Bali Pictures - Bali Photos
ADITI NIRANJAN PHOTOGRAPHY
With this Bali Pictures Blog, I record many things, mostly related to photographs which I enjoy. I also have some tips about how to take great pictures so everybody can easily learn the art of photography.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at photography@aditiniranjan.com
Dengan blog ini saya mencatat banyak hal. Mulai dari hal yang sederhana hingga yang rumit dan bikin sedih. Dunia ini memang tidak mungkin bisa menyenangkan semuanya. Tak apa, karena senang dan sedih yang silih berganti itulah dunia ini terus berputar dan berputar....
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at photography@aditiniranjan.com
ADITI NIRANJAN PHOTOGRAPHY
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Posing Management
27 November 2006 17:48:17 wib
Posing is a powerful psychological tool for a photographer. Along with expression, it plays a big part in conveying the photographer?s message, since the position and relationship to the camera of a subject?s body can reveal much about the subject?s character. The pose should not only complement the subject, but should also suit the type of portrait and its intended use.
A judge in a formal portrait, for example, is often posed regally (think of a statue of a monarch) clearly demonstrating his or her authority and the dignity of the office. Frivolity is not the message. The same judge, photographed at home in a family setting, would be posed to look less severe and more inclined to warmth among family members, but no less dignified.
As in the case of a judge?s formal portrait, convention often seems to dictate how certain subjects should be posed. This is because we interpret a subject?s body language as a means of identifying his or her state of mind and character. Stiffness in a judge?s pose, for instance, can indicate an unbending resoluteness - the kind of firmness and determination we associate with a judge. The same stiffness seen in a portrait of a pretty girl at the beach or a bride at her wedding would indicate unapproachability, stress or discomfort, and would be unsuitable for her portrait.
SUBJECTS RELY UPON YOUR POSING SKILLS
The portrait photographer, whether a top professional or a beginner, is expected by his or her subjects to have in-depth knowledge of the skills of posing. Subjects rely upon the photographer to provide them with direction regarding posing and expression so they look their best in front of the lens. This is perhaps an unrealistic expectation of most novice photographers, but it is the way it is. Therefore photographers must learn a good deal about posing if they wish to make good portraits. Fortunately for the beginning portraitist, there are many ways to acquire the knowledge.
TRIAL-AND-ERROR
The first and usual method for the novice photographer is trial-and-error. After having taken someone?s picture for your first attempt at a portrait, you look at it and realize it could be improved if the subject didn?t, say, look so unexpressive. The person may be just standing there. So you have another go at it, and take another picture, asking the same subject to perhaps lean against a tree and tilt his or her head, and the resulting picture is improved.
You have started on the learning process to proper posing and expression. If you remain the strongest critic of your own pictures, and constantly look for new ways to improve them, you will over time self-teach a good deal about posing. At some point, you will be so comfortable in certain portrait situations, that you will almost automatically select the pose that is appropriate for the subject.
LEARN FROM THE WORK OF OTHERS
The second method also involves self-teaching and therefore goes hand-in-hand with the trial-and-error approach. It involves emulation - the effort or desire to equal or excel others. Since there are few posing situations that have not been successfully done countless times before, the beginning photographer needs only to look at the work of other photographers to see how they deal with a given type of portrait. Then, you try to match it and even to improve upon it. When you find out that the new pose works, it becomes part of your posing repertoire for all future, similar situations. Where do you find examples of good posing? Just about anywhere that photography and portrait art can be seen - fashion, art and photography magazines, museums, and galleries in the internet.
CREATE A SWIPE FILE
Since you won?t likely remember every picture you come across that has a pose you like, we suggest you start a ?swipe file? that you can refer to for ideas when taking future portraits. What is a swipe file? It begins with a pair of scissors or a photocopy machine, and a scrap book. Clip out magazine pictures containing poses that you would like your subjects to try, and save them in a scrap book, preferably organized in sections that define the types of pose. One section may contain only casual, family pictures, while another has only performers? headshots. Use the photocopier when you come across a publication that you should not use scissors on. Not only will your posing swipe file provide you with an array of poses to stimulate your creativity, it becomes a tool you can use to show your subjects how you want them to pose to achieve the effect you are after.
TAKE A COURSE
A third method of acquiring knowledge of posing technique involves instruction. Schools, camera clubs, community recreational groups and photography-instruction organizations have casual and formalized programs to improve photography. Posing technique is usually on the curriculum. You may not live near an institution that provides photography instruction, in which event you can turn to your local library for photography instruction books or consider reputable correspondence courses for learn-at-home instruction. A local photographer may also be willing to provide you with instruction.
UNDERSTAND COMPOSITION
A fourth method of improving your posing skills is one that is less direct than the foregoing methods, but equally as beneficial, and works well in conjunction with them. That is the improvement of your image composition technique. As you gain an understanding of how objects in an image inter-relate for good composition, you will begin to intrinsically know when a pose is a good one or unsuitable for the overall image. Having good compositional skills is invaluable in improving any picture, and will trigger an alarm in your head when a pose does not suit the other elements in your composition.
Light
27 November 2006 17:40:54 wib
Understanding Light
Light - the primary source of energy for the universe - is the central image of many religions and the photographer's chief resource. The word "photography" derives from the Greek and means, literally, ?light writing.?
