1. Use a tripod to keep the camera rigid.  Invest in a good steady but lightweight tripod such as carbon fiber one.  Manfrotto if you like clips or Gitzo if you prefer rotational twist on the legs. Next a great ball head. I prefer Really Right Stuff products for this or Arca Swiss monoball 2. Best to go into a good local camera store for help with deciding on what you need based on your camera and lens weight, as well as your height.  B&H in NY or Hunts in the Boston area.
2. Use a shutter release.  Pressing the shutter will cause vibrations than reduce the sharpness of your photo.  Use a remote – wired or remote – switch. Or use your camera’s self-timer with a short delay such as 2 seconds.
3. Mirror lock up to reduce the vibration from the movement of the camera’s mirror (if it has one) when the shutter releases. This presents more of a problem is the shutter speed is less than 1/30 second.
4. Most cameras have a sharpest aperture and it’s not at any extreme f/stop; that is when wide open due to aberration or stopped down due to diffraction. F/8 to f/11 is usually a safe bet.
5. For a moving subject, choose the shutter speed (in Manual or Shutter Priority) that is high enough to freeze the subject movement. This may require an increase in the ISO.

1. Remember, portraits are usually in the vertical orientation, so do not forget to rotate the camera out of the landscape or horizontal mode. Try both orientations since sometimes horizontal may work best! Break rules only after you understand them. Leave some negative space.

2. A great portrait does not always need the face - add mystery. Less may be more!

3. Props or the environment are often an important part of the portrait. This includes clothing. Be aware of everything!

4. Look for a plain or simple background. Avoid distracting the eye with a busy background or an over-bright sky. You may need to move your subject. Sometimes standing a bit further away and zooming in to throw the background out of focus will be needed for a background to be less distracting and make your subject stand out easily.

5. Be aware of various skin tones and preset your White Balance to a neutral target (custom white balance (WB) with a white or grey WB card or by shooting a color checker WB card to correct later.

1. Be at your subject’s eye level to create an intimate environment. The worse position is shooting down on the wildlife subject. You may need to lie on the ground. Moose Peterson uses a Frisbee disc to slide on beaches to get close to shore birds. 
   
2. Eye connection is important.  Eyes need to be sharp and clear, even if the rest of your subject or scene is not. A Fresnel accessory for your flash (Better Beamer) for fill light will help extend flash distance and allow you to get catch-light in the eyes even if the animal or bird is in the shade. This is the signature of a professional nature photographer.
   
3. Shoot with a wide open aperture – generally one to 1 ½ stop above the max aperture. Need to de-emphasize the cluttered or distracting background that does not add to the image.
4. Remember the basic rules of composition. Rule of Thirds, for example, recommends you place the animal at one of the crossbars, facing into the scene and not away.
5. Look at the light – the quantity, quality, direction and temperature and adjust the time, direction and place of your shoot. Move and adjust. Mid day with clear blue skies usually will not work, but a lightly overcast sky will add depth since the contrast range is within the range of most camera’s capabilities. Early or late in the day (the Golden Hours) will generally be best.If you are planning an African safari, I have a pdf guide to help you plan and then experience the best photography photo safari experience. Email me if interested - from the contact page http://www.judithmphotography.com/contact.html.

I always say you need to know the rules before you break them! But when you do, here are some exceptions:

1. Taking pictures in the Golden Hour around sunrise and sunset.  Requires more stamina and early to wake and late to dinner, but the light is gorgeous and an accepted rule for professional nature photographers.  Mid day is a challenge but the shadows create magical contrast and quiet more intimate scenes. There are lots of ways to counter the harsh light, but that is for another blog posting.  This is also a great time to shoot with an infrared converted camera. Always have your camera at hand, any time of day.2. Rule of Thirds.  This is a good start but not the only guideline for composition. It is essential however to not place the horizon line in mid image.  That is a snapshot, not a photograph. Avoid fly by shooting, where thought is not required. Slow down. Move and reposition. These Orca whales divide the scene but the dramatic back lighting and reflections overcome that restraint. These tomatoes are another example.

