Photography Zoom Effect: Racking the Lens Technique

By Affendy

A zoom effect in photography terms is where you capture an image which looks like the subject is moving either towards you or away from you with a motion kind of lines. It’s also known as racking the lens. What I’m writing today is where the effect is created or done while shooting the image through camera and not the post production techniques (in photoshop terms its call “radial blur”). During my assignments I would look for opportunities where I could apply this technique where possible just to provide more variety for my client.

3 basic steps to achieve the effect

1. Set your shutter speed to a longer exposure
2. Composed, focus and take a shot.
3. While taking the shot between when the shutter opens and actually closes, you need to zoom in or zoom out your lens.

As usual you need a lot of practice in order to be able to capture a nice zoom effect and that’s what fun about photography.

Tips to help you get better results

Choosing the shutter speed – Choose a shutter speed long enough to zoom your lens from one end to another. There is no one standard setting on your shutter speed in order to achieve the effects. There are few factors to consider. Always look on the situation at the point of your shooting.

1. Level of available lights.
2. Type of lens you are using.
3. Amount of movement of your camera or the subject

Again, always experiment with different shutter speeds and see the result. Different setting may result in different level of effect.

"Zoom Burst of Colemen Bridge" captured by Joey (Click Image to See More From Joey)

Aperture – While aperture setting is not the most critical to obtain a nice zoom effect but when using a slower shutter speeds you might have a problem in over exposed situation (depending on the overall lighting situation) as it lets more light into your camera. You can cope with the potential over exposed situation by selecting a larger aperture (large f numbers).

Zooming – To get a nice smooth motion lines in your image, you need to be able to zoom smoothly and constantly (nice smooth flow while zooming). Do not speed up at one point and later slow down at another point while zooming.

It does not matter if you either zoom in or zoom out to get the effect as zooming in on a subject will give you a different result than zooming out. Try both way and you will see the different effects.

Make use of lights – Lights can produce really spectacular effects.

On one occasion I captured a photo during a stage performance where the stage was well lighted with colourful lightings where else the foreground where the audiences are seated where dark. In this situation I fire my flash gun just enough to freeze the subjects on the foreground.

During the long exposure, I managed to freeze part of the image in this case the video crew and the audiences while getting movement behind it (in this case the stage performers) and around it.

Photo captured by Bob O'Lary (Click Image to See More From Bob O'Lary)

Hope this is a useful tip. Keep a look out for more photography tips and tutorial. Enjoy and have some fun with your camera. Remember to practice and keep practicing.

Source: PictureCorrect

Tips To Emphasize Your Subject In Photography

By Wayne Turner

When you watch a movie there is one element that never changes, a leading character. The whole movie centers around this leading player and the story is created around this subject. It is no different with a still image like a photograph. Each photo should have its lead character, called the subject, around which the image is created.

"Fort Perch Lighthouse Mono" captured by Mark Broughton (Click Image to See More From Mark Broughton)

By creating this center of interest you form a visual focal point that anchors the eye of the viewer and holds it there. Everything else is discovered by the eye in relation to this one focal point. How the eye moves into the rest of the image is determined by this point. So in order for you to create a successful image you need to emphasize the subject. This is done in one of several ways, so let’s take a look.

1. Get in closer

When you get in really close to the subject it starts to fill the whole frame and the eye can no longer miss the subject and the subject is emphasized. It powerfully directs your attention to the subject as there is nothing else in the image to compete with it. It is a simple but dramatic emphasis of a subject. Use your feet more often when shooting and you will see just how dynamic the resulting images are.

2. Get further away

This may not seem a great idea in order to emphasize your subject. Picture this. The subject is a light house and there is an azure blue sky reflected in an ocean topped by white foam. The bold red and white lighthouse on the horizon is in stark contrast to the blue of the sky and ocean. It may not fill the image but it still dominates the scene in relation to the rest of it. Placed in the correct position it becomes even more striking.

3. Selective focus

Using a small aperture to control the depth of field, or depth of focus, lifts the subject out of a background that is now blurred by the very shallow depth of field. With the background details now blurred the subject stands out against it in clear focus. This simplifies the images and cause all attention to be focused on the subject.

"Ladybug on a car roof" captured by jacques gautreau (Click Image to See More From jacques gautreau)

4. Subject placement

By placing your subject off center it creates a very pleasing image to the eye. Called the rule of thirds, discovered by the Greeks and used by artists for thousands of years it adds a dynamic element to your photo. Imagine a noughts and crosses or tic-tac-toe grid over the scene. Where the two horizontal lines intersect with the two vertical lines is where you place your subject thereby emphasizing it to great effect.

