Review Digital Camera World 01-16-2014

Digital Camera World

Ready to move beyond the basics? Enroll in this advanced DSLR course to explore more creative scenarios, image editing, and videography. From our sponsors

How to pose for photos: find the most flattering angles for you and your subjects Jan 16th 2014, 00:01, by jmeyer Non-professional subjects won’t know how to pose for photos so you need to direct them to get the best portraits possible. In this tutorial and cheat sheet we’ll show you three flattering camera angles and three classic poses that work every time. Once you've got your studio lights set up and your camera settings ready you're all set to start shooting portraits at home. However, this can be the most challenging part of the process, not for technical reasons, but because this is when you suddenly realise you've got to pose your subject. For many photographers faced with a family member, friend, or other non-professional model, this is the moment when the idea of shooting rocks in the landscape suddenly seems much more appealing. We'll set you up with a few basic tips, but more often than not once you get started, your subject relaxes in front of the camera and the creative juices get flowing the shoot will start to evolve naturally. However, it's also a good idea to take a look at magazines, books, art galleries and so forth to get an idea of the kind of pose you're after. It's not just the position of the model that's important. You'll need to consider your own angle too, as camera height alone can have an enormous impact on your work. SEE MORE: 10 classic posing mistakes every photographer makes (and how to avoid them) Flattering camera angles for portrait photography Click on the infographic to see the larger version, or drag and drop to the desktop. 01 High Positioning your camera slightly higher than the subject's eyes can often produce a more flattering image. It generally creates a slimming effect. Notice how the neck recedes and the jaw looks more defined. But don't go over the top – go too high and your subject will look like they're in some strange yoga position. 02 Eye level With the right lighting eye level should be fine in most situations. Be aware that your camera height will affect how the portrait looks. Your camera’s LCD screen will be vital in helping you assess this. If you're shorter than your subject, consider using a box or step ladder to reach the right height. 03 Lying down Generally, the lower you go with your camera angle, the less flattering the photo. It certainly won't make large folk look any slimmer. It does, however, create a striking effect  and your subject will seem important. Corporate shots of business leaders are often shot from a low angle to create precisely this illusion. SEE MORE: 54 portrait ideas: free downloadable posing guide How to pose for photos: 3 classic poses These classic poses will get you great results from even the most awkward subjects 01 Female poses If your subject stands firmly on both feet facing the camera, it won't work well. Just asking them to shift their weight to their back foot will force a three-quarter look which is much more flattering. Introducing hands into the shot is a great way to enhance the composition. Be careful they don't dominate though – a hand is nearly the same size as a person's face and can cause a distraction. 02 Male poses Feet are just as important to think about when you're posing men, and straight-on shots still won't work terribly well. However, for a more dominant and masculine pose, get your male subject to put their body weight forward onto their front foot, so they're leaning forward for a 'man from GQ' effect. SEE MORE: Male poses – 17 tips to make him confident and comfortable for your camera Slip one hand into a trouser pocket and you'll complete the pose nicely – even if it is a little corny. 03 Couple poses Posing couples can be quite a challenge, and you'll have to vary your approach depending on the size and shape of your subjects. SEE MORE: 17 romantic couple poses that will make you say, ‘I do’ However, the basic principles that we've outlined above for posing men and women still apply. Facing straight on doesn't work well and a three-quarter twist helps. Experiment with eye contact too – getting your subjects to look at each can work really well. READ MORE 17 posing tips and in-camera slimming tricks for shooting curvy models 19 stellar posing tips and camera tricks for flattering pictures of older people 18 of the best ever posing tips for group photos 14 portrait photography tips you’ll never want to forget 6 simple lighting setups for shooting portraits at home: free photography cheat sheet Tokina AT-X 12-28mm f/4 Pro lens review Jan 15th 2014, 11:44, by jmeyer This new constant-aperture, ultra-wide lens for crop-sensor cameras goes large on zoom range and offers impressive image