3. Trust your TTL (Through the Lens) camera metering. Metering is set to put mid gray in the middle of the tonal range. Therefore, if your image is mainly white, this will be metered as mid gray. Thus, the resultant image will be midtoned and the snow, grey and not white.  For a largely white scene such as a snow scape or fog scene, when shooting in aperture priority, add +1 or more exposure comp.

4. All photos should have a bell shaped histogram and thus average.  Wrong. Every image should have its own shaped histogram depending on the tones in the image. A purely black and white zebra, will only have tones at both ends of the scales.  An image with dark to mid tones, like this cabbage and pepper abstract, will have a left shifted curve. There is NO NORMAL.

5. Always shoot with the sun to your back.  Most of the above images prove that wrong and boring. Nothing is as magical as back light and as revealing of texture as side light. Move and explore the potential of light.

During the winter, when days are short and weather unpleasant, still life photography or painting is a great project. Key elements to consider are:

1. Tell a Story or Create a Mood or Feeling– What is the reason or objective for this still life? Why am I doing this?  Create a plot first. Warm or cool will help set the mood. Create tension or a relationship. Never forget - what is the center of interest? Is it evident? Do you want to emulate realism, abstraction, cubism, expressionism, impressionism?
2. Lighting - You will need to decide on whether you want to use window light, candle light, tungsten light or utilize strobe light such as studio strobes or flash. Diffuse this light with fabric, tracing paper, frosted shower curtain or with bigger lights -  soft boxes or translucent umbrellas. Light and shade are key. Keep light from one direction (like the sun).
3. Composition – This is not a landscape! Express your point of view. Horizontal is peaceful and suggests movement while diagonals suggest conflict. Differential in height is important and a triangular shape to the object in positioning with triangular movement is one way to go. Curved and circular motion is another possibility.  Remember to consider negative and positive space. Lost and found edges will help set a mood. Soft v. hard edges will help establish a relationship in that sharp edges bring out outlines and contrast while soft edges will help enhance these sharp edge effects. Texture is another element to consider – rough, smooth, even, uneven. Remember to simply!
4. Materials and their arrangement – From choosing the background such as a home setting, canvas or other cloth or paper material to the objects you will display and their relationships. Surface qualities such as polished wood or acrylic will enhance reflections, while old wood or tumbled marble will not. Shapes, size and placement such as facing or overlapping, will exhibit a dramatic effect. Odd or even number of objects? Color, dark or light, tall or short, with a pattern or plain, straight or curved, large or small among other qualities, will have great effect. Remember, you are in control and the artist.
5. Traditional v. Contemporary – Traditional still life is horizontal. In times past, homes had high and small windows and artists preferred the light falling from the left. Use only one light source to mimic this traditional look. White foam core can help fill in and soften the shadows. Alter the perspective. The impressionist artist often kept the tabletop skewed.

1. It is crucial if you are in cold temperatures to keep your digital camera cool. Do not attempt to make it warm through putting it beneath your coat or possibly in a heated place. Relocating the digital camera from the chilly to warmer heat range rapidly will result in condensation. Moisture build-up or condensation is a sure way to damage a digital camera.
2. Even though the digital camera must be used chilled, the batteries must not! Keep spare batteries warm in your chest inner pockets or trouser pockets. If rapidly moving your camera from warm to cold or the reverse, keep your camera in a camera bag or plastic bag until temperatures equalize.
3. Digital camera devices will regularly misinterpret the white balance in the snowfall. The camera meter will expose for mid grey. This could cause a greyish or blue look in the pictures. The perfect solution is always to overexpose the photo. If shooting in Aperture Priority, add +1 exposure comp and adjust as needed to maintain snow white as white.
4. Play with your macro lens and look for smaller scenes. Look at icicles, frozen wildflowers or grasses, ice formations or reflections.
5. Throughout the winter season the hard storms as well as cold temperatures usually lessen the air pollution with the atmosphere. Consequently, the skies tend to be crisper. This will make for excellent aerial as well as scenic images.