5. Simplify your backgrounds

By placing the subject on simple, plain single colour background there is no doubt as to which is the subject. Making sure that the colour of your subject and the background contrast with each causes the subject to be clearly emphasized. You may need to change your viewpoint or angle of view in order to exclude clutter and keep the background simple. Remember that less is more and the KISS principle applies here.

The key to a great a photographs is a clear subject. Knowing where to place it in a photograph as you learn digital photography, allows you to emphasize the subject to great effect with stunning photo results. Happy shooting!

"lone tree" captured by paul Robertson (Click Image to See More From paul Robertson)

Source: Picture Correct

10 Tips For Taking Great Cityscape Photos

By Rueben Hird

"Cat Street" captured by AlwynL (Click Image to See More From AlwynL)

Cities are not only home to many people’s homes, businesses and offices but they also full of energy, power and vitality. There are many things that make a city great and capturing the true essence of a city in one single photograph is a very hard thing to do.

The main thing that encapsulates and defines a city can actually differ depending on the time of the day and even the season. During the morning cities can look peaceful and calm, whilst during the evening or nighttime they can come alive with activity and purpose.

Most of the people that call the a particular city home don’t take the time to stop and marvel at the magnificent landmarks and sights that make their own home city such a wonderful place to be a part of. A really good city photograph not only shows off the majestic buildings in the heart of the city centre, but should also showcase some of the more enthralling aspects and delights that day to day city life has to offer.

1. Choose an Interesting Subject – Make sure you have an interesting subject for the photo, either in the middle section of the photo or in the foreground.

2. Have a Mix of Foreground & Background – Ensure that you have a good mix of interesting foreground and background areas in the entire photo.

3. Leave Room to Crop – When you are framing up the photo in the viewfinder make sure that there is some room around the edge of the photo to crop the final image.

4. Use a Level Tripod – Before taking the photo make sure that you use a level tripod so that the horizon is straight. Even though you can fix this up later in photoshop it is easier to do it right in the first place to save yourself the hassle.

5. Keep the Sun Behind You – Try and keep the sun behind you so that you get the most amount of light on your the city and the sky has a brilliant blue look to it.

6. Choose the Right Time of Day – Try to take photos as early or as late as possible in the day, as these times generally give the best light and produce more shadows and detail on your photos.

7. Use the Correct Exposure – When setting the exposure for a photo make your reading based on the brightest part of the photo so that there is no overexposure.

"paris" captured by abeer (Click Image to See More From abeer)

8. Use a Timer or Remote – Always use a timer or remote control to take the photo so that there is not any camera shake caused by you when you depress the photo button.

9. Use a Polarizing Filter – On your SLR camera use a polarizing filter to remove the light reflections that bounce of building windows and metal objects.

10. Buy in a Good Lens – In order to get the best from your SLR camera invest in a good quality lens. They may be expensive but it will be well worth the money.

By using all of the above tips you are sure to see a noticeable improvement in any photos that you take of city building or skylines. Not only will your city photos will clearer and more well defined, but they will also has a wide spectrum of color, which is the sign of a great photo.

"shtil" captured by Raluca Mateescu (Click Image to See More From Raluca Mateescu)

Source: Picture Connect

ISO Settings in Digital Photography …

By Darren Rowse

In traditional (film) photography ISO (or ASA) was the indication of how sensitive a film was to light. It was measured in numbers (you’ve probably seen them on films – 100, 200, 400, 800 etc). The lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the film and the finer the grain in the shots you’re taking.

In Digital Photography ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography – the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds (for example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light) – however the cost is noisier shots. I’ll illustrate this below with two elargements of shots that I just took – the one on the left is taken at 100 ISO and the one of the right at 3200 ISO (click to enlarge to see the full effect).

100 ISO is generally accepted as ‘normal’ and will give you lovely crisp shots (little noise/grain).

Most people tend to keep their digital cameras in ‘Auto Mode’ where the camera selects the appropriate ISO setting depending upon the conditions you’re shooting in (it will try to keep it as low as possible) but most cameras also give you the opportunity to select your own ISO also.

When you do override your camera and choose a specific ISO you’ll notice that it impacts the aperture and shutter speed needed for a well exposed shot. For example – if you bumped your ISO up from 100 to 400 you’ll notice that you can shoot at higher shutter speeds and/or smaller apertures.

When choosing the ISO setting I generally ask myself the following four questions:

1. Light – Is the subject well lit?
2. Grain – Do I want a grainy shot or one without noise?
3. Tripod – Am I using a tripod?
4. Moving Subject – Is my subject moving or stationary?

If there is plenty of light, I want little grain, I’m using a tripod and my subject is stationary I will generally use a pretty low ISO rating.