From the relentless power of full sun over water to the beam from a single candle, it is light photographers play with, light in its many moods and manifestations that we capture on film.
However primitive or sophisticated your photography equipment, from a home-made pinhole camera to the most modern, totally-digital wonder, you, as photographer are striving to control, manipulate and exploit light.
Photography depends on light. Therefore, an understanding of light, what it is, how it behaves and how you can learn to use it, is essential to creating superlative photos.
Because the character and quality of a photograph can be altered by the character and quality of light, even the most-seasoned photographers puzzle over how a scene should be lit, what lighting angles to use for good results, and what exposure settings will bring out the best detail and tonal shading. When you are armed with the basic facts about light, you will find that such elementary questions become more easily-answered.
This section of PhotographyTips.com explores what photographers need to know about that wondrous physical quantity, light, and shows how the photographer?s technical goal of a ?good? negative can be achieved while meeting the esthetic objectives of a superior photograph.
Composition
27 November 2006 17:34:56 wib
Composition, the act of composing the image in the viewfinder, is a visual process of organizing the elements and individual details of a scene into a balanced and pleasing arrangement. Because what one person finds pleasing, someone else will not, composition is largely a matter of personal taste.
In this section, we take that into account. There is no right or wrong composition in photography. A composition that conveys a photographer's intended meaning is an effective one. A composition that doesn't or that confuses the viewer is not.
TREAT THE RULES OF COMPOSITION AS GUIDELINES
Some of the so-called "rules" of composition presented here should be considered as guidelines. They are based on recreating similarities in the make-up of many different images that many people have found to be esthetically-pleasing. We do not intend that a rule of composition or a design concept be taken as a hard and fast rule that must be observed. Besides, some renowned photographs violate all the rules of composition and are still excellent pictures. This doesn't mean that the rules are without value. They are tremendously valuable. They are time-proven, and provide great guidelines for photographers at any level. We use them all the time.
ORIGIN OF THE RULES OF COMPOSITION
Years ago, artists who had been born with an innate sense of design created works that were perceived, by other skilled artists, as having good composition. Not only that, but their works were very popular with the general public and art afficionados. Analysis of such works showed patterns and trends in the organization and inter-relationships of lines, shapes, forms and colors that were recognized as contributing to the effectiveness of the works. It was found that others could employ these patterns as techniques in improving their own works. When they were defined, they became known as the rules of composition.
FOLLOW THE RULES UNTIL YOU KNOW WHEN TO BREAK THEM
We hope in this section to help everyone to compose better pictures, but especially the person who has no idea of composition - the photographer for whom taking a picture means just picking up a camera to point it and shoot it with little thought for the arrangement of the elements in a scene. Such a person would rarely be pleased with the results of his or her normal photography, and could benefit enormously from an understanding of the elements of composition.
Anyone who has an interest in improving their pictures would do well to go through this section and use the tips and hints it contains in their photography to see if their pictures improve.
By religiously observing the principles of composition, they will become firmly cemented in your mind. Employing them will become second nature to you. If you don?t find there is an improvement in your pictures and people aren?t commenting on how great they look, we will be greatly surprised.
Once you have the rules of composition down pat, experiment and break a rule here or there when you feel the image will work better without it. That?s called individual style, and the creativity that stems from it produces some great images. The point is that you will know when to break a rule of composition once you know what the rules are and how they work.
Annual pictures and milestone events
05 Maret 2006 22:03:48 wib
By far the most popular reason people take pictures of other people is to retain a keepsake of an important event—from births and birthdays, to recitals and graduations, to weddings and anniversaries, to holidays and reunions. Each year at about the same time, play family historian by taking a picture of each child or the entire family in the same activity. Here are a few ideas:
Pictures of the kids
being measured for height
standing next to the same young tree to show how both grow over the years
heading off on the first day of the school year
Pictures of the family
standing in front of the house together
arriving at that year's vacation destination
For consistency through the years, try to take the annual picture from the same location and at the same camera height. Here are a few guidelines:
Get close enough to your subjects to show their faces well.
Be patient. Help your subjects relax, and you'll be rewarded with better, more natural-looking pictures.
A few days before the event, test your camera to make sure it's working. Load it with fresh batteries and have an extra set on hand. Be sure you have plenty of film (or an extra memory card for your digital camera). Have your camera loaded and ready when the festivities start.
Make lots of extra prints so each person in the picture can have a copy. And don't forget to give a print each year to the grandparents.
Environmental pictures
05 Maret 2006 22:02:24 wib
If a certain environment is essential to revealing your subject's personality, make an environmental portrait. A woodshop, a studio, a garden, even the golf course can play an important part in revealing a person's interests and personality.
Decide beforehand what time of day will be best for the type of lighting you want. Then follow these tips:
Use soft, diffused lighting, such as indirect window light indoors or overcast conditions outdoors. But bright sunlight can also work well if you can control harsh, detail-hiding shadows.
Show the entire person, so you can also include the environment. If you have a built-in zoom lens, take a few pictures at the wide-angle setting to include more of the surroundings.
Take your pick of a high, low, or eye-level camera location. Take a couple of eye-level shots and then let your creativity loose. Lie on the ground (you or you and the subject). Shoot from a second-story window.
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