Scream

Scream by ~mtarantola on deviantART

Self-Timer

Self-timer offer the chance to be your own model so you can experiment new concept and idea otherwise hard to work with.
Learning to work with a model can be difficult and can limit your creativity, but a self-timer and a couple of little tricks can let you explore your full potential.
All you need is a digital camera with a self-timer of at least ten seconds and a good support like a tripod.
Start finding two different point: the placement of the model (you) and the placement of the camera.
Where you want to place the model you need to find some reference point to help you with composition and model positioning.
In order to focus properly, especially when you need a short depth of field, you may need to use an object as a reference.
When you are confident with camera and model positioning, do some shots just to verify composition, light and focus.
I suggest to partition the whole process into two different phase: first shot without model, so you can set every parameter properly and start to be inspired by the scenario.
Then think to the model part of the problem, how to dress, how to pose, expression, etc…
If you aren’t in a studio, the whole scenario can suggest you the right direction, so carefully observe light and composition looking for inspiration.
If your camera has the image display function, set a 3 second display after shooting so you can easly check the result and decide the next step.
Being alone will let you experiment different and extreme solution, and then delete the unsatisfactory result.
When you have set everything properly and find the concept, start the session setting the self timer, positionig yourself as a model and check the result: repeat several time and have fun !

Target

Target by ~mtarantola on deviantART

InfraRed Experiment

IR photography can give you original and intersting images and also let you improve your control over misused paramer like custom white balance.
The necessary equipment is composed by an IR capable digital camera and an IR filter.
In order to test the IR ability of your CCD you have to try the “remote controller test”:
• take your TV set remote controller
• point toward the lens of your camera
• press a button on the remote
• check your LCD to see the infrared light
If you can see a white light in the L.E.D. of the remote, your CCD works properly with IR.
You can find a good IR filter easly in internet – I get my Hoya R72 for less then 20 euro on eBay.

Now that you have the equipment, you need the techniques: white balance and long exposure.

Because you alter, with the IR filter, the color perception of your CCD you need to do a custom white balance, using something green (lawn or a leaf) as a reference.
You can obtain the same effect later in the editing phase (especially if you use RAW format), but I think it’s simpler if you fix it at the beginning.

An IR filter it’s very dark and you will need to use long exposure (even more then 1 second), so be prepared with a tripod or something and exclude your automatic flash light.
I suggest to use a low ISO setting, like 200 or less, in order to reduce the noise.

At least some tricks, based on my personal experience:
• use RAW format
• look for composition with lawn and plants (that in IR images will look white) and sky or water (that looks black)
• when you have a good composition, shot with and without IR filter, so you can merge the IR and the normal image in the editing phase

Spotlight

Spotlight by ~mtarantola on deviantART

Control the depth of field

A good composition is about including the important elements of your photo and excluding what can distract the observer.
To obtain this result you have to control the depth of field, which means render clearly the useful elements and put out of focus the others: for example doing portraits is important to reduce the depth of field in order to focus attention on the subject and blur the background.
To improve your use of this technique, you have to keep in mind the different parameter that increase the depth of field:
- size of CCD
- distance of the subject
and the parameter that decrease it:
- opening of your lens
- focal length
If your camera isn’t a SLR, the small size of the CCD makes difficult to get a short depth of field, so you have to get the most from the other factors, using the maximum opening and your longest focal.
Point and Shoot cameras have only automatic selection of the opening, so the only option is to use some preset like Portrait or similar.
Camera with a semiautomatic setting can use the Aperture Priority mode and set the widest opening, like F/3 or something.
The right focal length to decrease the depth of field is something like 150mm or more, so if you have a 10x zoom you have to use at least half of its range, and if you have a 3x you must go to the max.
If everything fails try to take advantage by the digital manipulation technique, shortening the depth of field in editing phase using tools like Photoshop.
The technique is simple, but you need to master some basic Photoshop tool in order to:
- create a duplicate layer
- use the Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur function
- create a mask on this layer to preserve the part of the image the need focus
With practice this technique can be very effective, at least with simple composition.

Composition

Composition is the art of arrange the visual components of a photo inside the picture.
When you observe the subject of your photo, your mind builds a rich multisensory representation with sound, smell and a wide angle 3D view, so it's not surprisingly that a simple picture can miss some points of interest.
Your task as photographer is just to recreate in a small image all the relevant information working on three different dimensions, the selection of the elements to include in the picture, their relations and the overall balance.

- selection
The rule of thumb is to understand what you have to include and what you have to exclude from the picture.
If you exclude everything that can distract the observer you emphasize the meaning of your photo.
On the other hand you have to look for secondary elements useful to clarify your target, for example in a portrait you can include the something (a tool, a home, a toy, …) to add information about your subject.
You can also evaluate the possibility to shoot at a particular area of the subject to focus on the most important aspect, for example in a portrait you can include only the eyes or the smile instead of the whole body or face.

- relation
After the proper selection of the elements of your picture, you need to have all of them working to strength what your mean.
For example if you are shooting two little brothers, you can focus on how they understand each other or try to catch their resemblance.

- balance
Finally, you have to build your picture, positioning all the elements in a proper way.
Avoid an obvious composition, like putting the subject on the center of the photo – instead use the “rule of thirds”.
This guideline states that an image can be divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. The four points formed by the intersections of these lines can be used to align features in photograph.
This simple tip will help to obtain more interesting compositions, expecially if you draw the viewer's eyes through the photo using some kind of path, like a street, a row of telephone poles, or a line of chairs.