However if it’s dark, I purposely want grain, I don’t have a tripod and/or my subject is moving I might consider increasing the ISO as it will enable me to shoot with a faster shutter speed and still expose the shot well.

Of course the trade off of this increase in ISO will be noisier shots.

Situations where you might need to push ISO to higher settings include:

• Indoor Sports Events – where your subject is moving fast yet you may have limited light available.
• Concerts – also low in light and often ‘no-flash’ zones
• Art Galleries, Churches etc- many galleries have rules against using a flash and of course being indoors are not well lit.
• Birthday Parties – blowing out the candles in a dark room can give you a nice moody shot which would be ruined by a bright flash. Increasing the ISO can help capture the scene.

ISO is an important aspect of digital photography to have an understanding of if you want to gain more control of your digital camera. Experiment with different settings and how they impact your images today.

Source: Digital Photography School

The Shutter and Aperture, Let The Sun Shine In

By Suzanne Vandegrift

In order to get a picture that has the perfect brightness, not too light or too dark, the amount of light that gets into the camera has to be controlled. One thing that controls the light in the camera is the aperture. That’s what the light has to pass through before it reaches the film. The aperture opening settings are also called F-stops.

The camera’s aperture settings are actually the same principal as the function of the pupil in the human eye. When you go the the eye doctor and have your eyes dilated, the pupils are enlarged, which allows a lot more light to enter the eye. To protect your retina, you need to wear sunglasses when you go out into the sun, until the pupils have a chance to go back to their normal size. Your pupils will enlarge automatically when you go into a dimly lit area to allow you to see better.

The smaller the aperture becomes, the less light enters the camera; the larger the aperture gets, the more light enters the camera. F-stop settings can be a little confusing. The smaller the F-stops numbers, the larger the openings; the larger the openings, the more light. An example, more light would get through to the film or memory card on a setting of 2.8 than a setting of 5.6. Some people are good at memorizing this type of information. But, if you’re not one of them, consider keeping this kind of pertinent information tucked in your camera case for easy referral.

The shutter, when open, will allow the light to enter the camera. This is determined by the shutter speed. Shutter speed, as with aperture, has a standard series of settings called stops. Shutter stops are measured in seconds or fractions of seconds, which determine how long the shutter is open. Shutter speed is relative to the length of time the shutter remains open after you press the button to take your picture.

Shutter speeds are fraction denominators, such as 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, and 1/1000. The longer the shutter speed, the more light; the shorter the shutter speed, the less light. An average shutter speed that would produce a good photograph taken in sunny conditions is 1/125th of a second. Shutter speed impacts how action photographs will turn out, such as photographing an aerial performance of the popular Blue Angels.

In this day and age, we’re more sophisticated and our equipment is definitely a lot smaller and more manageable. They fit nicely in our quality camera bags along with our lenses, batteries, and accessories. But, the basic principles of aperture and shutter hasn’t changed since the early days of photography. The waterhouse stop was invented by a photographer by the name of John Waterhouse in 1858. The size of the hole acted just as the apertures of today and a lens cap was manually removed and then replaced for the exposure process, as our shutter does on today’s cameras.

Photographic artistry often times can be attained by manually focusing, rather than relying on the automatic settings with which our cameras come equipped. It gives you complete control over aperture and shutter settings. With manual focus, you have the advantage of speed. You don’t have to wait for the automatic focus before taking your next shot. This can be an important reason to go with manual exposure, perhaps at a fast-paced sports event. So, remember before you head out to that all important game and you’re loading your camera bag with your camera and accessories to check the settings on the camera and make sure they’re set to manual.

Source: Picture Correct

Photography Exposure Basics

By Richard Schneider


Exposure is the amount of light collected by the sensor in your camera during a single picture.  If the shot is exposed too long the photograph will be washed out.  If the shot is exposed too short the photograph will appear too dark.  Almost all cameras today have light meters which measure the light in the given shot and set an ideal exposure automatically.

Most people  depend on the light meter which is fine, but if  you know how to control your exposures you can get some creative and sometimes better pictures.  (The photo on the left is with low shutter speed and narrow aperture (high f/stop).

The two primary controls your camera uses for exposure are shutter speed (the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light) and aperture (the size of the lens opening that lets light into the camera).  Shutter speeds are measured in seconds and more commonly fractions of a second. (1/2000 of a second is very fast and 8′ seconds is extremely slow).  Apertures are measured in something called f/stops (a very wide aperture is f/2.8 and a very small aperture is f/19).