1. Use a tripod to slow you down and allow you to think – as well as to stabilize your camera. AND review your camera manual. Learn to use all your equipment in an educated way.

2. Learn to use your flash off camera and as fill light. Even in broad daylight, flash can improve your photography greatly. In mid-day sun, for shallow depth of field use your Auto Hi Speed FP flash settings (with minus 1 to 2 flash exposure comp) on you camera for Nikon or on the flash for Canon to allow bursts of flash despite the full sun without overexposing. If this seems daunting, sign up for my Creative Lighting course this February at North Shore Community College!  Info below.
3. Don’t be afraid of the rain or foul weather. Shooting right after the rain can add reflections in puddles and any wet surfaces that can enhance the image. Stormy clouds create extra interest.
4. Wake up earlier to get morning light – right before and for about an hour after sunrise.  And/or eat later and shoot the hour before and after sunset.  However, don’t just shoot the sunset, but the scene behind you that the magical sunset is lighting! 
5. Citiscapes with deep blue skies after the sunset (for about an hour) is a great time to shoot city lights at night.

NEWS ON COURSES I am teaching:   

1. Creative Lighting Photography  

with Judith Monteferrante - at North Shore Community College, Danvers, MA

Four Tuesday evenings in February, 2013 (Feb 5 through 26th) 

For complete information, click on the link in blue above, go to the blue "Search" column on the left, click on "Instructor" and choose Judith Monteferrante.  

Sign up now.

2. Boston Camera Club - Creative Available Light - any light that is available. March 19, 2013 at 6 pm.  Parish House of All Saints Parish Church, 1773 Beacon Street, Brookline, Massachusetts.  Join the Boston Camera Club for monthly educational sessions.

1. Take your photo in the best possible light. You may have heard that the best light for most photography is very early or very late in the day, when the sun is low, and the light is soft and colorful. This is a good rule to follow most of the time. Not only is the light more attractive, you can also avoid the contrast and heavy shadows of midday.

Some subjects actually work better on cloudy days. For animals and people, cloudy weather softens the light and overcomes the problem of your subject squinting into the light. In the forest, overcast skies prevent the heavy contrast that is a problem on sunny days.

2. Landscape photos: create a more interesting composition. Many photos can be made more interesting not by zooming right in on the subject, but by zooming out, or standing further back to capture more of the surroundings. The important thing is to use make sure you use the surroundings to add impact to the picture.

3. Sunset and Sunrise. Everyone loves taking sunset (and sunrise) photos. A brilliant sunset sky can make a great photo, but you can make it even better by looking for a good subject in the foreground. The key is to find something that stands out against the sky, with an outline people can recognize; a tree, a windmill, even a row of power poles. The subject does not have to dominate the photo; in fact it is probably best if it only takes up about ten percent of the composition so that the sky remains the starring attraction. But if you can create a striking silhouette, you will immediately add character to your sunset photograph.

4. Animals (And People). Portrait style photos are usually spoiled by a distracting background. When you take a photo of a friend, a pet, or an animal, you don’t want the surroundings to take attention away from the subject.

So here’s the trick. Don’t stand close to your subject and take the photo with a regular or wide-angle lens. Stand further back and zoom in with your largest lens magnification. This will have two results. First, it will reduce the area behind and around the subject that is visible in the photo. Second, it will minimize the depth of field, which means only your subject should be in focus. Anything in front or behind the subject will be out of focus, and will not cause a distraction.