quality. Find out why in our Tokina AT-X 12-28mm f/4 Pro review. During the latest stage of its 60-year history, Tokina has been reinventing itself as something of a wide-angle specialist. The AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 Pro is a particularly well-respected lens that's just a bit short on zoom range. That's been addressed by the new 12-28mm f/4 lens. This focal length range for DX bodies is well suited to street photography. With an eye on quality, the design features an f/4 widest aperture throughout the zoom range, a nine-blade diaphragm, and new SD-M (Silent Drive-Module) autofocus. Autofocus is certainly very quiet and pretty speedy, although it lacks full-time manual override. Overall build quality is up to Tokina's usual robust standards, the 84x90mm lens weighing 530g, and there's a rubber ring on its metal mounting plate to guard against dust and moisture. Hoya and Kenko low-profile 77mm filters, both made by Tokina's parent company, are compatible with the lens. Image quality is impressive across the frame. Typical of ultra-wide lenses, sharpness drops at the extreme corners, especially if combining the shortest focal length with the widest aperture. Vignetting is also noticeable with this combination, but it's no worse than in competing lenses. Sharpness Sharpness is impressive throughout the zoom range at f/8, and it's also particularly good across most of the frame at f/4. Sharpness at f/8, 12mm: 2375 Sharpness at f/8, 20mm: 2551 Sharpness at f/8, 28mm: 2765 Fringing Chromatic aberrations are controlled well. There's negligible colour fringing at the short end of the zoom range. Fringing at f/8, 12mm: 0.35 Fringing at f/8, 20mm: 1.19 Fringing at f/8, 28mm: 0.75 Distortion Barrel distortion at the shortest focal length is only to be expected, but the Tokina does well to keep it to a minimum. Distortion at f/8, 12mm: -3.34 Distortion at f/8, 20mm: -0.38 Distortion at f/8, 28mm: -0.07 Image quality verdict High-quality glass pays dividends, ensuring that the Tokina delivers very good performance. Ghosting and flare are also well controlled. Price: from £540, $550 Final Score: 4/5 READ MORE 11 common lens errors (and how you can avoid them) How to avoid lens flare when shooting wide-angle scenes DO or Di? Your lens markings explained DSLR Lenses: 7 questions photographers must ask about their next piece of glass Best 50mm lens for your camera: 8 nifty fifty lenses tested and rated NAS – the answer to photo storage headaches (Promotional Feature) Jan 15th 2014, 10:00, by jmeyer Tired of losing precious images in a morass of memory cards, flash drives and computer storage? WD’s Red drives are coming to the rescue. It doesn’t matter how great your shot is, or how good your camera and lens, it literally comes to nothing without safe, reliable storage. How many times have you lost a fantastic image, or accidentally deleted one, simply because it was lurking on a computer hard drive or memory card, or marooned on a flash drive? Having a good storage strategy really is as important as having a good camera or lens, but it’s surprising how many people neglect this crucial area of photography workflow. As well as reliable storage, you need plenty of it too, particularly if you shoot in raw. Full-frame SLRs and high resolution compact system cameras are getting cheaper and cheaper, generating massive file sizes. So what to do? Forget upgrading your computer or getting even bigger camera memory cards, the answer is NAS – a Networked Storage Device. Put simply, a NAS is a stand-alone storage device consisting of one or more hard drives that is connected directly to your internet router, instead of your computer. Because your storage is connected to your router, you can always access your shots over the internet, even from another location – much like a personal cloud. You can also share your best shots within your home or office, with user accounts and user privileges. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a boffin or a networking nerd to set up NAS. There a number of NAS systems on the market that are aimed at first time buyers and easy to setup. WD’s Red drives are compatible with most NAS boxes such as Synology, Qnap, Thecus and others: Not only do WD Reds have massive capacity but also come with NASware 2.0 software, which improves drive reliability and protects your best shots in the event of a power loss or power disruption. Backing up your shots Storing your pictures safely is one thing, but you also need to be able to back them up. By using a NAS system equipped with WD Red, you can wirelessly back up all your PC and Mac computers on your network to one reliable location. Every time you save something, it’s instantly backed up over your network.     Click here for more information on WD’s range of Red drives for NAS

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions