Composition is the KEY

A lot of us photography enthusiasts, especially those who are just starting have been asking on how to take good photograph or images. Every image you see is either classified as a snapshot or  a photograph. What is the main difference of those two? Well, snapshots are those quick capture simple images that doesn't get your attention. Photographs are those  images that can easily grab anyone’s attention without any personal or other history. In short, the image speak for themselves.

You will be thinking right away, what do those photograph have? Well, it contains the main secret ingredient called "composition".

In the next paragraph, I'm going to share to you some of those most common yet very effective composition rules.

Rule of Thirds

When you compose your shot, imagine the viewer divided like below. Think about what elements of  your subject do you want to emphasize then try to position them at or near those lines and intersections of the grid. It don't have to be perfectly lined up as long as they're close.



Balancing Elements

Framing your subject off-center can create a more interesting photo, but it can leave an empty space on your shot. Balance is also essential, therefore you can balance the "weight" of your subject by including something to fill the space.



Leading Lines

Lines are also one of the powerful elements in an image. They have the power to draw the eye to key focal points in a shot and to impact the ‘feel’ of an image greatly.

Diagonal, Horizontal, Vertical and Converging lines all impact images differently and should be spotted while framing a shot and then utilized to strengthen it.



Depth of Field

The depth of field can drastically draw impact  to the composition of an image. It isolates the subject from its background and foreground or it can put the same subject in context by revealing it’s surrounds with a larger depth of field.



Viewpoint

Instead of just shooting from eye level, try shooting from high above, down at ground level, from the side, from the back, from a long way away, from very close up, and so on. Viewpoint has a great impact on the composition of a photo.

Symmetry and Pattern

There are a lot of symmetry and patterns around us, both natural and man-made. Emphasizing these patterns can lead to striking shots .

 

I myself didn't see these things as rules, instead, I consider those when setting up a cool shot. It really takes time to master these guidelines, somehow, once you are very acquainted with it, you can easily produce great shots. Always remember that "Composition will always be the Key" to any  photograph.

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RAW vs. JPEG

RAW vs. JPEG? Which file format is advisable for photographers who are just starting and even those who are already professionals? Each has their own opinions on which of the two they preferred the most. Some prefers JPEG, and some loves RAW. Many have been asking which really dominates among this two so I decided to share some thoughts and experiences on this debate. Before I got my first DSLR, I have read several articles about this. By the way, to those who are new, I'm talking about which file format saving you use with your photos in your camera.

I took two images with a RAW+JPEG FINE mode; 1 overexposed and 1 underexposed. I created two presets for the underexposed and overexposed images to adjust it back to a usable image. I applied the same preset to the underexposed RAW and JPEG images and other preset to the overexposed RAW and JPEG images. See the difference when you apply the same preset to the RAW and JPEG files. Did you notice how the two differs? Observe carefully how the underexposed RAW turned into a nice image while there is a little distortion on the colors of the underexposed JPEG file. Also try to observe closely the overexposed photos with applied preset. Let us try to elaborate further these two shooting modes.

RAW

Shooting in Raw provides you with plenty of flexibility when deciding how the final image looks when you post process it on programs like Adobe Lightroom. RAW files hold all the RAW data captured by the camera, uninterrupted and unaltered. It can be thought of as digital negatives. Raw gives you maximum control in the digital darkroom.  It allows you to change white balance, exposure, saturation, sharpness, curves, etc with less quality loss than you’d experience with JPEG. Somehow shooting in RAW only allows you to shot less than shooting in JPEG. RAW files consume more memory on your card since it holds all the RAW data captured by the camera. Viewing a raw file is not a big problem at all, you can download softwares like PICASA Photo Viewer.

JPEG

JPEG file contains less data which depends on the specified size and compression/quality settings. JPEG compresses image data into a smaller file size. The advantage of JPEG is that it is easy to view and edit with any image editing program. You can maximize your memory card which allows you to shoot more since JPEG are stored in small file sizes.  However you have less control over the way the final image appears since it is a compressed file which loses some image data. Correcting mistakes of color and exposure will be a little harder compared with the RAW shoot.

If you're the sort of person who always dreamed of developing your own film, then RAW is the perfect choice. Shooting in RAW usually makes the most sense if your goal is to get the highest quality image possible. On the other hand, if you enjoy taking photos much more than manipulating them, JPG is a much better option.

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The Exposure Triangle

Exposure plays very important part in taking good pictures. This determines whether your shot was properly exposed, underexposed or even overexposed.There are three main elements that need to be considered when playing around with exposure; ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture. Aperture is ‘the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken. ISO is the the measure of a camera sensor’s sensitivity to light. Shutter speed is ‘the amount of time that the shutter is open’. These three elements forms the "Exposure Triangle".

To explain it simply, we'll take it like this.

Aperture is like a window. If it’s fully open, the  more light gets through and the room is brighter.

Shutter Speed is how long the window is open. The longer you leave them open the more that comes in.

ISO is the amount of noise you will see when you are inside the  room. The higher the ISO, the more noise you see in the room.

Aperture is measured in "f-stops",  for example f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6,f/8,f/22 etc. Moving from one f-stop to the next doubles or halves the amount of light that gets in. It also affects the Depth of Field (DOF). Depth of Field is the amount of your shot that will be in focus.

Higher f-stops(e.g  f/11 to f/22) means larger depth of field, while lower f-stops(e.g f/1.2,  f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.8) gives you shallow depth of field.

Shot @ F/1.8 (Blown out background)

Shot @ F/11 (Larger Depth of Field)

Shutter speed is measured in seconds(1", 10", 20" ,etc ) or in most cases fractions of seconds(1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8). To freeze movement in an image you should have to choose a faster shutter speed and to let the movement blur you should have to choose a slower shutter speed.

1/400 Shutter Speed (Freezes the image)

20''  Shutter Speed (Light Trails and image blur)

The ISO speed(100, 200, 400, 800, etc) determines how sensitive the camera is to incoming light. A lower ISO speed(100, 200, 400) is almost always desirable, since higher ISO speeds dramatically increase image noise.

Shoot @ ISO 1600 (Can you see the noise?)

Remember that thinking about either Apperture, ISO, Shutter Speed in isolation from the other two elements of the Exposure Triangle is not really a good idea. As you change any of these elements, you’ll need to change one or both of the other elements to compensate for it.

For example if you speed up your shutter speed one stop (for example from 1/125th to 1/250th) you’re effectively letting half as much light into your camera. To compensate for this you’ll probably need to increase your aperture one stop (for example from f16 to f11). The other alternative would be to choose a faster ISO rating (you might want to move from ISO 100 to ISO 400 for example).

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