A Guest Post by Chris Folsom.

Lineup of Lenses – by canonsnapper

It’s a question I hear a lot from new photographers: “what lenses should I buy?”

And while there are a lot of different types of lenses appropriate for many different situations and needs, time and time again I find myself primarily relying on three lenses in my bag: a fast general purpose zoom (18-50mm), a macro lens and a telephoto zoom (70-200mm). These three lenses will give you enough versatility to shoot in almost any conditions. Also, these three lenses are available for just about every camera system and lens mount on the market.

The general purpose zoom

This is the lens that sits on my camera the most. For APS-C cameras, something in the 18-50mm range is best… for 35mm format cameras, a 24-70mm will work. This will give you the ability to go fairly wide while also being able to zoom into objects off in the distance. This lens might be your kit lens, but it should preferably be fairly fast (a fixed f/2.8 if possible) to give you greater control over depth of field. It makes a great “walkabout” lens when you aren’t sure what you will be shooting.

The macro lens

The length of this lens isn’t as important as its ability to create a 1:1 magnification of subjects. I currently keep a 50mm f/2.8 macro in my bag because it is small and light… easy to carry around for when I might need it. It makes a decent portrait lens (very sharp and the f/2.8 provides a fairly shallow area of focus) and the level of detail you can get when shooting objects up close is fantastic. Having a macro lens opens up a whole new world of tiny objects to photograph. Also, if you do any type of product photography (jewelry, food, etc.) this lens will allow you to capture a much greater level of detail than is possible with non-macro lenses.

Fortune by Chris Folsom http://www.flickr.com/photos/zero101/3335373821/

The telephoto zoom

The telephoto zoom should be in the general range of 70-200mm with a maximum aperture of at least f/4 (faster is nice though). This will give you a lot of distance to work with and a very shallow depth of field to bring focus to your subjects. For faster moving objects, the bigger aperture will allow you to shoot at faster shutter speeds which will help capture moving objects (birds, sports) too. This is also an excellent portrait lens as the focal length minimizes distortion and narrows the angle of view to fill the frame with your subject.

Wait… what about?

I am sure many of you reading this have other lenses you would consider essential. A fast 50, or a wide angle or a longer zoom… and all of those are great lenses to own also. However, for someone who is new to photography or who has just bought their first DSLR, these three lenses will give them the versatility to shoot in almost any situation. Family gatherings, sports events, birds, insects, flowers, landscapes, portraits, etc. Once you narrow in on a particular type of photography that most interests you, other lenses may be more useful for that specific subject, but until then these are the lenses all photographers should be carrying with them.

What lenses would you include in your ‘every photography should own’ basket?

Recently, I posted that my biggest frustration is improper focus.

If you use a point-and-shoot, the solution it pretty simple. You hold down the shutter button halfway until focus is achieved and then push it the rest of the way down. The only reason you’d be likely to end up with poor focus is, as I said before, you’re shooting in an improper mode. For example, you’re shooting a landscape in macro mode.

For us DSLR users, focus becomes another monster all together.

{Factor 1 – Selecting Focus Mode}

The first thing to consider is the mode you’ve set for your camera. In the menu, there will be an area for ‘AF Modes’. The three you may see are:

1.} One-Shot – Suitable for still subjects. Press the shutter halfway and the camera will focus only once. If the subject moves or you want to recompose the shot, you must release the shutter and press it halfway again to refocus.

2.} AI Servo – Also known as ‘continuous focus’ on a Nikon, AI Servo is used to keep a continuous focus on moving subjects until the shutter is pressed all the way. The ‘AI’ stands for ‘artificial intelligence’ and the camera uses these algorithms to predict where a subject is about to be. This is the setting to be used in sports photography and I use it with children on the go. Wikipedia’s entry on AI Servo says it so well: “Before servo focus the photographer would generally pre-focus on an area where he/she thought the best action would take place; today he/she can follow the entire sequence of events, and select the best later.” In AI Servo mode, the camera won’t beep once focus is achieved. It just keeps focusing until you decide to take the picture.

3.} Al Focus – AI Focus mode starts with normal one-shot focussing (hold the shutter down half way and it will beep when focused) but if the subject starts moving, it will switch to AI Servo mode. Certainly, this is clever of the camera, but Nikon doesn’t even have this option. Why? Your subject is either a living, breathing, moving being or it isn’t. I’m either in One-Shot or AI Servo. AI Focus just seems kind of dumb to this Canon user

{Factor 2 – Selecting the AF Area}

In my camera (A Canon 7D) there are three AF Areas and it should be pretty much the same in most cameras.

1.} Single Point AF – this selects one spot to be used for focus. In the viewfinder, you’ll see the little square and you press the shutter halfway and the camera will beep to let you know that focus has been achieved. This mode is useful if you often follow the rule of thirds because you can focus on your subject, slowly re-compose the shot and take the photo. Your subject will be in focus.

2.} Zone AF – Focus points are organized into five different groupings, and the camera uses one of the points in the group to autofocus. Can be used in the thirds composition as above but offers a bigger area for focus, useful for tighter shots and portraits.

3.} Auto Select 19-point AF – All 19 available autofocus points are used. If multiple areas are in focus, all of these points will light up in the viewfinder. This is the mode used in full auto and creative auto modes. Pressing the shutter halfway will display the AF point(s) which have achieved focus. If multiple points are displayed, it means they all have achieved focus. This mode tends to focus the nearest subject. Great for moving subjects.

This 160 page long photography ebook was compiled by Chris Weeks, a professional photographer living and working in Los Angeles, father to the most beautiful and fascinating daughter in the world.