You might wonder why there is not just a constant shutter speed or a constant aperture so that you would only have to worry about one control.  The reason is that even though they both control the amount of light getting to the sensor they also control other aspects of the picture.  Shutter speed for example can be used to freeze subjects in midair with a fast speed or it can be used to blur water with a slow speed.

Aperture controls the depth-of-field which is what is in focus in the picture.  Aperture can be used to draw attention to one subject (like the flower on the right) by blurring the background with a wide aperture (low f/stop).  Aperture can also be used to focus everything in a picture with a narrow aperture (high f/stop).  (The photo on the left is with Wide aperture (low f/stop) and corresponding shutter speed).


Low shutter speed and slightly narrow aperture (pretty high f/stop)
On most digital SLR’s (Single Lens Reflex) cameras today you can even change the sensitivity of the sensor when collecting light which is called the ISO speed.  The common span of ISO speed is 100 to 800.  The higher the ISO speed the faster the camera collects light but it also adds more noise to the photograph than the lower speeds.

For example if your trying to take pictures in dim light without a tripod you might want to raise the ISO speed in order to get a picture that’s not blurry.  Most of the time you should keep it at a lower ISO speed if there is enough light, but it makes a big difference when there isn’t.

The best way to learn how to use shutter speed and aperture is to just keep experimenting with them.

Source: Picture Correct

5 Tips To Add Flavor To Your Landscape Photography

Landscapes can have a magical impact on people. Dependent on the location, a provided piece of landscapes may instill a feeling of serenity or natural turmoil; it might imply lush development or continuous erosion; green with life or dim, gray, and lifeless; a talented photographer could leverage these features to create pictures that are simultaneously captivating, poignant, and beautiful.

"Mountain hat" captured by Jim K. (Click Image to See More From Jim K.)

However, this seldom occurs by chance.

In this post, we’ll provide a short list of 5 tips that can bring essence to your panorama digital photography; several of the following suggestions may appear instinctive while some might be unexpected. In the long run, you’ll have the ability to utilize these tips to create landscape pictures that seize the curiosity of your audience.

#1 – Use A Tripod To Eliminate Camera Tremble

In order to catch a broad, deep portion of landscape, you’ll want to employ a smaller aperture to improve your depth of field. A littler aperture generally requires a longer shutter speed to make up for a reduction of lighting; a lengthier shutter speed can make camera tremble more probable, which leads to blurring. Utilize a tripod to eliminate the issue.

#2 – Properly Use The Foreground As An Intro To The Photo

Suppose your shot comprises of a field of gaily-hued blossoms in the front with snowfall-capped hills etched into the backdrop. One approach to “bring” your audience into your photo is to use the foreground as an intro

For example, bring your camera lower so the flowers are shot up close at eye level; the field will stretch into the distance towards the mountains in the background; this generates a graphic experience that makes it simpler for your audience to work together with your scenery.

"Sunset Tetons" captured by Katie (Click Image to See More From Katie)

#3 – Use Depth of Field

If you are an experienced shooter, you might need to play with a much more shallow depth of field to generate unique effects. That said, amateur photographers should select as deep a depth of field as possible when shooting panoramas; that permits objects at varying distances from your camera to enter into focus

As pointed out previously, think about utilizing a tripod since a smaller aperture normally needs a lengthier shutter speed.

#4 – Show Action

Panorama photography is typically thought of as capturing stillness. However, you can bring a unique result to your pictures by filming particular kinds of surroundings in a way that captures movement; for instance, water lapping a close by shore, trees swaying in a soft wind, a group of gulls slicing lazily through the air… these components animate your pictures; they attract the individual seeing the picture into the scenery’s action.

In order to accomplish this, you’ll have to lengthen your shutter speed and use a smaller aperture to compensate for the related increase in lighting. And of course, utilize a tripod to remove the problem of digital camera shake.

#5 – Integrate The Sky, Clouds, And Sun

The atmosphere may make your panorama pictures sparkle; in fact, if you allow additional components of your landscapes to command the top part of your photo, the end result may be less than fulfilling to your viewers. The key is to make sure there are contrasting features that draw the eye.

For instance, strips or teams of clouds may split an otherwise clear blue sky. The clouds add flavor

If you are capturing near dusk, a setting sun can splash atmosphere with colored light. Splotches of red and yellow thrown through a light cloud cover can generate startlingly beautiful photos.

"FoggyMorn" captured by Debra Vanderlaan (Click Image to See More From Debra Vanderlaan)

Photographing landscapes is an opportunity to present the environment in a manner that draws your audience into your arrangement. Many photographers – both beginners and pros – squander the occasion.

Employ the tips above to introduce elements into your photos that show nature at its most exciting and stunning.

Source: Picture Correct