds to the fact that limitations help us create more than we actually think we can.Put emotions and story above technique to be a better photographer. It is understandable to want to be perfect technically. But sometimes, it is ideal to give way to emotions and story. By technically, what are meant here are the rules – which need to be broken sometimes. Sometimes your story won’t allow the character the breathing space, so there you won’t have negative space to showcase it being claustrophobic. There will often be times in fashion photography that you won’t be able to put a proper well-focused picture because the story calls out for it to be hazy. You need to work with your story and emotions because they make fashion photography and not the rules and techniques.There are two major ways of posing models. One is by showing them pictures, and the second is by doing it yourselves. The best way, however, is to mix them both. So the reference will be there in the mood board. From there, you have to act out some of the poses for the model. This is especially true for new models that aren’t yet comfortable with the tricks of the trade. The experienced models will take your reference and turn it into variety of different poses for your story. While starting, it is important to understand posing for photographers themselves before they make others pose. This also helps them understand how modeling goes, and helps build a common track between the two.Learning three-point lighting is ideal, but you must start with natural lighting. The first shoots you ever do shoot only involve window light. This helps you understand how to control the light using only diffusers, reflectors, and blockers. This makes the art look much easier, yet you get to understand the light much more. The trick is to start with one light, and then keep on adding lights sequentially as and when you understand what each light is doing. In this case, reflectors could be added after the single source of light is studied from various angles.Shoot outdoors. Use natural light at different timings; work with the angles and locations, sun and shade, harsh and soft light, and with different colors of the light. Shooting outdoors teaches you how to work with the available lights, and also mind the crowd and cover up for the distractions. You can make stories on the outdoor locations like urban streets, countryside, etc. when you are shooting there, and it helps bring new concepts that can be used in shoots.Learn color theory seriously. As a fashion photographer, you are bound to work with colors everywhere. Clothing, accessories, different skin colors, backdrops, natural backgrounds, color gels for lights – all create a different impact on the photo. You need to understand colors, and color theory is how you start. After this, you will be able to go deeper into contrasting colors, complementary colors, etc.Another thing about colors is to experiment. With color, you will need plenty of experimentation. Outdoor photography is especially fun because you will come across various colors of nature. Mountains provide a different color palette, and seas have a different one. Cities are different, and so is countryside. And even in same types of locations, there are plenty of differences. Then come the wall arts and graffiti, and learning how to incorporate those into the pictures without making them go wrong.Mix artificial and natural light. This will help you understand the intensity and color of light, and also allow you to understand how to control the light. This is also essential because all fashion stories can’t be created indoors. Therefore you will have to shoot outdoors. Controlling light outdoors is about using the direction of lights, using modifiers correctly, and then adding artificial light if needed. You could switch from artificial light being the key light to artificial light being the fill light or back light. This could allow for many more interesting stories.Study basics of art direction and set building, and create sets. Start from the basics, create simple sets, and then go on to work on slightly more complicated ones. As you grow, you will have a team to help you create those. But it is essential for you to understand how a set building goes, how spacing goes, and how focal lengths affect your set. Once you understand how to build sets, you can create anything. By building sets though, it isn’t expected to create huge sets like in films. It is expected that you know how to create something from where you can take the shot forward. For example,it could be using sand, umbrella, and a carpet, and some image from projector in the background to create a beach scene. Obviously you can’t create the beach, but you can give the illusion that there is a model on a beach by using limited resources. Similarly, using tree branches to create a forest feel is also possible. There’s some amount of post-processing allowed, which should help you understand the set construction and how much of it can be done in post better.Experiment with studio lighting. Do one-light setups, do two-light setups, and also do plenty of light setups. Start from three-point lighting, and then work by removing light one by one. Start by creating standard light setups like butterfly and Rembrandt, and then take it forward by modifying them into something of your own. The best way to learn light is to start with one light, understand what it is doing, and then go on about adding other lights.Post-Processing for Fashion and Portrait PhotographyFashion photography is one genre of photography that has been known to excessively use post-processing, be it in dark room in the earlier days or digital software in the current days. While recently, manipulation has been frowned upon. Yet, an image that has to sell products is required to be perfect, as the industry claims. Therefore, post-processing helps in reaching that point.To start with post-processing, it is important to learn the software first. Going through the ins and outs of software is important. The next step is to get you familiar with the shortcuts. They save much time, and time is precious. It isn’t the case only when you have a large volume of work, but also when your brain is processing details faster and you need to be fast enough to get through the work at the same space.Using a pen tablet is an essential tool for a retoucher, especially the one who is into fashion photography retouching. It is one of the most important tools to get smooth results with no smudges or artifacts of editing showing up. If on a budget, one can start with lower end models that start at about 50$ or so. Getting used to pen tablet is the next target, after which, it becomes easier to go through all the processes of post-processing in fashion photography.To start out any form of post-processing, the first important step is to flatten out the image. The advantages of flattening out the image is that the sharpness, contrast, saturation can be added later, but it is difficult to work with them when they are already aplenty. Therefore, as a retoucher, it is best to work on the raw file and flatten out the details with the contrast, saturation, and sharpness at a lower side. The same technique is used even in films where cinematographers shoot at log to provide more post-processing control to the grader.One of the earliest techniques that were also used in dark room is ‘dodge and burn’. Dodge and burn is used to increase and decrease brightness respectively, and is used to shape the subject better to mold into the shape that the photographer or the magazine desires. Dodge is a tool in modern post-processing software, including Photoshop used for increasing brightness in parts. Burn is a tool that is used for decreasing brightness. When used together, they can help shape the face and body parts.Healing and cloning tools are used to take out any imperfections in the skin or body. They are done by taking sample from a part of the skin or body that is perfect. Often, they are taken from even completely different subjects to provide the finest images.Frequency Separation is a modern-day tool that is used to create perfect looking skin. The image is broken into two parts – high frequency and low frequency. Low frequency has all the color and gradation information while the high frequency has all the texture information. So the coloration and gradients are worked upon in the low frequency, which is topped by high frequency where the texture is smoothed. When learned perfectly, this tool can create beautiful images.The caution for all the above tools is that it is very easy to go overboard with them. It is best to use them in moderation, which when done, can create wondrous results for the onlookers.2) Street Photography and Photojournalism·Street photography is the art of shooting real people doing real things – in their day to day life. Photojournalism is capturing news stories through pictures. The difference between two is merely the fact that one is more inclined towards the creative art form while the other is more of the fact based reporting.·Both the genres, however, require the photographer to be fearless and courageous to be able to pull off the photography in real-life locations. Both the genres offer a bit of a scare to begin with, and only the ones who can do the job without any prohibition and care, and yet stay alert to the dangers of the job, are the ones who succeed in the fields.