Bernskiold Media » Photography

The Guide to Shooting Fireworks

Erik Bernskiold — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:22:56 +0000

Like I always do on New Years and for my american readers this time of the year, here is how to shoot these wonderful fireworks:

Fireworks is a lovely thing to photograph but it may seem hard at first. I’ve been doing it for the past three years now and really feel that I’m getting the grip around it! I hope it helps to clear up some stuff if you are unsure since I’ve gotten a lot of questions about it this year, and that you go out and try it tonight, it is really cool and fun.

How To?

First off, dial in Manual mode and set the aperture to f/11 or f/13 (run some tests to see which is better), then set the shutter speed to Bulb, usually indicated by a B. Now when the firework explode, press the shutter and then when the burst has exploded and is wearing off, you let go of it. This usually makes for a nice picture of a firework.

If you wish to capture many in one frame, just keep it pressed and make sure the frame is pitch black until the next firework goes up. Adjust the aperture as fits between the shots.

Equipment?

It’s best to have a camera that you have full manual mode on but special firework modes can work, although best result is given with a full manual mode. It’s really necessary to have a tripod because you’ll be working with second long exposures that you simply can’t hand-hold. Also learning from own mistakes, never extend the center column on the tripod, even if it feels like you need to, I did it last year only with a good sacrifice in quality in the images.

It helps if you have a remote control so you don’t need to look into the viewfinder all the time when shooting, plus, it’ll give you more stability.

Depending on your location to the fireworks, either a zoom lens (70-200) or a normal zoom (18-55) is the right lens. For organized displays, I’ve found that you might get closer than you think with a 18-55, which allows you to get close enough in the sky (if you are close) and also to get some foreground in there as well if you want to, without changing lenses, something that is a no-no! You just won’t have the time.

Position and Preparations

Get to the fireworks display in time and make sure that you know where they are going to be shooting from and set up in a good place where you can see the display and if you want also include some foreground such as the water or something alike. Also make sure you have clean memory cards that are formatted and that they work, also make sure to have your batteries charged and working!

I hope this little article can benefit you and it is really fun to photograph fireworks! Questions? Leave them in the comments!

Weekend Website Tip: Phaim

Erik Bernskiold — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 13:00:09 +0000

This weeks weekend website tip is a site by Larry Becker, most known for his position at NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) as Executive Director (and a great guy all around)! He started blogging earlier this year and as you would expect, he is a bit of a geek like the rest of us!

On his site, Phaim, he blogs about marketing, photography and yes, technology as well! Definitely check it out! It is well worth a read as it contains a lot of great information!

Getting A Passive Income Going Part 2: Stock Work

Erik Bernskiold — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:00:03 +0000

Last week we went through some different options if you want to start getting a passive income, as a designer by doing templates. This week, we are going to focus more specifically on stock work, for both photographers and designers. I am going to define the stock work today as the smaller bits that are used in larger projects, like photos, videos or buttons. You name it!

Photographer: Stock Photography

There is a big market in stock photography, especially microstock. Before you start shooting for stock photography websites, you will have to have understood and agreed upon the basic principle that the idea here is to sell in volume, not make a large sale to a magazine and earn a lot! There has been much debate over this recently but as long as you are in on the deal from the start, you know what to expect!

What to Shoot?

You want to try to shoot scenes, preferably of what the demand is. Browse through some different stock websites and have a look. What are there loads of different images for and what are there fewer? You will probably want to get shooting scenes that do not have as much of a variety already!

Camera? Settings? Resolution?

You ideally want to have as large files as possible. Many stock photo websites force a restriction, where they will not accept files under a certain pixel size. They usually also have a lot of guidelines as to which images they will accept in terms of noise and artifacts. Generally though, noise is bad as always!

Videographer: Stock Videography

There is also a lot of demand for stock videos out there although there isn’t as many, microstock websites for video. As I am not a videographer myself, I don’t have much experience with stock videography, but in the basics, the same as for stock photography do apply! It is the same principle! What is nice here though, is that intro effects and animations are great to sell! EVen if you don’t shoot with a video camera, but work inside of an application like After Effects, you can do video stock videography!

Designer: Stock Work

While the principle is the same, it differs just a bit for designers selling buttons, banners and graphical elements. Website elements are usually the things that sell the easiest and these need to be top-notch in terms of quality.

