Podcast #76 – Conversation with David Ziser – Choosing the right aperture
February 26, 2010 – 8:42 am | One Comment

This week I sat down with David Ziser to discuss a handful of topics including how to choose the right aperture for a particular shot, determining the depth of field for a particular shot, when …

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Articles in Shooting Tips

Looking at things from a different angle
August 1, 2007 – 10:00 am | 4 Comments
Looking at things from a different angle

Some of the more interesting photographs are often of ordinary things viewed from a different perspective. A blade of grass from ground level looking up, a bride and groom looked down on from a balcony, etc. What makes these different is that the person viewing the photograph is able to see things from a perspective that is not normal.

Capturing Moving Objects
July 21, 2007 – 9:33 pm | 4 Comments
Capturing Moving Objects

Taking pictures of moving vehicles can be challenging and quite frustrating to get good results. While getting your panning technique down is the major part of it, there is often much more to it than simply pressing the shutter at the right time. Today we head over to a local car show to snag some action shots and give you some pointers on how to get the best results possible.

Interview with Wedding Photographer David Esquire
July 11, 2007 – 6:00 pm | 2 Comments
Interview with Wedding Photographer David Esquire

We recently got the time to sit down with our good friend David Esquire of Esquire Photography in Huntington Beach California. David has been in the photography business for over 20 years shooting events such as the X-Games and doing shoots for companies such as Slim Jim, Sports Illustrated, and The Warped Tour.

You’re Rights as a Photographer
June 21, 2007 – 12:00 pm | 6 Comments
You’re Rights as a Photographer

There is a huge amount of misinformation on what you can and cannot take photos of and you need to be aware of what your rights are should you ever be in a situation where somebody is questioning your right to take a photograph of something or someone. We have been in this situation several times in the past and even have had people threaten to sue us over the use of certain images, knowing your rights is the best defense when this happens.

HDR images with Photomatix Pro
June 15, 2007 – 4:00 am | 2 Comments
HDR images with Photomatix Pro

More and more people are trying their hand at HDR photography. Today we are going to do a complete walk through of how this amazing technique works. If you aren’t familiar with HDR, it stands for High Dynamic Range meaning you can get an image with a wider tonal range which can add detail to shadowed areas while maintaining detail in very bright areas.

Using Common Filters
June 9, 2007 – 12:24 pm | 2 Comments
Using Common Filters

While there are dozens of different types of filters you can put on your lenses for different effects, there are three very common filters that everyone should have in their camera kit, the circular polarizing filter, the neutral density filter, and the UV filter. In this article we will discuss what these three filters are and the effects that it can add to your images.

Anatomy of a product shoot #2
June 5, 2007 – 3:00 am | 2 Comments
Anatomy of a product shoot #2

We had to do another photo shoot today and we really pulled out all the stops with the new gear we have around. As you can see, this is a very typical product shot on a white background for use on a web page or in a magazine. In the past, we have shown some techniques with hot lights, so today we are going to use some flash units.

Introduction to White Balance
May 29, 2007 – 10:09 am | 5 Comments
Introduction to White Balance

White balance is one of the more confusing aspects of digital photography and is one of the things that really baffles people when they go from simpler point and shoots to more advanced DSLR cameras and can’t figure out why the color of their images is so bad. Today we take a look at white balance and how it affects the color of your photos.

Anatomy of a product shoot
May 24, 2007 – 1:00 am | 3 Comments
Anatomy of a product shoot

We always take our own product shots, while manufacturer shots are usually very nice, they often can be retouched to make products look better than they really are. With the product shots for our articles, the only retouching may be to remove some stray dust.

Photographer’s checklists
May 20, 2007 – 9:56 am | 9 Comments

Photographers are human and are therefor prone to making mistakes, however, some mistakes as a photographer can cost you dearly. Fortunately for me, my mistakes have never happened on a paid gig. I have however gone out to shoot nature and landscape shots and realized I didn’t have any compact flash cards once, and didn’t have my tripod another time.