·Wearing darker clothes so as not to stand out is a tip that can work well in both the fields. However, wearing dark clothes in a snow setting will make you stand out even more. Dark clothes are referred to elucidate the need to merge in the background to get better pictures and finer stories. There are other ways to merge in the background. They involve being aware, not always having the camera, and being one in the crowd, etc.·Do not be afraid to use the P mode. Program auto mode coupled with good sense of exposure is not only a faster way of exposing, but also more natural. You can focus on compositions once you are sure of the exposure. The speed is an important factor in the way the genres of street and photojournalism works.·Street photography relies on several composition techniques to create portraits. Environmental portraits of people working are the most common street portraits. It is a way of telling the stories where you involve the environment, the backdrop, the co-workers, and everything that can help create the story. For example, the portrait of a butcher would involve his tools, and some animals that are butchered or about to be butchered. A good street photo, at times, will make you feel bad about the world.·Photojournalism is more fact based and requires you to be in the difficult situations to report the story. The most important factor that constitutes the making of a photojournalist is the awareness of the situations, and being street-smart to be able to pull of pictures and stories from situations which can be scary and tricky, from places where people wouldn't normally go, from riots to wars to emergencies - a photojournalist needs to be everywhere and be able to get his or her skills precisely to the point where they need to be.·Use long lenses or telephoto lenses to avoid being in the eye of the storm while you are focusing on taking pictures. Be aware of the risks that the job carries, and prepare to take pictures from a distance using the long lenses to your advantage. There's no rule that states that you can't compose wide-angle shots with long lenses, you just need to adjust the distance accordingly.·For a photojournalist, carrying an ID card is essential. An ID card hanging around your neck is your safety net. Journalists aren't generally attacked. It helps separate journalists from other people – say terrorists or police officers. You also need to always have permits to shoot in places where it isn't allowed to shoot even for the journalists without permits. You need to do your homework concerning permits and not get in the harm's way for your own good.·War photography is a specialized form of photojournalism that is perhaps the most dangerous form of photography. The earliest war photographers fought with as much fear as the people under the attack. It is one of the genres that require the most courage to be able to even be there and think straight.·To be able to do war photography, the first step is to get the technical and compositional aspects of photography as reflexes. There won’t be more than a moment to capture the images in war photography. All the truly iconic pictures have been a result of reflexes of some of the best photographers in the world. Practicing photography so much that it comes into the reflex – in varying conditions and situations – is how one can truly be ready for war photography.·The next step towards being ready for war photography is to be aware of what happens in a war, and then preparing for the same. Not only do you need to be working in dangerous situations, but also be ready to run for your life when required. There’s a requirement of empathy as well as being practical to the current situations.·There's a common problem that has emerged out of these genres – and that is the staging of the scenes. At no point, is it allowed to stage photos in these genres. These genres of photography are used to depict truth, and only a photographer who is not true to his work will indulge in any form of staging or manipulation. If you are to indulge in these genres, it is important to stay true to the form and showcase the world as it is – because the objective is to tell the true stories to a larger audience.Post-processing for photojournalism and street photography·In photojournalism, post-processing is minimal. Beyond the slight adjustments, there isn't any photo processing done. Some of the recent controversies have emerged as a result of photographers doing post-processing of images, some of which have been at an international level. For example, Iranian Missile Test image in 2008 had one missile, which didn't fire. The photo was processed and one of the successful test images was cloned to hide the unsuccessful test to display more power and hide the arguable failure.·Modern day street photography has evolved a lot. However, traditionally, street photography isn't supposed to involve much post-processing either. Street photography as a genre is a creative form of photojournalism, and follows the same principles of staying true to the original scene. Retouching photos is allowed only until the extent that it stays true. Any manipulation is not allowed.3) Architectural Photography·The field of photography that involves shooting interiors and exteriors of buildings, monuments, and shapes, is known as architectural photography. Architectural photography requires both the aesthetics and the accuracy of the architecture to be intact. It is usually not allowed to process the images so much that the original architecture isn't identifiable.·There are two different types of architectural photography that are done by professionals. One is the commercial architectural photography – whose major purpose is to sell or lease the apartments or living spaces. The other is the photography of monuments or tourist spots which involve historic as well as modern architecture of relevance.·In commercial architecture photography, there's a need to capture the place in the way it is, but still take pleasing angles. The prospective buyer, for example, shouldn't be shocked to find the place completely different from the photograph upon arriving. There have been cases the pictures are vastly different from how they looked in photography – and the company who used the pictures have been sued when the customer has been unable to visit the place personally before booking. These cases should remind that this photography needs to show the architecture how they are, as people will make their decisions based on the pictures.·Shooting the monuments of historic importance, you have more leeway with regards to the creative freedom. You are involved in shooting postcard photos in this, and there's·Shoot in a variety of weather to really be able to understand the building – and thus build the connection with it. It is true that clouds, dramatic lighting, sunsets and sunrises, et al, enhance the overall image quality of the architecture. Architectural photography, though, is about much more. Understand the relationship of the building with the weather and times of the day can enhance the photos a great deal.·A good lighting is a must in architectural photography, as in any other photography. However, there might be differences in a good lighting for an architectural scene – where a contrast in the light helps enhance the shape of the building and the objects. Getting an even lighting is difficult, especially for the exteriors – where you can't possibly use artificial lighting. Due to the scale of the photography involved, it is best to almost over-practice shooting in various different conditions before actually getting down and shooting the final images.·Architecture photography requires you to have a large depth of field, and the aperture is usually closed down a few stops. It is extremely important in architectural photography to have most of the interiors or exteriors in focus and sharp. The details are an important part of this form of photography.·Point of view is one of the important points of architectural photography. Anyone can take a picture of a building, but a professional photographer will be able to outdo others simply on the basis of the point of view and the composition. Within the constraints of the genre – which rely on depiction of accuracy as well as aesthetics – lies the opportunity to create beautiful images. Combining good lighting, quality weather conditions, and powerful compositions with a unique point of view can help your images stand out.·Tripod is the best friend of a photographer, but the lifeline of an architectural photographer. Often, with closed down apertures, you will have situations of low lights – especially while shooting during the evening or nights. To capture these, you will need to employ long exposures. This is when a tripod will come in handy. Not only will it help you take sharper pictures, but it will also help in getting straight lines and avoid distortion during the time of shoot itself. Lines are important in architecture, and getting them right is an important job of a professional architectural photographer.·Drop the tripod. Yes, contrary to the last tip, sometimes dropping the tripod allows you the luxury of being able to be more flexible. It will be helpful in shooting monuments and places with more footfalls. Working with tripod can be tricky and difficult in such situations, and being quick on your feet is the skill the photographer needs to employ.