Beginning Photography Tips

The purpose of this article is to discuss a variety of filters that can be very helpful in getting great shots! There are a lot of filters out there, but I am just going to focus on the basic filters that I recommend everyone to use.The first filter you have to buy is the skylight(or UV) filter. It serves a couple of purposes. One, it protects your lens from scratches and anything that might hit it. It is better to replace a filter for a few dollars then replace a whole lens, which can be expensive! Secondly, it will absorb ultra-violet rays and blue rays, thus your picture won’t be looking to ‘bluish’, especially with your outdoor pictures taken in the shade. This is the filter you keep on your lens at all times. I only take it off when I want to use another filter.

The second filter that you should get is the circular polarizer. This is a fun filter to have as it has a variety of uses. 1) It will darken the sky into a more rich blue and increase the color saturation of the scenery. 2) You can control how much reflection is coming off a window or a body of water and 3) you create a nice contrast in your b&w images. You control how much an effect the filter has by rotating the filter to the desired effect.

The two filters I just mentioned are the two most important to have if you only want a few filters or are on a budget. The rest of the filters(below) are for the artistry and fun of photography, and can be invaluable to the artistic photographs, but not a matter of life and death to have.

Medium Yellow (Y 2) This will absorb ultra-violet and blue rays and will give you a nice strong contrast in b&w photos. This is highly recommended for scenery photos where there is a lot of distance in the background.

Medium Orange ( YA 2) This will absorb the violet, blue and green rays and will give you a stronger contrast in your b&w photos then the yellow filter. Also great for sunsets, see the photos attached to this article for an example.

Medium Red (R 2) This is one of my favorites!! This will absorb the violet, blue, green and yellow rays. This is used for infrared photography and also has the strongest contrast of the other filters for b&w, it is very dramatic and would make what would be an ordinary b&w photo into art.

Multi-image This is fun to play with as you create multi images of the subject. There are a lot of different kinds out there, so look around and find which one you like the most.

Close up Filters This is where you can get really close to your subjects, like a flower, insect, coin, etc. They normally come in a set of 3 filters, a +1, +2 and either a +3 or a +4. And they are cheap! You can also use more then one on your lens to get even closer. They recommend that you don’t use more then 3, but I have used 5 filters stacked together, of course I was also using a ringflash.

Cross Screen This filter will add flares to any light source. For example street lights in a night scenery. Or the sun. It normally comes in three varieties, a 4x, a 6x and 8x.

The above mentioned filters, I have and recommend to anyone that wants to have a little fun with their photography. The above are also not expensive, and if you go to a used camera shop or eBay you can pick them up for a few bucks each. There are other filters out there but I highlighted these because every photographer (amateur or professional) should have them in their camera bag.

Some subjects just look great when you convert them from color to back and white, so when you’re out shooting, keep and eye out for anything with lots of texture, like the peeling paint on the side of an old building, rusty old machinery, anything with an interesting shape, or lots of contrast (because you don’t have the crutch of color, you have to look for other things to lead the eye), objects with a lot of metal, old barns, old cars, old abandoned factories, and also consider cloudy days with dark menacing skies a perfect subject for black and white. In fact, any gray nasty day can wind up being a field day for black and white because you don’t have to worry about avoiding the ski since it’s not a nice, blue, sunny day. In black and white…it’s all gray.

Even though our world emphasizes color, there is always a need to learn about black and white photography. If you have never taken a black and white photograph in your entire life, or converted a color photo to black and white, you’re in for a big surprise!

Even though there is an incredible popularity of digital color images, there will always be room and even demand for black and white.

Black and white photographs have an elegance and timelessness that color picture can’t quite capture. Even though you may think of black and white as outdated or old, the fact is that more people are becoming interested in black and white photography for many reasons.

• Black and white photography is seen less frequently; hence it is rare - and for that reason alone… it is of interest
• When used “properly,” black and white accentuates the depth of the photograph
• Black and white heightens emotional content
• Black and white photography has a tendency to make photos look more like works of art
• Black and white photography produces a clean, crisp look
• Transforms a dingy o overcast look into a striking photo evoking emotion

Even if your camera doesn’t have a black and white setting on it, you will find out that black and white pictures can be achieved through computer software programs. But instead of getting into the right now, here are some tips to great beautiful black and white photography.

Tip #1-Transform Dull or Drab scenes into Works of Art

On an overcast and dreary day, even if you don’t think a shot will look good, take it! If you have a color and black and white shot of the same thing on a dreary day, the black and white version will be much more popular.

Tip #2-Emotional Scenes

Black and white photographs can convey a very powerful and emotional image. By taking a color photograph and converting it to black and white, the strong emotional impact is shown through.

Tip #3-Relationship Portraits

Probably the most popular use of black and white photography is with a single subject. As you’ve seen, there is no “right” or “wrongs.” One category of subjects that should always be considered is babies and children.

Although there is a “formal/big occasion” aura surrounding black and white photography, there’s no reason not to use the power of black and white photographs for regular old everday shots. IF you’re unsure, take the photo in color and black and white, and you be the judge.

Tip #4-Dramatic Cityscapes or Architecture

If a photograph does not have an entire spectrum of different colors, consider viewing it as a black and white photograph.

Cityscapes often lack a multitude of colors. Therefore, if because of the time of day, or the subject, experiment with shooting daytime photos in black and white for greater impact.

Tip #5-Everyday Photos

This last time is meant for what you may consider “no-big-deal” photographs. The photos with a subject and a lot of other distracting objects around it.

This is the point to remember at all times: take your camera with you wherever you go because you never know what photo opportunities will exist.

A lot of these pictures after you look at them will be nothing other than an “OK” shot, but don’t disregard it because of that!

Take a photograph of a child busy at play in the middle of a room, crop the photo so you have only the child’s face in the frame, then convert it to black and white. Even though cropping is not a black and white photography tip, it is one of the simplest things you can do to a photograph… and it is potentially the most powerful.

Cropping allows you to take a busy photograph and convert it to a focused object, as in the example of the child. Now by converting that picture to black and white, it is bringing out the emotion of the child.

In summary, I hope these tips will help you in your decision on what photos are more powerful or artistic black and white. If you aren’t sure on them, give it a test by taking at least 30 shots and converting them to black and white, then put the color one and black and white one together and come to your own conclusion!