|
Photography Tips And Tricks |
CameraWhether you use a digital point and shoot or a camera that takes film. There are a few things you should know to help you get the best print.
 film camera
To capture your exterior landscaped log home in sunny conditions 200 speed film is very good, it offers excellent detail and color saturation. In darker conditions, use the all purpose film speed 400 it will give you some flexibility. For interior, 400 speed film will also work, but you will have to be mindful of the rooms lighting—AND use your flash. digital cameraMake sure your camera is set to jpeg format in the highest quality or size available. The higher setting allows for the best possible print quality. For print quality we want the pixel dimensions to be at least 1800x1200 at 72 dpi. You can always delete pixels later for web use, but adding pixels for print severely sacrifices quality. When transferring photos to a portable media such as burning them to disk, do not compress the files, this too will affect print quality in jpeg format
Lighting and Exposure
You need good lighting to get really clear shots, but sometimes there are extreme lights and darks in a shot. If your automatic camera’s shutter release button allows you to press part way down to focus and then press all the way to take the picture—then you can also somewhat control exposure! The following technique will help you avoid dark silhouetting and washed out shots. In predominantly bright shots meter/focus your shot by centering your crosshairs on a medium to dark area while pressing half way down. Before you fully press the button, reposition your shot to encompass the desired composition. Likewise if you have predominantly dark areas, you can meter/focus on lighter areas to help the camera make the proper adjustments. You can help this predicament by trying to take your shot during a time of day when the brightness and shadows are not too contrasted.
Steady is the WayThere are two reasons a lot of people take blurry pictures: they are not working with enough light; or they are not steady enough. Both are correctable! If you don’t have a tripod, the following tips are very useful. Be mindful of holding as still as you can while focusing and pressing the shutter release button. When making your shot, hold your elbows in close, your feet apart and seriously—hold your breath!
CompositionWhen composing the exterior shot of your log home, try to include two sides, the front should take up to 80–90% of the viewable home while the side should take up to 10–20%. If you have a nicely landscaped home, include as much of that as possible, in a few horizontal shots. But be sure to come in as close as possible while still encompassing the whole house. If possible a vertical shot would be appreciated. When possible please make sure there are not any distracting items in the shot, such as vehicles, trash cans or piles of junk. When those items do exist try to compose your shot to minimize their existence. In some cases we can perform Photoshop magic to remove them.
compositional tricks
 Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid, and the location of the intersected lines as being positions of interest. When composing your shot try to have the focal point positioned on a third. In the case of exterior log home shots, the skyline, roofline or the lawn/home border could be positioned on either the upper or lower third horizontal line.
Another interesting compositional trick that works well is to position an object diagonally from one of the four corners so that the eye will be drawn into the photo. Note the drive way and retaining wall in the example to the left. A line is created that brings the eye into the picture. |