·Include people in compositions. Architecture has always been built for the people, and if people are included – the photography will become complete. Having a family or a couple while shooting the interiors or the exteriors of a house is helpful. A photograph of a bridge without traffic passing through is incomplete. To take it further, you could shoot it at night with light trails on the same.·Avoid the clichés. Having a famous building shot from the same angle – however pleasing it may seem – is not an ideal way. Some of the famous monuments like the Seven Wonders of the World have been photographed countless times. Yet, great photographers manage to find new stories and point of views from the same monuments – creating new magic. It is important to go beyond the visible, and beyond what is visible on the Google search for the place.·A standard advice while shooting a tourist spot is to roam around the place once without shooting anything. Observe everything with keen interest as a viewer would, and also try to understand the story the monument has to say. Once you take in that information, you would be able to combine it with your point-of-view of the story and the place, and create a composition.·Shoot wide angle to include all the elements of the scene in the frame. Ideally, a fish-eye or an ultra-wide lens is the requirement for the scene. An architecture photograph usually encompasses the scene. Crop-frame cameras with an 11-16, or full-frame cameras with a fish-eye 14mm are a couple of ways to include the scene in its entirety. Most of the times though, you can shoot at 24mm effective focal length if you move backwards.·Architectural photography is dependent on the accuracy of the depiction, but is usually shot using ultra-wide or fish eye lenses. These lenses introduce elements of distortion, which can hinder the process of making a good architecture photo. There are two clear ways to go about this. Firstly, embrace the distortion and use it creatively to portray the scene. The photo should clearly convey that it isn't essentially distorted, but a creative process, and in one of the pictures at least the true structure should be visible. The second way of shooting the architecture picture is to shoot from as close to the center as possible. The horizons and the lines should be essentially straight when seen. The slight distortion that still appears can be fixed in post-processing, which is advanced currently.·An alternative to ultra-wide lenses, which also helps in reducing distortion, is panorama. A panorama is a series of images stitched together to make one final image. Panoramas are usually shot at a focal length between 35 and 50mm. shooting at this focal length eliminates most of the distortion. It also results in a more detailed and higher resolution picture. In cases where you have to shoot for huge hoardings – as is common in architectural photography, a panorama can save you if you don't have a medium format or large format.·Shoot the details and go close. This will allow you to complete the experience of the viewer. In both commercial architectural photography and classic monument and tourist spot photography, there's a need to include the details. In tourist spots, close-ups of some doors, domes, etc, can tell a story about the place. In commercial photography, the details can help complete the image for the prospective buyer of what the place will feel like. Getting the details is all about capturing the feel of the place, and its objects.·Tilt shift lenses or perspective control lenses are lenses that can help remove the distortion while shooting. A lens in which the optics of the lens can be tilted or shifted in a variety of directions is known as a tilt-shift lens. Tilt-shift lens achieves a situation where the focal plane is no longer parallel to the image sensor. This creates an opportunity to create pictures without distortions by using tilt and shift features of the tilt-shift lens by varying the plane of focus or depth of field.·Graduated ND filter and Polarizing filters are two filters that help in creating amazing architecture pictures. Graduated ND filter is a perfect companion on a bright day. As you adjust the exposure for the architecture, the sky looks burned out. With graduated ND, you can reclaim what would have been burned out part of the sky, which helps in creating a better exposed image that also looks much better.·A polarizing filter filters out lights hitting at particular angles to the lens. This helps in creating darker skies, reduce reflections and cut off excess glare. It isn't quite straightforward to use a polarizing filter as opposed to other filters. Polarizing filter works on the basis of the angle of the light falling, and pointing the lens 90 degrees to the light source is considered a solution. It is far from truth, however, and doesn't work in all the circumstances. To be able to use it requires practice and knowledge of lighting.·Drones are the perfect tools to get a complete view of the architecture. Especially for the commercial photographers, a quality drone is equipment that will cost a substantial amount but will also reap heavy rewards – depending on the nature and the level of your work. It is important to keep upgrading the equipment not for the sake of it but for the extra coverage and features it provides. A couple of important points to note with drone is the learning and the licensing. While flying drones, you should be having a valid license, and you should be having the requisite training. There are places where you require permissions to fly a drone; there are places where you aren't allowed to fly a drone altogether, and so on. Understanding the laws is important step because drones are a security hazard, and can create problems for you if you do anything illegally.Post-processing Architectural Photos·The most important part of post-processing in architectural photography is perspective correction. Modern day post-processing software like Lightroom and Photoshop make it very easy to correct the distortion in pictures. They also are regularly updated with the lens data which can help in auto profile correction. Beyond that, you can do manual adjustments which include perspective corrections, vertical and horizontal corrections, and rotation corrections by simple usage of sliders. It becomes easy to be able to see what is happening, especially with the presence of grid lines and rulers to help in making sure the lines are straight.·Most of the correction in architectural photo revolves around exposure corrections, details, and contrast. Exposure corrections involve basic exposure correction, and making sure there are no important details in shadows or highlights. Contrast is an important part of architecture and helps boost the pictures, but needs to be used carefully because it can spoil the images. For sharpening the images, an unsharp mask is there in Lightroom as well as Photoshop. It is one of the finest tools to enhance the pictures on the basis of sharpening.·Monochrome conversion is an important part of architectural post-processing. Monochrome conversion isn't simply turning the black and white knob on in your post-processing software. It involves more use of colors than full color photographs. In the HSL tab, the luminance tab is the one used to fine-tune the look of the monochrome. Whether you want brighter blue parts of the image or darker red parts in the monochrome version – you can do those specific changes here. Then, graduated filter and circular filters and brushes further help in controlling the bright and dark parts. The contrast is created mostly through the colors. The last part is toning – which gives the look of the monochrome image. A blue tone gives a cool look; a sepia tone gives an aged look, and so on. Toning an image is different from luminance controls in the conversion because it actually leaves a tone on the image while the luminance controls the brightness or darkness of the part of the image that was originally of a particular color in the image.4) Wildlife Photography·Wildlife photography is the genre of photography which deals in photography wild animals or birds in their natural habitat. As the name suggests, it is about wild and free animals, and animals in captivity aren't usually considered in the wildlife photography genre. Wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, bird sanctuaries, or sometimes regular places are some of the places to practice wildlife photography.·Bird photography is that part of wildlife photography where you are primarily shooting birds. Bird photography in essence is about capturing birds in their natural habitat. Photography ethics for bird photography state that they shouldn't be shot near any human establishment. Bird photography is a more difficult art of wildlife photography because they are small, and can fly in any directions.·For both the parts of photography – it is important to blend in the environment. Most of the top wildlife photographers stay in the wild for days and months to be a part of the environment, observe the animals and birds behavior, visualize and then shoot at the correct moment. Some of the photographers have actually spent months in a place trying to merge into the environment and the habitat and understand animal behavior.