How to photograph fireworks

Last year, I had gone home for Diwali and as some of you might know, Diwali is the Indian festival of lights. We were invited to a friend’s place for a fireworks display and I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to try out some fireworks photography as I was quite new to this beautiful art. Not surprisingly, I found it really difficult to find the right composition, ISO, aperture and I was basically overwhelmed as I was trying to learn from the photos I was shooting while trying to get out of the way of people lighting up fireworks. Here are some of my learnings:

1. Use a tripod - This is one of the most important accessories you would need as you want the camera to be as steady as possible as you shoot fireworks. You want the only movement in the photograph to come from the fireworks itself.

2. Remote Release – Again, you do not want any shake on the camera. If you have access to a remote release cable, bring it along.

3. ISO – I tried many settings but some of the best shots I got were using ISO 100 and 200.

4. Aperture – That evening, I learned that using fast shutter speeds while shooting fireworks might give you a crisp picture but most times, that is not what you are looking for you. Slower shutter speeds will allow you to track the movement of the fireworks in the photographs and give a great story to the photograph and fill it up with beautiful light.

I hope that these tips help you when you are trying to learn how you could shoot fireworks and I would advice you to shoot as much as possible because you can study from every shot, even if its not what you wanted. Are there any tips you could offer to our other readers?

Photo by: Jule_Berlin

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM is here

Canon has released another amazing lens that I cannot wait to get my hands on – the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM!

Check out their press release below:

“The high quality, medium telephoto macro lens, has been developed for photographers who demand the highest level of optical quality. The new Hybrid IS system features up to 4-stop correction, compensating for the effects of camera shake, during normal shooting. Low friction ceramic balls support the moving elements, which allows for the amazingly smooth movement – needed when compensating for camera shake during macro shooting.  Hybrid IS corrects shift movement – problematic when shooting up close -as well as angular movement providing photographers with the benefit of up to 2 stops at 1.0x magnification.

The EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM features ultra low dispersion (UD) lenses that correct colour aberration for high resolution, high contrast images while the addition of Super Spectra coatings effectively reduce ghosting and flare for superior quality images. A nine blade circular aperture makes subjects stand out amid beautiful background blur and a silent, high-speed ring type USM Autofocus motor quickly achieves focus. The lens also includes a three position focus limiter to tailor the focus system range to the desired subject.

As part of the L-series the lens features dust and water resistant seals. Sitting ahead of the EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro, within the range, the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM supports a full range of accessories including: Tripod Mount D, Macro Lite adaptor 67, Lens Hood ET-73 and EF12 II and EF25 II extension tubes. The tripod mount attaches to the lens without the need for an adaptor enabling quick portrait or landscape switching without having to reframe the camera. Speedlites MR-14EX and MT-24EX can be attached using the MacroLite adaptor”

Finding Inspiration – Look at other people’s photographs

Whenever I feel I have plateaued or out of ideas for photos, I always turn to Flickr or DeviantArt to help me get inspired about photography again and give me some new ideas to try out.

Looking at photos that others have taken will give you ideas on what the photography medium can achieve. To get the most out of this exercise, try to look at work of different kinds of photographers and from different fields. You never know what could set off that brilliant idea.

When do you find a photograph that inspires you, you should bookmark them. There are various ways to do that – you could mark them on flickr, use Posterous.com or use Delicious.com. Personally, I find Posterous works best for me as it lets me save the image on the Posterous page as well as I can comment on what I actually found interesting about the picture. You can check out my page here – Digital Photography Guide.

How do you get inspired for new photo ideas?

Photo Credit: Adriano Agulló

How to clean the sensor for your DSLR

I have been looking for some information on how I could clean the sensor for my DSLR and I came across this really good article on various ways that you could clean the sensor. Dirt can mess up the sensors and not cleaning it the right way could have a permanent damage to the sensors which means expensive repairs bills!

The following article explains various ways such as using the sensor swab, brush or a blower. You can read the article here.

Photo by: FreeParking

What is Infrared Photography

Infrared (IR) Photography is the process of shooting pictures in the infrared spectrum rather than the regular visible light we can see. This spectrum of light is said to be in between the light we can see and the microwaves used by radars and microwave ovens. Many people confuse Infrared Photography with Thermal imaging. Thermal imaging systems are capable of detecting different wave lengths of IR energy.

IR photography involves blocking out almost all the light that is visible to the human eye and only letting in infrared light. Most DSLRs have a hot mirror filter placed in front of the sensor to block infrared light in order to prevent IR from ruining normal photographs.

Here are a couple of great articles on how to check if your DSLR can take Infrared photos and what accessories you need to take some IR photos – Instructables and Fotolia.

Photo by Matt and Kim Rudge

What is Boudoir Photography

Boudoir is a lady’s private room and Boudoir photography is a style of photography that involves women in sexual or sensual poses. Boudoir photography should not be confused with erotic photography as it focuses more on the aesthetic qualities of the woman. Boudoir Photography plays on the idea of teasing the subject rather than what is shown.

People choose Boudoir photography for many reasons such as wedding gifts, anniversary gifts, modeling portfolio or just for other personal reasons.

Photo by Marboston