Extracts from Stock Photo News for better pictures

Take better travel pictures. Tip 4

LOOK FOR COLORS

Try always to look for one good color before you take
a picture: A blue door, a red bike, some yellow fruits
or some red flowers can each contribute to a more
interesting picture.

Contrary to the belief of many it is rarely the variety
of many colors which makes a good picture. One good color
which is repeated in the picture can often give a much more
stylish picture.

An alternative is two different colors which really match
each other to make an exceptional expression.

Modern film emulsions offer a wide variety of options related
to how you want the colors of your pictures to look and ?feel?.
The good old days? strive for colors as close to nature as
possible has been overrun by a strive for impressive colors.
These can be produced in different ways.

The easiest is to use films with highly saturated colors.
Films like Velvia from Fuji and Ectachrome VS from Kodak
deliver that kind of results. Personally I use Ectachrome VS
for my 35 mm. stock photography.

In general simply measuring the light is enough to have these
saturated colors delivered from the film. To expose the film a
little below the meter reading gives deeper colors, and to over
expose the film will wash out the colors. The Velvia film is
rated as 40 ASA by many pro photographers, and not the film?s
official rating of 50 ASA.

The best object for your shooting is usually without a mixture
of highlights and heavy shadows. The ?colors? white and black
are on the other hand even difficult to handle together in full
sunlight With digital cameras the type of film emulsion is out
of concern, and you can always enhance the colors by increasing
the hue in Photoshop, ImageReady or with a similar program.

Anyway the same principle with the colors is also relevant when
taking digital pictures.

Have continued good luck with your travel photography.

Soren Breiting

Take better travel pictures. Tip 5

MIX NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL LIGHT

'The blue hour' before it becomes dark gives the traveller
impressive possibilities, especially with buildings and in
cities. The warm natural light 'left' from the setting sun can
contribute with a beautiful blue/purple sky which match the
yellow (or greenish) light from artificial light sources in
windows and streets.

Skylines and other city shots become much more attractive when
the sky isn't turning out total black as what happens later in
the evening.

You need a firm support for your camera. A tripod is flexible,
but support from a wall or the like might fit the conditions,
too. If the scene isn't dynamic with moving people you can use
the build-in self timer in the camera to avoid camera shake.

Take a few alternative shots around what your light meter tells
you as the the correct exposure.

Be concerned about vertical and horizontal lines in the picture.
- And learn from experience.

Have continued good luck with your travel photography.

Soren Breiting

Take better travel pictures. Tip # 6

GET IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE

When you travel abroad ask people about the permission to take
photos of them.
Are you in a traditional market place buy some fruits or
whatever before you ask for the photo. In that way you are not
only more sure to get the permission, but often you get better
pictures because of the established relationship. If your
request is rejected be glad you didn't try to take the picture
without asking.

Be ready with your equipment before you ask for the permission
and take the first picture immediately.

Avoid offering the person a cigarette to pave the way even if
this is often a used practice by some photographers. At least I
find unethical, and the cigarettes are often visible on the
pictures.

Are you traveling in a group scan the members with a
photographer's eye to identify the most photogenic, and make use
of them in your planned pictures.

When you include family members and friends in your pictures
think of how they would like to see themselves in the final
pictures. Have continued good luck with your travel photography.

Soren Breiting

Take better Travel Pictures # 7

FILMS FOR TRAVELLING

If you are serious about your photography and take colour
slides, you will be most satisfied with films in the 100
ASA range. These films are also suitable for most
publications. If you take pictures for paper prints for
your personal use, a 200 ASA film of a recognised brand
will do. The speed of a 200 ASA film is quick enough to
enable you to take pictures in most light situations as
long as you also carry a flash. The relative high speed
will stretch the power supply of your flash and make it
more sufficient, too. At the same time a 200 ASA film is
acceptably fine grained for both small paper prints and
enlargement up to, say A4 format. The x-ray dose at the
airport shouldn't hurt this film speed, normally (but much
faster films will be in danger). Anyway try to have your
films hand checked if you are not sure about the
performance of the x-ray scanner in the airport.
In earlier days I always brought a variety of films with me on
travel, covering speeds from 25 ASA to 400 ASA, or even up
to 1600 ASA. But after some crucial mistakes in Australia
due to my frequent exchange of cameras and films, I have
settled with 100 ASA (for 35 mm and medium format films).
It makes my life on the go easier and if needed I can
always push for more speed in the development.
For general personal photography the brand of the film
is not so critical. It is much more important when traveling
in the 3rd world that your films are fresh and kept cool.
Remember that when you occasionally are out of film far
from home.
The take over of digital photography will soon make these
considerations old-fashioned.

Have continued good luck with your travel photography.

Soren Breiting
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DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS

In professional photography the move from traditional film
to digital capture is now going very fast. It's not the
aim of Stock Photo News to focus on new equipment, but
these months some breaking news should be known by all
creative professionals. 2002 will be the year when it is
within reach of all professionals to be equipped with a
digital camera capable of delivering digital pictures of
sufficient quality to match traditional photography.
The following cameras are in the pipeline from the main
camera producers:
Canon EOS D60, with 6 million pixels
Nikon D100, with 6 million pixels
Fuji S2 Pro, with 6 million pixels
Sigma SD9, with 3.5 million pixels of special quality*
*The Sigma model will be the first camera to use the
revolutionary Foveon sensor which I expect will be pointing
the direction of future development of digitalization of
pictures. Bill Gates is said to support this direction of
chip development.
These models will supplement the more expensive full
professional models (more expensive) already
introduced last year:
Canon EOS 1D, with 4 million pixels
Nikon D1X, with 6 million pixels
Nikon D1H, with 2,6 million pixels
An addition to this category is:
Contax N Digital, A full frame 6 million pixels camera.
All other digital lens reflex cameras mentioned above are only
able to capture a smaller area compared to the film area.
This change the function of the lenses, so a wide angel lens
will act with less effect and a tele lens will function as
a stronger tele lens. A bigger problem is that this will
quest a higher optical quality of the lens to mach
photography with film with the same camera system maing use
of the full frame.
Keep an eye on www.dpreview.com where
you will find the best reviews to keep you informed.

As you know, scanners for slides of all sizes are already
available of outstanding quality for reasonable prices for
all creative professionals.
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Soren Breiting