As a designer, you don’t really have that much to think about in terms of resolution. What you want to think about is colors and variations. If you are selling a button, make sure to include a lot of variations of the same button. If you do this, the chances of the button working with someone’s website is much larger which increases your chances to more sales!

Good Websites

Photography

Videography

Designers

4 Reasons To Share Your Work and a site tip!

Erik Bernskiold — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:00:45 +0000

I see a lot of photographers who get out and take photos. I see fewer who really go in to share their photography. Even fewer decide to go in and get critique. I realize that it can be hard sometimes to take critique on your work, even if it is the best way to improve, but the first bit, sharing your photos—there is no excuse not to do that.

1. You Gain Exposure

One of the reasons that you should be sharing your work is of course for the exposure you’ll be getting. Even if you are right now not trying to make money of your photos, it’s always nice to know that someone else sees them.

2. It Gives You a Purpose

You can justify going out on an extra shoot because you know you are going to be sharing them later on. You won’t just be storing them away on a harddrive with only yourself ever looking at them. Which brings me to the next reason.

3. Other People Can Enjoy

The same as: why not! Instead of your photos lying around on your harddrive, not doing much good, you can instead share them with the world so that everyone can get to view them, instead of just you.

4. You Get Better

By allowing other people to comment on your photos, you can improve. By also looking at other peoples photos, you can get inspiration and that way want to shoot the way others do. This might lead you to indirect improvements!

I really can’t say how much that has been the case for me. I started out years back and when I was sharing my first photos, I thought they were good. In an evolving process, I saw better photos. Photos that I wanted to be able to shoot. In turn, this has led me to become a lot better photographer and it still continues to drive me forward!

Site Tip: Photography Corner

Finally, I wanted to leave you with one of my favorite sites to share your photos on. I’ve been a member of the site for several years and it’s helped me tremendously in improving. The site has got a great and friendly community, who all love photography.

What are you waiting for? Get out there and share your photography!!

Canon announces G11, S90, superzooms and Elphs/Ixus’

Erik Bernskiold — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:16:41 +0000

Canon seems to be up to a lot today, releasing no less than six new cameras! Let’s take a look at what is new with them, starting with the perhaps most exciting Canon G11 (click the read more link to view the full article).

Canon G11

The major news about the Canon G11 is that they are finally taking a stance in the megapixel race. Hear this out! They have actually lowered the megapixel amount from 15 megapixels on the G10 down to now 10 megapixels on G11! Good job Canon!

Some other welcome news include an update to the screen, doubling the resolution to a whopping 461,000 dots! It is now also fully rotatable, 270-degrees on its own axis and 170-degrees horizontally!

Other features include a 5x Optical Zoom lens with a widest aperture of f/2.8. It’s also got a 1/1.7" CCD sensor with DIGIC 4 and has the ability to shoot both RAW and RAW + JPEG.

Canon S90

Canon has brought back a model series with the S90 that is to be a direct competitor to the popular Panasonic LX3. it features a 10 megapixel sensor (CCD) and a 28-105mm f/2-4.9 lens (you read correctly, f/2) complete with image stabilization. It’s got the full RAW capabilities and can with a new Low Light mode (promising better results) go rather nicely up to a great 12800 ISO.

Other specs include a pop-up flash, 3" LCD (with the same resolution as in the G11), 30fps VGA video (sadly no HD video here) and takes SD/SDHC cards!

The other ones…

These are by far the most interesting ones they did release. The other new are upgrades to the SX10 (making is SX20) and SX110 (into SX120). Also there are two new wide-angle "lensed" Elphs (IXUS here in Europe) that are also upgrades from previous versions!

Portrait Photography: Practical Tips

Will King — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:00:23 +0000

I am always happy to share my knowledge and experience, so when Erik asked me to share it with you all, I was very happy to do so! I’ve only been seriously shooting portraits for about a year now but I’ve learned a lot. Here are some tips I’ve found to be helpful.

Just like any other form of photography, it all starts with good light. (I learned that from my friend and mentor Mark Warren.) Light can take on many different characteristics that will have an impact on the subject. It’s up to the photographer to decide which characteristic(s) of light will be most suitable for the subject. The good news is that there are tools that allow photographers to control light in virtually every way. These tools are referred to as modifiers. With modifiers, photographers can change or adjust the light to make it harder, softer, larger, smaller, diffuse it, reflect it, change the color and just about anything else you can think of. Light is what defines shape, depth, and dimension. Light can also set a mood and evoke emotion. Achieving better images does not start with a better understanding of the camera but rather a better understanding of light.