·Studying animal and bird behavior, classes, et al, comes in handy before embarking on a wildlife photography tour. Knowing the kinds of birds and animals you are likely to find in the place on the basis of the type of habitat is a start to the journey of photography. Thereafter, it is about learning the key identifying features, and shooting them as well as trying to identify them. Animals are easier to distinguish as opposed to birds – because of the size of them as well as the minute differences within species.·Carrying a handbook on the birds and animals in the area is one of the important parts of understanding and identifying the species. It is important to understand that before being a wildlife photographer, one has to be a wildlife enthusiast. That comes from the ability to identify species, understand their routines, their calls, and their seasons, etc, and also respecting their environment. A handbook, for example Birds of the Indian Subcontinent when shooting in India, is a resource that will help in your journey to understand the habitat, the species, and so on.·Focusing on one particular genre and then working through the species is much better than shooting everything that comes your way. You will be able to get snapshots but won't be able to make pictures of the species if you aren't focused. For example, if you are shooting in Russia, instead of going for entire wild animals and birds gamut – start with a smaller species. It could be aquatic birds like loons, or the Amur Tiger, and you are likely to get a better result. It is more so because you will be prepared to shoot based on that choice. For example, to shoot aquatic birds, you will choose a location that the birds are known to be present in, and the time they are active. You will yourself be prepared with the equipment to be able to shoot that too.·Shoot portraits with proper composition rules. Portraits are the ideal way to get accustomed to any photography, more so in wildlife. Every time you see a lifer (an animal or bird you see for the first time), the first part is to get a snapshot or any picture which is called a record shot. After that, your process is to get to a proper portrait that is engaging, beautiful, well-lit, and complete in it.·Go for the details. While shooting portraits, going for the details can create amazing pictures. For example, pictures of only the legs of large birds with a fallen carcass of a prey near them can be a menacing picture without even having the face of the bird. Similarly, the claws of the lion on a prey, or eyes of the tiger, etc, can create amazing picture. It is important to be able to see the stories in these details.·Go wide and create environmental shots. Environmental portraits are of significance because they portray the relationship between the subject and its environment. They also make for amazing pictures because you can include natural habitats including huge water bodies, forests, etc. Imagine shooting elephants and their habitat in its full glory. Environmental portraits are also what distinguish the skills of photographers. In wildlife, especially in portraits and detailed close-ups, the equipment often plays a huge role apart from the skills. Environmental portraits, though, level the playing field, making it more of a skill-game.·Back-button focusing is an art that is quite essential in photography. You can't possibly shoot most of the wildlife photography because it involves focusing and recomposing so many times. You need to be able to use different buttons for shutter and focusing. If you use the traditional way, the picture might keep focusing, especially during the action moments. Back-button focusing also makes panning shots and birds-in-flight much easier than they would be otherwise, because you can keep the focus button pressed, and the shutter button is free to shoot. It helps in tracking focus immensely.·Lighting is, again, perhaps the most important part of photography. The sanctuaries and national parks provide ample opportunities to see the right light. There are areas of shadows with sunlight falling from between the leaves or trees. Timing the picture correctly can result in amazing pictures. Like if the face of a lemur touches the sun's light while the body is in shadows – it can give an effect of natural spotlight. It, however, requires correct understanding, patience, and timing.·Lighting is also important because backlighting wildlife can result in silhouettes, which aren't desirable unless the photographer intended them to be. Shooting birds is especially challenging because often you are pointing camera directly at the sun. Side light creates more contrast and depth, while a front-angled light is best to showcase the subject in the correct light. It is, however, important to understand how light works at different times and in different directions, to be able to use light as a tool of photography.Post-processing Wildlife Photography Pictures·Ideally, wildlife photography pictures need to be kept as natural as possible. This means, like other genres, you can only play with basic exposure controls without making anything appear unnatural.5) Sports Photography·Sports or action photography is that genre of photography that deals in shooting sports or action. It is one of the most unforgiving genres of photography, especially at the highest level, because you can't recreate the scene again. So if you miss a moment, like a goal, or a unique celebration – you aren't likely to witness the same event again. You may witness a similar event. This is why, it is important for a sports photographer to be on their toes.·The most important tip for a sports photographer is to know his gear in and out. He needs to not only know the gear but also have all the important settings as a reflex. A photographer, basically, needs to beat the reflex time of the sportsperson involved. Sometimes, it is so fast that the technique may not help unless it is in practiced so much that it is in the reflexes. Focusing, composing, shooting shouldn't take even a second in a sports photographer's life to be able to create those magical pictures. It comes purely from practice and reflex.·Understand the sport you are shooting and watch it enough before trying to shoot. Being at the right place at the right time is no luck but skill and anticipation. The more you understand the sport, the more you will be able to anticipate. Then, you can start shooting by going safe and following the ball, or the player, etc. This will ensure that you will be able to capture most of the sport through at least one of the viewpoint.·Start taking gambles in moments. For example, be ready to gamble on a tennis player to create an unbelievable backswing. Of course, you are more likely to gamble on known greats than the beginners, but while you are practicing photography – you won't know most of the players. If you have understood the game, you would be able to take a gamble by picking the better players who are likely to create those magical moments in the game. These magic moments, if captured, can make for amazing photography.·Use fast lenses that are at least 200mm for most sports, and longer for sports such as cricket and football, where field sizes are considerably larger. You aren't allowed to enter the field of any sports, and are expected to shoot from designated locations. Even the movements aren't too free for most of the professional events. Thus, having a telephoto lens which is fast enough to be able to capture action in dimming light is an asset. You aren't allowed to use flashlights or speed lights while shooting any professional sports and it is also unethical, and can disturb the concentration of the sportsperson.·Shoot JPEG. It is one of the most absurd tips, because as photographers, we are taught to shoot only RAW. However, sports photographers require shooting fast, and there's little post-processing in the pictures. In fact, the speed at which the pictures are required to be posted on digital media and the next print of the newspaper – only the JPEGs are ever used. Therefore, getting into the habit of shooting JPEGs is one of the ways to create some extraordinary imagery.·Shoot in burst mode and take lots of pictures. Being at the right place and right time isn't sufficient. The camera's ability to shoot high-speed burst mode should be utilized at the opportune moments. Once you know the game, you would be able to identify those moments. Then, it is all about anticipating and hitting the shutter at the right time, and shooting plenty of pictures. You can't possibly predict the exact moment. Shooting JPEG helps here because burst mode while shooting JPEGs is faster than burst mode shooting RAW, and a couple of more pictures per second can make much of the difference.·Use the shutter speed as a creative tool. While most of the photography will go into the zone of safe shots where shutter speed is considerably high to freeze actions, you can always experiment. For example, you can do panning and slow shutter to showcase movement. Taking the picture of a basketball player in motion dribbling the ball is an amazing technique. It requires anticipation and knowledge of the game, track focusing, and correct timing to be able to create some truly magical pictures. Important thing to note here is that majority of pictures should still be safe shots with high shutter speeds – but for those few magical shots, it is worth giving a try in case you may land up with one magical picture.Post-processing for Sports Photography·Ideally, there's little or no post-processing in sports photography. More than the ethics, it is because of the nature of today's world where speed is important. Hence, the pictures need to be out almost as soon as a session or a game is over. This means there's hardly enough time to transfer and crop the picture to reframe – the post-processing is a different breed altogether.6) Long Exposure Photography·Long exposure photography, as the name suggests, is where the shutter speeds go lower to be able to capture subjects in motion with some part of the frame being frozen. Some of the most beautiful visuals are a result of long exposure photography because it allows us to see subjects as they aren't possible to be seen via naked eyes. For example, we can't actually see smooth motion of water, or smooth clouds motions, or star trails and light trails. However, we can capture them when we understand the technique of long exposure and how to go about shooting various genres via the technique.·Astrophotography is perhaps the most attractive form of long exposure photography. Astrophotography is majorly of two types – Milky Way and star trails. The requirements for both of these genres are almost the same – except for one minor important difference. They both are taken on a moonless night in places away from light pollution. Deserts, villages, and mountains are the most common spots where the astrophotography happens. Getting the right location is part one of doing astrophotography.·The other requirement is the correct equipment. A tripod, a remote shutter release or an intervalometer is helpful in Milky Way photography, but the intervalometer becomes essential shooting star trails if you plan on stacking them later. A full-frame camera and fast wide-angle lens are recommended but not essential. Especially while shooting Milky Way, where you can't slow the shutter speed too much – it becomes helpful to have a camera where you can boost ISO and a lens that allows a great amount of light.·The 500 rule is the difference between Milky Way photography and star trails photography. 500 rule states that for the stars to not form trails, the shutter speed needs to be faster than 500/effective focal length (in seconds). Therefore, if you want to shoot milky way with a 50mm lens on a full-frame camera, the maximum you can go with the shutter speed is 500/50 = 10 seconds. For a crop frame camera, it becomes 500/focal length x crop factor. Star trails can have as long an exposure time as you want, the longer the exposure, the longer the trails will be in the same picture. For stacking, however, we usually take anywhere between 60 to 1000 pictures, depending on the vastness, the shutter speed, and the requirement. Often, especially with modern day cameras, we can have an in-built mechanism to shoot star trails.·Clouds and water are two subjects which are vastly improved due to the ability to shoot longer exposures. Clouds and water move at varying paces in different places and conditions. The environments they are in remain the same. When you compose your landscape pictures, waterfall pictures, or cloudscape pictures – you just need to expose them well at a slower shutter speed which allows movements for water or clouds or both.·Light trails are another part of photography that is only possible because of long exposure, as we don't see the light trails in reality. When it is dark, only the brightest parts of the image are formed on the sensor. These are the lights. Therefore, when a vehicle moves, the lights will be recorded but the vehicle will not. When we use slow shutter speed, the movement of light is recorded, which appears like light trail. This is the concept behind creating pictures of cityscapes and landscapes at night where the stationary subjects are exposed, and the passing traffic or lights create light trails to take the composition to another level.·Light painting is a form of photography that has been growing in popularity recently. It is based on the same principle as light trails. The difference is that in light trails, we capture the moving lights. Here, we capture the lights that we move as per our visualization and design. This enables us to make creative concepts and images. Light painting is often done on the back of a subject or a model, who appears to be backlit. The light can then be painted in the form of the wings of the subject, or a glow behind the subject, and so on. The subject needs to be stationary for the whole duration of the light painting, and the professional models are the only ones capable of pulling it off most of the times. In between, you can also light the model through a continuous light or speedlight after the exposure is done. Alternatively, you can use second curtain to do the same thing, just make sure that the painting is completed before the flash is fired because both the light painting won't show if a flash is fired from the front.Post-processing for Long Exposure Photography·For astrophotography, there are 5 distinct steps to get the image looking the way it should. It is one genre where you can't get it right in camera. The first step is to correct the color balance. The actual astrophotography should have a bluish tint, unless there's a glow in some way. However, they all tend to come out colorless. The next step is to correct exposure. This involves brightness, contrast, whites, and blacks. Saturation and vibrance are also touched, followed up by unsharp mask with masking. If you have shot wide and there's lens distortion, that also needs to be corrected.·Star trails rely on stacking. Stacking can be achieved in many software – both free and paid. Photoshop, sadly, isn't the best software for stacking because it takes too much of the system resources to stack over 60 images in Photoshop. There are alternatives compiled by various programmers that get the job done quicker. The compiled image can then be post-processed as a single image. Star trail photos can also be turned into a time-lapse video, because the pictures are basically shot in the way a time-lapse is shot. For videos though, the length needs to be considerably longer, and 60 frames may be less.7) Macro Photography·Macro simply means magnification. The ability to display small objects in life-size resolution on the sensor or film is the purpose of macro photography. In simpler terms, shooting a 35 mm object that fills the sensor of 35mm – the subject's projection on sensor becomes life size or 1:1. The common ratios for macro photography are 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, among others. When projection becomes more than the actual object, it is called Micro photography. There are lenses that do a 5:1 magnification as well, making the subject's image 5 times larger on sensor than it is in reality.·Shooting macro requires specialized equipment. Two of the differences between the macro lens and normal lenses are the ability to bring out the details of even a thin sheet of paper, and a considerably lesser minimum focusing distance, which allows getting close to the subject and filling the frame with it. The macro lenses also have much shallower depth of field.·Macro lenses are costly and precise equipment to indulge in macro photography. They provide the finest quality imaging experience because they are built to do a particular job. Focusing with the manual focus ring is one of the most important advantages of macro lenses above the alternatives that are available to shoot macro.·There are alternatives to shoot macro without any specialized macro lens. The first of those are macro filters or magnification filters. They simply magnify the pictures, and come in sizes +1, +2, +4, and +8 – which is proportional but not a measurement of the magnification they provide. The best feature of these filters is that you retain the controls like focus ring control, autofocus, contacts – which enables you to use Program Auto, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority modes, and the exposure compensation, can also be used. The ease of use is an amazing feature of filters. The downside – they are add-on glasses to the lens. What it means is that the quality of the picture isn't entirely dependent on the sensor and the glass but also on the additional glass we are adding. The more glasses we add (filters) means the more magnification and more degradation of quality. Yes, you can have high quality glass but that will cost as much as a macro lens – defeating the purpose of a cheap alternative.·Extension tubes and reverse rings are two other methods which can be used to create pictures. Reverse ring basically is added on the body, and allows the lens to be mounted in the reverse. This creates a heavy magnification providing some amazing macro photography. If you browse through flickr or 500px etc, you will notice some of the finest pictures taken using this method with a cheap body and kit lens. You won't be able to do auto-focus or even use focus ring when the lens is reversed. All you can do is move the camera to and fro to focus. It takes a while getting used to it –but it can produce some amazing pictures. Also, since the aperture setting won't be available in camera, you need to set the aperture earlier and lock it. Pressing depth of field preview button while removing the lens locks the aperture setting. There's no glass so the quality of the image isn't affected, however a stop or so of light is reduced depending on the length of the lens because the glass's position is moved closer to the sensor.·Extension tubes are like lenses, only that they are empty from inside. The increase the distance of the lens and the sensor by adding hollow elements called extension tubes in between. This allows for an amazing magnification. Also, you are allowed to add more than one extension tube for better magnification. The more the extension tubes, the more the magnification. However, the more the extension tubes, the more will the loss of light be because the distance between glass and sensor is increased. The focus can be automatic and focus ring is also available, as also aperture controls in extension tubes with contacts. The manual extension tubes work similar to reversal rings and the aperture needs to be set in the same way.·The light is a major issue in macro photography because the depth of field of any of the methods is very shallow. The aperture is usually closed down to have more area in focus and with some of the methods cutting light even further – it becomes an area of concern. To overcome the same, there are ring flashes which are mounted around the lens. This allows even the very close subjects to be lit well, as is usually the case in macro photography. The other way is to use an on-camera flash and just add a white paper or diffuser in front of it. The light will hit the paper and fall on to the subject. In such close proximity, there's no other way to light the subject – expect perhaps setting up lighting in studio.·Many a times, series of images are taken with the composition being the same but the focus point differencing marginally. It is done similar to the panorama, with the sequence of images having focus points next to each other, and each part of the image being in focus in at least one image. These images, like in panorama, are stacked in post-processing. This is, again, done to be able to overcome the problem of shallow depth of field in macro.Post-processing in Macro Photography·For stacking, import all the images of the sequence in Photoshop as layers. The next step is to align the layers by going to Edit -> Auto-align layers. Choose auto and the Photoshop will do the job. Now the images are aligned, it's time to blend the images or stack them. To do this, select all layers and go to Layers -> Auto Blend layers. Select 'Stacking' option here and hit OK to let Photoshop complete the job. The last step is to crop the image and process as per your requirements.8) Landscape Photography·The most common form of photography which we all indulge in is landscapes. Be it a normal person capturing a picture of a sunset while traveling or a professional climbing the mountains to take a scenic route of the same – all comes under the one umbrella of landscapes. Of course, you may call one person's photography more professional than the other. The various types of landscapes which are common are cityscapes, waterscapes, mountainscapes, cloudscapes, and so on – which essentially mean the same thing.·The most important aspect for capturing the landscapes is the lighting. This genre is completely dependent on ambient lighting. Therefore, a thorough knowledge of the types of light that are found at different times of the day is important. Also, how weather alters the lights is important to be understood. To start with, the light that is loved by all professional photographers is known as the golden hour.·Short periods of time just after the sunrise and before sunset are two phases which are known as golden hour. Golden hour provides an almost golden tint to the image naturally, and the light is softer and more beautiful, providing amazing time to take landscapes. Sunrises and sunsets are loved by everyone. Similarly, time after the sunset is blue hour where there's a soft blue illumination in the sky providing for a cool look naturally in the photos.·Softer lights during these durations provide for a beautiful even illumination that can make landscapes more appealing. Clouds act as natural modifiers, and on a cloudy day, the light is soft and diffused all through. Cloudy days also provide a unique situation where some part of the image will be having sunlight while the others will be in shade. This provides for a tool for the photographers, and weather forecast can prepare a photographer for this. In fact, the sunset-sunrise timing and direction, and weather forecasts are two most important things that a photographer has to keep in mind with regards to light on the location.·The location and composition are two most important aspects of the landscape photography. Location is, perhaps, what differentiates traditional landscapes from everything else. Photographers travel thousands of kilometers to find the perfect location for the image they want to make. Sometimes it involves traveling to the seashore, sometimes trekking to the right altitude to get the correct view; all this keeping in mind the times of the shoot.·In this day and age, the chances of many photographers being at the same place as you are huge. There's no concept of unique location. So after you have reached the location at the right time, it is about composition. This is where you can share your story with the world – precisely how you see a place. Composition rules help in the beginning, but it is all about practicing the rules so much that you imbibe them within you, or you can disregard them. When at a beautiful location with amazing light, all you should be able to do is let the composition be made automatically – because you are using the technical knowledge you have along with the feelings you have at the location during shoot. The best way to achieve such a state is to practice, and practice more till the time you can shoot automatically – without the need or compulsion to shoot but a desire to take a picture.·Wide angle lenses are the major components of shooting landscapes. For larger resolution pictures of huge places like mountains, panoramas can also be used. The essence of a landscape is in capturing the world in its entirety, and the more you can capture the better it becomes. Fish eye lenses are gaining popularity consistently from a few years with photographers. While they add an element of distortion to the images, they also provide a creative tool to the photographer and challenge them to use it in a way that sets them apart from the other photographers composing the same scene.·Apertures for landscapes are supposed to be closed down to allow more areas of the landscapes to be in focus. It means the apertures are supposed to be f8 or lower (closed). This, however, isn't entirely true, because at wide angles, sharpness range than the other lenses. Another important factor is that over-sharpness in images can appear attractive, but it defeats the purpose of landscape photography. It no more stays pleasing to the eyes – and a landscape photograph should have a therapeutic effect to the viewer. Shutter speeds should follow minimum shutter speed rule, and ISO should, as is always said, be as low as possible.·Tripod is a landscape photographer's best friend. It assists in shooting panoramas, correcting the horizon while shooting landscapes, provides a sharper image by allowing to close the aperture and slow down the shutter speed while keeping the ISO at lowest possible, and also, by simply calming the photographer down. Panoramas are very difficult to be shot without tripod as you need to have a 30-50% overlap consistently. Horizon can be checked on a tripod by seeing the bubble level and if the bubble is in the center.Post-processing Landscape Pictures·The modern day tools make for some of the most beautiful and unrealistic landscape pictures you can ever imagine. That's the catch with post-processing landscape images. We all love saturation and sharpness, but we often forget to draw the line. Processing for landscape images should be about correcting the white balance, and then the exposure. Thereby, you can work with curves to add or reduce contrast. Adding too much contrast will create halos, especially around backlit subjects. Vibrance is a better way of adding color than saturation because it can prevent you from over-coloring an image. Also, it is better to use split-toning to tone the image instead of merely increasing saturation. As for the sharpness, use it barely. If you have shot the image well with the focus points and settings correctly, you don't need to even touch the details tab on your Lightroom. Landscapes are about natural locations and pictures – you can't create them in Lightroom if they aren't there, but you can easily spoil them in Lightroom if you are over-enthusiastic.