It’s not meant to take a beginner from just getting a camera in their hands and going out to make surreptitious street photographs. Certain people expect certain things from me. When I first conceived this and started writing then asked others for collaboration it was meant for a certain audience. Not the big-picture audience. Just those who love making street photographs and looking at material by other street photographers.

How to take advantage of what is right above you.

The sky is the single most abstract and dynamic canvas that a photographer has at his disposal. It is an endless source of inspiration that can change a boring photo into one of tremendous interest.

Sweet Home Under White Clouds – by tipiro

The sky is a key element in almost all landscape photos and if you can’t get it just right the entire photo will suffer. The problem is that it is often very difficult to properly expose the sky and the ground at the same time.

By turning to tools such as graduated neutral density filters or bracketing photographers have been able to perfectly expose photos right on the camera, however, this isn’t always possible given circumstance.

furthermore, the sky itself doesn’t always behave. Sometimes you show up for that shoot and the sky is boring and uninteresting. Other times the sky simply does not convey the right mood. Sometimes an image needs a new sky.

Shoot the sky when it is interesting

Carry your camera everywhere with you and always make a point to look up to the sky as you go about your daily routine. If the clouds are doing something interesting. Take a picture of them.

Begin to create a collection of cloud photos that you save for later use. The clouds don’t have to always be wickedly cool or on a vibrant sky but it is important to build a diverse collection.

These photos, while often are interesting enough to become stand alone images they truly shine when used to augment something else.

Tricks to shooting great clouds

• Make sure that you shoot more of the sky than you need. It is easy to crop in later if necessary.
• Slightly underexpose the image. The sky is notoriously bright during the day. Overexposed clouds tend to look goofy. You can always fix up the exposure later in post processing.
• Get creative, clouds are very abstract try interesting things with them. Long exposure times. Wild Filters. Go Nuts!
• Watch out for things in the sky. While they can always be removed later it is annoying when a bird or plane is in the middle of your frame.

How to make certain skies more interesting

Even though the sky is almost always interesting to a degree, sometimes you want to make it that much more compelling. This can easily be done in Photoshop.

Cheery

Everyone likes bouncy soft clouds. They can make a scene feel more fun and energetic. Cheery clouds are characterized by smooth white tones in the clouds set upon a vivid blue backdrop.

Energetic

Clouds can also look very interesting when given tension.

This can easily be achieved by framing the clouds at a unique and compelling angle.

Antique

They have nearly become a cliche but they are also very effective.

Antique clouds can perfectly help frame all sorts of interesting photos. Antique clouds tend to be moody and work best in a more overcast sky.

Muted

You could also consider them boring clouds. However they are also very useful when you simply want to add texture.

Muted clouds are characterized by less bold lines and lower contrast.

Ominous

You can also add powerful emotion to a piece with more rugged and defined clouds.

These clouds tend to feel foreboding and can really add tension to a composition. Ominous clouds looks best when the clouds themselves have high contrast and often are very dark. Such as before a storm
.

From Above

Did I mentioned that you should take your camera everywhere?

This includes on an airplane. Clouds look really cool from above.

Getting Creative

Once in Photoshop you can either let your clouds remain realistic or you can easily change them dramatically to add another dimension to their abstraction.

This will usually depend on the style of image you are aiming for in the final piece but given how abstract clouds are it is very easy to vastly change them without ruining their effect.

Don’t be afraid to really experiment, the worst possible outcome would be starting over but the rewards can be infinite.

Things you can do to clouds to make them more abstract

• Add extreme color of any type. We are used to seeing clouds with sky blue as a back drop. They also look good with most other colors of the spectrum.
• Give them movement. Add motion or radial blurs to simulate movement.
• Warp them. Given that clouds have no predefined shape you can use tools such as liquefy to mold them to your desired shape.
• Add things to them. Birds, rainbows, and lightning can all add an interesting twist.

You have shot your clouds… Now what?

Take advantage of them. As mentioned above you can’t always count on the sky to deliver it’s best performance when you are taking your pictures.

Next time you have a photo that you think could have been amazing but just isn’t quite right consider how it would look with a new sky.

Look through your collection of clouds and find the perfect sky to match your photo. Just make sure the sky you have chosen fits with the image you are giving it to.

Things to watch out for when adding a new sky

Make sure to cut out the original photo well. A halo of the old sky can look really weird.

Instead of completely replacing the old sky, consider blending it with the new sky to make things look more natural.

Make sure the lighting matches. It would look really weird if you add a sky behind a mountain with the sun in it but the shadows on the mountain imply the sun is behind the photographer.

Match the tones so that the entire image has similar saturation, brightness, and contrast. It needs to look natural.

Other cool tricks

• You can vastly increase the size of the sky. For example, in the image above the original sky looked fairly good but it was cut off by the end of the frame. By adding a new sky I was able to use one that was much taller and thus make the picture more interesting with a taller aspect ratio.
• You don’t always have to replace a sky. Perhaps you photo doesn’t have any sky in it. But it does have some water or other reflective surfaces. Create an interesting reflection.
• Layer skies. If done well, and carefully, you can layer several skies together by blending them and create a compelling effect.
• Transform them. Flip and rotate them. A sky doesn’t always look it’s best right off the camera. Find the angle that best benefits the final image.

Conclusion

Clouds are a great and fun canvas to work with. They inspire creativity and help expand your ability as a photographer. The greatest strength of the sky is it is endless in it’s abstraction and thus is only limited by your imagination.