The most critical area of a portrait has to be the eyes. The eyes can speak without words. The photographer has to be able to translate what the eyes are saying with the camera. The subject’s eyes should be the sharpest feature in the image therefore it’s critical to use one focus point on the camera and place that focus point on the eyes. If the head is tilted or rotated, make sure the eye that is closet to the camera is the sharpest.

If you want to capture something a little more dynamic that the typical portrait taken at the local mall studio, you have to be able to add a touch of life to the image. The best way to do this is to add movement. Add a hair fan or get your model to move as you’re shooting. Movement and motion will transform dull, lifeless images to images that are full of life.

Just like other forms of art, how you lead the viewer’s eye is critical. That’s why composition is a vital element to a good portrait. The rule of thirds usually works well with landscape photography but it also works very well with portraits as well. Place the eyes in the upper third level of the composition. This will place the emphasis on what’s important but it will also allow the viewer’s eyes to flow to other areas of the image. Also consider breaking up the monotony by adding a tilt.

Try capturing the subject’s personality or a taste of him/her. Get to know your subject and try to convey their true self in the portrait.

Will King is a photographer that loves photographing people, places, sports, dramatic displays of light, and just about anything else that he can capture creatively with his lens. You can visit his site for more great photography!

Before You Shoot Checklist

Erik Bernskiold — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:00:53 +0000

It’s happened to us all. We’ve been right in the moment, shooting away, or at location beginning to shoot and it dawns upon us: the batteries are not here. Or you are in middle of shooting and notice that the memory card wasn’t formatted. You might even be in middle of that important shoot and realize that the sensor has a lot of specs on it? Perhaps you’ve even left the lenses at home?

Just for that, I’ve created this “Before You Shoot Checklist” that aims to help you to remember to pack everything down before you go! Print, or fill out digitally on your computer!

Click To Download!

Faking Tilt-Shift Miniature Photography

Erik Bernskiold — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:54:32 +0000

In this tutorial we fake the miniature photography effect that can otherwise only be achieved with a tilt-and-shift lens (mind you, very expensive piece of glass) and create some miniature scenes.

Opening a Photo

First, open up a photo of choice that you would like to apply the effect to. I suggest a landscape image with objects, or generally any image with objects throughout the scene (needed to create a sense of scale).

Duplicating the Background Layer

Secondly, double-click on the background layer and click the OK button in the dialog that appears in order to unlock the background layer so that we can edit it. Then, use the keyboard shortcut Command + J (PC: Control + J) to make a new layer via copy so that we still have our original intact if we need to go back at any given time.

Going into Quick Mask Mode

What we want is to make a selection that we can then blur to create the effect. To create the selection, we are using the quick mask mode that can be gotten to by pressing the bottom icon in the layers panel, or pressing the letter Q.

Setting Up the Gradient

The effect is based on the illusion that appears when you have a smaller, in-focus area in contrast to a larger out-of-focus area. Firstly, select the Reflected Gradient in the gradient types in the toolbar and then make sure the reverse button is ticket (if you’ve got the same way white to black as I have in my preview).

Draw Out the Gradient

With the gradient properly set-up, just drag in the photo until you get a good line that you later want in focus. You don’t want to make this too big, but not too small either. Experiment to find the best looking effect.

Inverse Selection

Press Q to get out of the quick-mask mode and you shall notice that we have a selection in the areas that were white in the quick-mask mode. In order to make the selection be the other way around, to go Select > Invese or use the shortcut, Shift + Command + I (PC: Shift + Ctrl + I).

Applying the Blur

As the final effect addition, go to Filter > Blur > Lens Blur to add the lens blur filter to just the area contained in the selection we just made.

Preview and Experiment

Use the large preview window that you get to tweak and play around with the settings until you reach the effect you are looking for and looks realistic. After you are happy, click the OK button.

Final Effect

This is the finished effect and we’ve finished turning a regular photo into a miniature scene.

4 Big Tips for Stunning Sunset/Sunrises

Erik Bernskiold — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:00:41 +0000

A couple of weeks ago we took a look at how to pleasantly photograph flowers and now I was thinking to follow this up with how to capture stunning sunset/sunrise photos. My goal is that you should be able to take these tips with you in mind out the next time you are shooting and think about a couple of them, try them and see your photography potentially get better!