This article will shed some light on your question:What is methamphetamine?Crystal methamphetamineMethamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. Crystal methamphetamine is a form of the drug that looks like glass fragments or shiny, bluish-white rocks. It is chemically similar to amphetamine, a drug used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, a sleep disorder.Other common names for methamphetamine include blue, crystal, ice, meth, and speed.How do people use methamphetamine?People can take methamphetamine by:smokingswallowing (pill)snortinginjecting the powder that has been dissolved in water/alcoholBecause the "high" from the drug both starts and fades quickly, people often take repeated doses in a "binge and crash" pattern. In some cases, people take methamphetamine in a form of binging known as a "run," giving up food and sleep while continuing to take the drug every few hours for up to several days.How does methamphetamine affect the brain?Methamphetamine increases the amount of the natural chemical dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is involved in body movement, motivation, and reinforcement of rewarding behaviors. The drug’s ability to rapidly release high levels of dopamine in reward areas of the brain strongly reinforces drug-taking behavior, making the user want to repeat the experience.Short-Term EffectsTaking even small amounts of methamphetamine can result in many of the same health effects as those of other stimulants, such as cocaine or amphetamines. These include:increased wakefulness and physical activitydecreased appetitefaster breathingrapid and/or irregular heartbeatincreased blood pressure and body temperatureHow Do Manufacturers Make Methamphetamine?Currently, most methamphetamine in the United States is produced by transactional criminal organizations (TCOs) in Mexico. This methamphetamine is highly pure, potent, and low in price. The drug can be easily made in small clandestine laboratories, with relatively inexpensive over-the-counter ingredients such as pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient in cold medications. To curb this kind of production, the law requires pharmacies and other retail stores to keep a purchase record of products containing pseudoephedrine, and take steps to limit sales.Methamphetamine production also involves a number of other very dangerous chemicals. Toxic effects from these chemicals can remain in the environment long after the lab has been shut down, causing a wide range of health problems for people living in the area. These chemicals can also result in deadly lab explosions and house fires.What are other health effects of methamphetamine?Image"Meth Mouth"Long-Term EffectsPeople who inject methamphetamine are at increased risk of contracting infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. These diseases are transmitted through contact with blood or other bodily fluids that can remain on drug equipment. Methamphetamine use can also alter judgment and decision-making leading to risky behaviors, such as unprotected sex, which also increases risk for infection.Methamphetamine use may worsen the progression of HIV/AIDS and its consequences. Studies indicate that HIV causes more injury to nerve cells and more cognitive problems in people who use methamphetamine than it does in people who have HIV and don't use the drug.1 Cognitive problems are those involved with thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering.Long-term methamphetamine use has many other negative consequences, including:extreme weight lossaddictionsevere dental problems ("meth mouth")intense itching, leading to skin sores from scratchinganxietychanges in brain structure and functionconfusionmemory losssleeping problemsviolent behaviorparanoia—extreme and unreasonable distrust of othershallucinations—sensations and images that seem real though they aren'tIn addition, continued methamphetamine use causes changes in the brain's dopamine system that are associated with reduced coordination and impaired verbal learning. In studies of people who used methamphetamine over the long term, severe changes also affected areas of the brain involved with emotion and memory.2 This may explain many of the emotional and cognitive problems seen in those who use methamphetamine.Although some of these brain changes may reverse after being off the drug for a year or more, other changes may not recover even after a long period of time.3 A recent study even suggests that people who once used methamphetamine have an increased the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the nerves that affects movement.4Are there health effects from exposure to secondhand methamphetamine smoke?Researchers don't yet know whether people breathing in secondhand methamphetamine smoke can get high or have other health effects. What they do know is that people can test positive for methamphetamine after exposure to secondhand smoke.5,6 More research is needed in this area.Can a person overdose on methamphetamine?Yes, a person can overdose on methamphetamine. An overdose occurs when the person uses too much of a drug and has a toxic reaction that results in serious, harmful symptoms or death.In 2017, about 15 percent of all drug overdose deaths involved the methamphetamine category, and 50 percent of those deaths also involved an opioid, with half of those cases related to the synthetic opioid fentanyl. (CDC Wonder Multiple Causes of Death—see #42 on Meth RR.) It is important to note that cheap, dangerous synthetic opioids are sometimes added to street methamphetamine without the user knowingHow can a methamphetamine overdose be treated?Because methamphetamine overdose often leads to a stroke, heart attack, or organ problems, first responders and emergency room doctors try to treat the overdose by treating these conditions, with the intent of:restoring blood flow to the affected part of the brain (stroke)restoring blood flow to the heart (heart attack)treating the organ problemsIs methamphetamine addictive?Yes, methamphetamine is highly addictive. When people stop taking it, withdrawal symptoms can include:anxietyfatiguesevere depressionpsychosisintense drug cravingsHow is methamphetamine addiction treated?While research is underway, there are currently no government-approved medications to treat methamphetamine addiction. The good news is that methamphetamine misuse can be prevented and addiction to the drug can be treated with behavioral therapies. The most effective treatments for methamphetamine addiction so far are behavioral therapies, such as:cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps patients recognize, avoid, and cope with the situations likely to trigger drug use.motivational incentives, which uses vouchers or small cash rewards to encourage patients to remain drug-freeResearch also continues toward development of medicines and other new treatments for methamphetamine use, including vaccines, and noninvasive stimulation of the brain using magnetic fields. People can and do recover from methamphetamine addiction if they have ready access to effective treatments that address the multitude of medical and personal problems resulting from long-term use.Points to RememberMethamphetamine is usually a white, bitter-tasting powder or a pill. Crystal methamphetamine looks like glass fragments or shiny, bluish-white rocks.Methamphetamine is a stimulant drug that is chemically similar to amphetamine (a drug used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy).People can take methamphetamine by smoking, swallowing, snorting, or injecting the drug.Methamphetamine increases the amount of dopamine in the brain, which is involved in movement, motivation, and reinforcement of rewarding behaviors.Short-term health effects include increased wakefulness and physical activity, decreased appetite, and increased blood pressure and body temperature.Long-term health effects include risk of addiction; risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis; severe dental problems ("meth mouth"); intense itching, leading to skin sores from scratching; violent behavior; and paranoia.Methamphetamine can be highly addictive. When people stop taking it, withdrawal symptoms can include anxiety, fatigue, severe depression, psychosis, and intense drug cravings.Researchers don't yet know if people breathing in secondhand methamphetamine smoke can get high or suffer other health effects.A person can overdose on methamphetamine. Because methamphetamine overdose often leads to a stroke, heart attack, or organ problems, first responders and emergency room doctors try to treat the overdose by treating these conditions.The most effective treatments for methamphetamine addiction so far are behavioral therapies. There are currently no government-approved medications to treat methamphetamine addiction.Learn MoreFor more information about methamphetamine, visit our:Methamphetamine webpageCommonly Used Drugs chartNIDA for Teens Drug Facts on Methamphetamine (Meth) - Offers resources for teens and teen influencers. Get the latest on how drugs affect the brain and body. Features videos, games, blog posts, and more!Easy-to-Read Drug Facts on Meth (Crank, Ice) - Has pictures and videos to help readers understand the text. The website also can read each page out loud.ReferencesChang L, Ernst T, Speck O, Grob CS. Additive effects of HIV and chronic methamphetamine use on brain metabolite abnormalities. Am J Psychiatry. 2005;162(2):361-369. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.2.361.Volkow ND, Chang L, Wang GJ, et al. Association of dopamine transporter reduction with psychomotor impairment in methamphetamine abusers. Am J Psychiatry. 2001;158(3):377-382. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.158.3.377.Wang G-J, Volkow ND, Chang L, et al. Partial recovery of brain metabolism in methamphetamine abusers after protracted abstinence. Am J Psychiatry. 2004;161(2):242-248. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.161.2.242.Curtin K, Fleckenstein AE, Robison RJ, Crookston MJ, Smith KR, Hanson GR. Methamphetamine/amphetamine abuse and risk of Parkinson’s disease in Utah: a population-based assessment. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015;146:30-38. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.10.027.Bassindale T. Quantitative analysis of methamphetamine in hair of children removed from clandestine laboratories--evidence of passive exposure? Forensic Sci Int. 2012;219(1-3):179-182. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2012.01.003.Farst K, Reading Meyer JA, Mac Bird T, James L, Robbins JM. Hair drug testing of children suspected of exposure to the manufacture of methamphetamine. J Forensic Leg Med. 2011;18(3):110-114. doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2011.01.013.

