Tag: exposure

How to use Auto Focus to make sharper images

 Gavin   Back to Basics, Techniques
Auto Focus gets it wrong

How to use Auto Focus to make sharper images…

Are you struggling to get sharp images with auto focus?

Do your images sometimes look soft or not quite in focus?

Does your camera sometimes focus on the wrong thing?

Auto focus is great but the way you use it makes a big, Big, BIG difference in the pictures you make.

In this article we’re going to look at how you can use your camera’s auto focus (AF) to make sharper images. We’re going to cover simple techniques to give you an immediate improvement in any situation; we’ll cover more advanced techniques for specific scenarios and we’ll look at how to configure the AF in your camera for best results.

AF points: one is enough!

As you look through the viewfinder of your camera, how many auto focus points does it have? All mine have 9 arranged as a diamond but yours may well have more. (Leave a comment and let me know together with which camera you have ;-))

When it comes to auto focus points, more is bad. Continue reading How to use Auto Focus to make sharper images »

At the end of the runway

 Gavin   Available Light, Event, Fashion, Low Light, Techniques, Tips

Runway Photography…The Best Seat in the House

Fashion Show, Runway & Catwalk Photography

As we’re only a few days away from one of the biggest events on the fashion calendar, London Fashion Week, I thought I’d share some of my experiences to give you a feel as to what it’s like to be stood at the end of the runway during London Fashion Week. It truly is the best seat in the house and an experience not to be missed.

Shooting a fashion show is both as exhilarating as it is challenging, and as rewarding as it is pressured. Fashion show photography is without a doubt one of the most technical and demanding types of shoot I do. Any fool can stand at the end of the runway and snap away. It’s not difficult. To do it properly though takes a lot of preparation and hard work. There is only one chance to get it right and if you’re shooting for the designer the pressure is immense. The designer needs to see *everything* front, back, sides, full length, 1/2 length, 1/4 length, detail, detail, detail. Continue reading At the end of the runway »

Back to Basics: Key Components of Exposure

 Gavin   Back to Basics, Techniques

Following on from last week’s article on exposure and likened it to fillling a bucket of water, this week I’d like to talk a little about the key components of exposure and more importantly how they combine together to let us fill our bucket and how we may balance one against the other. Continue reading Back to Basics: Key Components of Exposure »

Back to Basics: Exposure

 Gavin   Back to Basics, Techniques
Basics of Exposire
Examples of Exposure: Under, Over and Correst

Exposure is one of those fundamental concepts of photography that many people struggle with. Get it right and you have a beautifully lit image. Get it wrong and you end up with a ruined shot because it is either too bright, pure white in extreme cases or too dark, maybe even black. We’ve all had them.

The big question is what causes under or over exposure and how can it be avoided? Continue reading Back to Basics: Exposure »