Review Digital Camera World 08-13-2013

Digital Camera World

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Candid photography: shoot documentary- style portraits of people at work Aug 12th 2013, 23:01, by jmeyer Candid photography is one of the more difficult types of portraiture you can shoot. In this tutorial we’ll  show you how to capture both informal portraits and documentary-style pictures of people at work using a variety of techniques. Words and images by Claire Gillo. All images by Claire Gillo For our shoot we took a trip to Cotswold Airport to photograph Wiltshire Fire and Rescue service on a training exercise. You may not be able get the same type of access to the emergency services, but you can apply the same candid photography techniques we’ve used to whoever you're photographing. People whose jobs involve recognisable 'props', such as hairdressers, chefs and farmers, all make good subjects for this type of candid photo story. For our documentary-style portrait of the firefighters we used two external flashguns in a simple lighting setup. If you don't have external flash units you can still take a similar approach to the shoot, but you'll need to light them in a different way – you could use a reflector to bounce natural light onto your subjects, or use the pop-up flash on your DSLR. For our documentary shots we used only natural light. When you're photographing people on the move you need to be able to react quickly, so for that reason we used two zoom lens: an EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM and an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM. An added advantage of both lenses is that they have fast and constant maximum apertures – when you're relying on natural light a fast lens will enable you to get sharper shots if light levels fall. Set up your camera for informal, candid photography Camera settings Select Tv mode, and set the shutter speed to 1/250 or 1/200 sec to enable the shutter to sync with the flash (if you're shooting indoors you may need to reduce the shutter speed to 1/100 sec to capture enough ambient light). Adjust the ISO to suit the ambient light conditions. In our case we set the ISO to 100, then dialled in -1 stop of exposure compensation to darken the sky so it looked more dramatic, and to ensure we didn't overexpose the clouds. These settings gave us an aperture of f/8; this is ideal, as you want both your subjects and background to be in focus. If you want a narrower aperture you can up the ISO or reduce the shutter speed, but don't take the shutter speed below 1/100 sec.   Flash settings To light our subjects we used two Speedlites. Attach the first flashgun to the hotshoe of your D-SLR (or use your pop-up flash if you only have one flashgun) and set it up as the master unit (refer to your manual if you're unsure how to do this). Set the flash to E-TTL mode, and dial in -1 stop of flash exposure compensation so the flash fills in shadows without being too overpowering. Set the second flash as the slave unit (make sure it's set to the same channel as the main unit), and position it to the side and behind the subjects on a tripod (you can clone this out at the editing stage if it's in shot). We need this flash to be more powerful, to create rim or side lighting, so set it to E-TTL mode and set the exposure compensation to +3 stops. Take a test shot, and adjust the settings if necessary.   Shoot on the go! For the remainder of our shoot we were photographing the firefighters as they took part in a training exercise, using only natural light. For the best results when shooting in natural light set your camera to Av mode. If you want to blur the background use a wide aperture, such as f/2.8; this will also give you faster shutter speeds to freeze action. If you want more of the background in focus you can stop down the aperture to around f/8, but be aware that shutter speeds will be slower; in low light, you may need to increase the ISO to ensure the shutter speed doesn't become too slow. PAGE 1 – Set up your camera for informal, candid photography PAGE 2 – How to compose your candid photography PAGE 3 – How to edit your candid photography: steps 1-6 PAGE 4 – How to edit your candid photography: steps 7-12 PAGE 5 – How to give your candid photos a documentary look READ MORE 21 street photography tips from the professionals Best camera focus techniques: 10 surefire ways to get sharp photos 10 quick documentary photography tips Candid street photography: lose your inhibitions and shoot street portraits with impact 9 creative photo ideas to try in August A Layman's Guide to Travel Tripods Aug 12th 2013, 09:57, by jmeyer What are the different features of travel tripods, and do you need one? In our latest Layman's Guide we answer the common questions beginner photographers may have about these essential accessories. What are travel tripods? Regular tripods often weigh in at around 3.5kg, eating into your baggage allowance and being heavy to lug around. Travel tripods are smaller and much lighter in weight, typically weighing around 1kg to 1.5kg. How do travel tripods work? Most travel tripods fold down to about 40cm to 50cm in length, making them convenient to carry. However, they usually have either four or five sections in each leg, enabling them to stretch to a useful maximum operating height of around 160cm. Typically, travel tripods with a slightly heavier carrying weight will also have a higher maximum load rating. This can be as little as 1.5kg or as much as 8kg. Who makes travel tripods? For good build quality and value for money, popular makes include Benro, Giottos, Hama, Manfrotto, Slik, Vanguard and Velbon. In some cases, carbon fibre tripods are available as well as aluminium models. The carbon fibre tripods do give a further reduction in weight, being about 25 per cent lighter than comparable aluminium models,  but typically come at much higher prices. Many camera bodies or lenses feature highly effective image stabilisation, but this is of little benefit for very slow shutter speeds as can be seen in the shot above left. The picture on the right has been taken with a travel tripod, showing how useful they are for capturing long exposures on holiday Any trick features? Most travel tripods include multi-angle legs and centre columns that you can invert for low-level shooting. They're usually sold as complete tripod kits, often including a ball head. This is a more compact option than a conventional three-way head. How do I attach a travel tripod to my DSLR? Up-market travel tripod kits usually have heads that include a quick-release plate. You can therefore leave the plate attached to your camera for quick and easy mounting and removal from the tripod. READ MORE 8 common mistakes all photographers make on holiday 79 travel photography tips you shouldn’t leave home without Best budget tripods: 6 top models tested and rated Camera Shake: the ultimate cheat sheet for using tripods, monopods and shooting handheld

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