Get Down Low!

A vital thing for any landscape in general is to photograph them in an angle that you typically don’t look at them. Normally when we as humans look at a sunset in this case, we either are standing up in full height, or sitting down on the ground or on a bench. To get nicer photos, get down even lower, perhaps so low so that you might need to lie flat down on the ground in order to be able to see through the viewfinder (of if you have LiveView this will help a lot). My recommendation is to shoot it from as low as possible in order to create more depth in the scene as opposed to getting up high!

The Sun Is Not Important!

This may sound a little odd at first, but the sun is really not the important element in a sunset or sunrise scene! Think about it, when you sit around and watch a sunset without a camera, what are you looking at? Definitely not the sun! Rather, you look at the colors. All the beautiful colors that the setting sun creates in the clouds and the beautiful light is lets on the landscape around.

What you want to do in most cases (good exceptions may very well apply), is to make sure the sun is either shaded by a cloud or even below the horizon. The most beautiful colors that you can get in a photo is when the sun has just set below the horizon line, or just before it comes up!

The Foreground Is Important!

Sunsets and sunrises are quite hard scenes to shoot in that they need to be great all over. While a colorful sky may be nice to look at normally, just a colorful sky will just not do it when it comes to a photo. You need to have both that colorful sky, that interesting foreground and maintain a good exposure throughout. Look for rocks, a pier, something extending into the water if you are near water, grass that catches the beautiful light being cast or any object that makes it interesting. A tip with the water: Bring a dark neutral density filter with you that can bring down the exposure to speeds of about 5+ seconds. This will allow you to have the water blurred and onto the so-called “silky effect”. It adds a lot of impact in the water and makes it seem full of movement!

Don’t Let Rain Deter You!

The best shots that can be had is after a storm clears. Storm- and rain clouds are usually really dark and dense which catches up the color of the sunset beautifully and enhances it.

You’d be surprised at how fast these clouds can break up. I was sitting at home (I’m about ten minutes away from the ocean by car) while it was raining hard outside thinking that the sunset shoot was going to waste, until I began seeing some really beautiful colors appearing in the clouds. Still raining hard, I quickly hurried to one of my favorite spots nearby, set up and man! The rain stopped pretty much when I got there and the clouds started to clear up a bit and I had a scene that just kept getting different and different every second and I got a lot of great photos that evening (photo on the right from that evening)!

So, moral of the story is to get out even if it looks like the rain isn’t going to stop. Even if it doesn’t, bring some rain-cover and shoot form underneath. You can still get the incredible color and amazing photos!

Finally, get out there this weekend and shoot! I’ll definitely do that myself and if the weather is on my side (not the best, not the worst), I’ll hopefully have some sunset photos to share with you!

Happy Shooting!

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Erik Bernskiold — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:00:00 +0000

This week, it is a mix between both video and photography. With the current season going on, I’m trying to focus a bit more on photography as of now but definitely will not forget the video and audio side. What I want to talk about this week is getting out of your comfort zone. Leaving what you usually photography/film and doing something else for a while!

What Intrigues You?

First, sit down and figure out what really intrigues you! I’m sure that there are some special photographic areas that you really find impressive and that you’ve always wanted to try! Make a list, and eventually start by selecting just one area that you’ll end up focusing on for a while!

This doesn’t necessarily need to be in the same field. Say you are a photographer and have always wanted to try out shooting some video. Do it! It isn’t what you are best it, but only by exposing yourself to it you can become better!

Go For It!

Once you’ve decided what it is you want to do, go for it! Don’t just see it as a small side project to see what it is like for just one time. If you for example want to try and shoot more portraits, do it! The only way that you are going to get better in the area that you want is if you expose yourself to it and make sure to get critiques and comments on your results. Look back at how you started in the field that is now your comfort zone! Go back and do the same process over for this new field!

Most of all: Enjoy it!

This is meant to bring a little variation into your photography/videography and to help you become a better photographer/videographer. By trying out some areas that you’ve done very little, and by actively working on improving the skills, you can become a better artist. You will however not come any way at all if you don’t really want to do it and want to become better. Thus, when finding out what intrigues you, make sure you end up picking a final area that you like. Now, in most cases, you will want to do something that intrigues you!