Anxiety and OCD are companions in the simplest term to ward off trauma. Anxiety and OCD are coping mechanisms one devises to ward off mental/emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse trauma.Largactil is an antipsychotic used to treat several conditions and may be used either for a short time or for a long time. Largactil is used to treat various problems such as severe depression or behavioural disturbances. Largactil can also be used to treat nausea, vomiting, severe pain and unstoppable hiccups.The most important question is: What are the negative side effects?Largactil - Negative side effects include, but not limited to:drowsinesstirednessheadachedizziness or light headednauseaagitationbreast swelling or dischargechanges in menstrual periodsskin problems or discolorationdry mouthstuffy noseblurred visionconstipationdifficulty urinatingimpotence, trouble having an orgasmweight gainswelling in hands or feetMind, Body and Spirit healing is possible without psychotropic drugs, artificial hypnotic inductions, exercises, life-long coping strategies and psychic interventions,. I have assisted many people to heal the cause of their symptoms and diagnosis from A to Z. I have assisted many people to heal the cause of their Anxiety, OCD.The cause of people’s symptoms, distress, mental/emotional dysfunction are the result of mental/emotional, physical and/or sexual trauma experiences that weren’t addressed then and are now coming to the surface as mental/emotional and/or physical symptoms.Discovering and healing the cause of all distress symptoms is the most efficient and effective protocol to regain your life.When someone begins the holistic healing process, no matter how dire their predicament seems to be, I KNOW if she/he is WILLING to do the mental/emotional discovery work; releasing and forgiving, anything can be healed. The word ‘incurable’ or ‘impossible’ only means that the particular condition, symptom or diagnoses cannot be ‘cured’ by ‘outer’ methods and that she/he needs to GO WITHIN to effect the healing. The condition, symptom or diagnoses came from mental/emotional distress and will go back to nothing.When beliefs, thoughts, feelings and behavior are accessed and addressed at the unconscious level, the 'cause' of any and all symptoms and behavior become crystal clear--it is mental/emotional, physical, and spiritual trauma/distress manifesting in the behavior and symptoms you experience.A Healing process is a clear, concise and direct method of transforming the mental, emotional and physical symptoms that transcends traditional protocols while retaining a professional focus. Deep Healing avoids prescription and OTC drugs, body parts removed, artificial hypnotic inductions and psychic interventions. The process ties in directly with the experiences and needs of the person. The process is down-to-earth, to-the-point, practical, fearless and with 30+ years experience and centuries of holistic health care protocol success I know there is no doubt Deep Healing is effective.Get all your unnecessary emotional baggage transmuted at the unconscious level and instantly experience higher vibrations of love and peace.Discover how traumas and emotional wounds… even the tiniest negative experiences that you had forgotten about… are robbing you of your happy, fulfilling future that you’re meant to live. (You won’t believe how much power you’re giving away to these invisible forces.)Uncover the reason(s) the traditional coping with traumas are not only bad but they’re dangerous. (If you suffer from any kind of anxiety, depression, PTSD issues healing at the unconscious level is powerful and empowering. Afraid of your past? Discover ways to clear painful memories without reliving it or telling anyone about it. (This is the miracle road to peace of mind that your soul was longing for, for years.)Clearing your traumas and emotional wounds at the unconscious level is the first step to discovering the gifts you’re meant to have in this life. (It’s like one of those tiny levers that swing open giant doors.)Wellness is the state of being fully alive with a sense of attainment; responding appropriately instead of reacting to life and circumstances.Mental/Emotional is a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his/her potential while navigating the stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.Mental/Emotional and physical health and Wellness is the act of remaining calm and focused while working things out with respect and unconditional intent to find a solution. Ultimately your personal character; personal strength and courage will evolve. To attain wellness requires you to make healthy choices in nutrition, relationships, social contact, work and leisure activities.Happiness is a birthright. You deserve to create yours.Look inside the world of psychotropic drugs. https://health.news/2018-07-16-a-shocking-and-horrifying-look-inside-the-world-of-psychiatric-medicine-like-going-into-hell.htmlPsychiatry Admits It's Been Wrong in Big Ways, But Can It Change? Mar 5, 2014 - History shows that paradigms of psychiatric care can change, but, in a big-picture sense, I don't know how much is really changing in the United States. I think dissident mental health professionals also need to confront this question. Can they be hopeful that their professions will change their ways, ...SSRI Antidepressants Do More Harm than Good - Primum Non Nocere: An Evolutionary Analysis of Whether Antidepressants Do More Harm than Good an evolutionary analysis of whether antidepressants do more harm than good.Psych Meds Put 49 Million Americans at Risk for Cancer https://kellybroganmd.com/pharmaputting49-million-americansrisk cancer/The Real Problems With Psychiatry - The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/heal... May 2, 2013 - A psychotherapist contends that the DSM, psychiatry's "bible" that defines all mental illness, is not scientific but a product of unscrupulous politics, pharmaceutical input and ... what's wrong with "drapetomania,"but it's easier to see the balancing act involved in saying homosexuality is or isn't a disease --USA tops charts for WORST health outcomes of all industrialized nations with 70% of Americans taking experimental prescription drugs. https://psychcentral.com/news/2013/06/20/70-percent-of-americans-take-prescription-drugs/56275.htmlBig Pharma Is America’s New MafiaMedical Holocaust Psych Drugs Have Killed More Than 5 Million People Over The Last 10 Years https://wearechange.org/medical-...Pharmaceutical companies have more power than ever, and the American people are paying the price—too often with their lives. https://www.thedailybeast.com/big-pharma-is-americas-new-mafiaMedical malpractice kills 500 times more Americans than accidental gun deaths… we need DOCTOR control –https://prepareforchange.net/2018/10/14/medical-malpractice-kills-500-times-more-americans-than-accidental-gun-deaths-we-need-doctor-control/ At least 15,549 people were killed by guns in 2017, excluding most suicides.The US Ranks Last in Health Care System Performance Benjamin Radcliff Ph.D. The Economy of Happiness coauthored with my colleague Professor Alexander Pacek, Texas A&M UniversityDespite a level of spending that dwarfs the other countries in the study, the U.S. comes in dead last in three of the five, and arguably the most important three, of the five domains: health outcomes, equity, and access. We are tied for last on administrative efficiency and about average on care process. The U.S. is also last in their summary indicator aggregating all five dimensions.The bottom line, and the paper's most basic conclusion, is that "the performance of the U.S. health care system ranks last compared to other high-income countries."The study also finds that the "U.S. has the highest rate of mortality amenable to health care." More people die unnecessarily in the U.S. due to inadequate care, or the pure absence of care, than any in any of country in the study. The issue is not merely problems in the American life style, Americans die more than Europeans because of poor quality health care or lack of access to care. It is that simple.Another study—Death By Medicine, Gary Null, PhD; Carolyn Dean MD, ND; Martin Feldman, MD; Debora Rasio, MD; and Dorothy Smith, PhD Something is wrong when regulatory agencies pretend that vitamins are dangerous, yet ignore published statistics showing that government-sanctioned medicine is the real hazard. www.webdc.com/pdfs/deathbymedicine.pdfI am here only to be truly helpful. I offer a FREE 20-minute, no obligation conversation to answer your questions and to explain how the healing process works.Source:Deep Healing and Transformation, Hans Ten Dam - a methodical way of working that transcends ordinary psychotherapy while retaining a professional attitude. It avoids artificial hypnotic inductions and psychic interventions, but ties in directly with the experiences of the client.The process is down-to-earth, to-the-point, practical and fearless. Hans TenDam Books | List of books by author Hans TenDam https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/hans-tendam/863698/Largactil