5. Concentrate. Sometimes all it takes to make a photo a success is to move a little to the left or right, or zoom in or out just a little more. If you just point the camera in the general direction of the subject without thinking about what you are doing, your results will not improve. If you slow down and really examine what you can see in the viewfinder before you press the button, your success rate will improve. Simple things to look out for include; trees and power-poles appearing to grow out of the head of the subject (move yourself or the subject to a better position); litter on the ground (pick it up); aircraft or distracting clouds in the sky (wait for them to pass by); blurry branches on a windy day (wait for conditions to settle for a moment). All these things and more can ruin a photo, and they can all be remedied by taking a good look to make sure your picture has captured everything you want, and nothing you don’t want. Atmosphere and weather is so important!

Tips from Andrew Goodall. Thanks!  Photos are mine. We can all learn from others. Follow my tweets for lots of great learning links.https://twitter.com/drjmonte

1. Remember most people want to feel CALM, and strive at achieving it. Look for images that speak to you about calm and relaxation. 2. Simplify.  The new key to life! Or maybe always the key.3. Consider Color or B&W.  What works for each image? B&W often appears more dramatic and graphic. 4. Find a theme! Water, sky, street, nature, men in suits, nudity in nature. The choices are overwhelming. But choose one and stick with it. 

5. Shoot daily. Everyone is now a photographer and recent poll said 1 out of 125 adults say they are visual artists. Really???  Hard to believe. So what you do need to set yourself apart? Read, attend workshops, practice! Keep experimenting.

1. To create white lines on glassware that defines edges against black: Use 1. white panels on the sides that are lite either from behind with a large light source behind a white sheet or with a soft box OR 2. from the front with light focused on the white panels using a flag to block the light from hitting the front of the glassware.
2. Using a white background panel with dark on the edges will create black lines on the edges of glass.
3. Using Plexiglas panels as a surface - in clear, white, black or mirrored - can create reflections to enhance the image.
4. Learn to use window light creatively to enhance a mood.  In the early evening, sending a light from outside through a window (covered with sheet or frosted shower curtain – or rain) can change the mood of portrait.
5. Remember, light illuminates and shadows define. Using them effectively, will create the mood of the picture. And Light has direction. “American Gothic” by Grant Wood illustrates the use of light direction to sculpt the face adding character to the male figure while the broad lighting of the woman softens her features.More images on my newsletter and website  so sign up now at: http://www.judithmphotography.com

1. Photograph the Weather! Often best right before or just after the storm.

   Nor'easter Storm

2. Keep it simple but not too simple.  You do need a point of interest. Slow down, look and think. A tripod often helps - more then just providing a stable platform.   
3. Be creative with Pet photography.  It is always raining cats and dogs, so take advantage. Get Down to their eye level. Create action shots by hold treats such as peanut butter or store bought treats. Horses will perk up there ears if you crinkle paper. Experiment! 
4. Think! Plan and Create.  Forget drive by shooting.  

   Beacon Marine Gold

5. Explore the water and night sky. Summer is the perfect time to get out and expand your horizons. Get out of the box. Think and Dream. Thus, create. 

1. Learn good habits, such as knowing your equipment; being adaptable (experience will give you the confidence to be adaptable); and being able to collaborate and share with others (you may gain some new skills and contacts along the way).
2. Shoot what you love to make your work more personal and meaningful.
3. Try motion blur effects:  using a tripod, Manual or shutter priority, small apertures, low ISO and or neutral density filter (to avoid overexposure).  Then adjust based on  your results and histogram to get the effect you want.  You may be surprised!
4. Use a white bed sheet: As a reflector - on the ground to bounce some light up into faces above or on the side opposite the light source to fill in some shadows. Or as a diffuser (similar to a soft box) between the sun or any light source and your subject. A white pillow case can also be used if a smaller fill in area is needed. White foam core is another substitute white reflector. Covered with silver foil will even reflect more light. Black foam core will absorb light. 
5. Having the skill of observing along with having your camera ready is essential to taking good candid camera shots. Practice, practice, practice.