Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

Gravelly Point by andertho

If you are interested in aircraft spotting, or just like the thrills of taking a photo of jumbo jets fly as low as 100 ft overhead, Gravelly Point Park near Washington DC is the place to visit. It is a small park alone the Virginia side of the Potomac River. It is only a few hundred feet from the runway of Reagan National Airport. It has plenty of parking, large fields for sports, trails for biking, picnic tables, and a boat ramp. It is a great place to visit.

Getting there is a little tricky though. It doesn’t seem to have a street address. To map it and get driving directions on Google Maps, use the GPS coordinate “N38.8642,W77.0400” as the address. Remember you need to head north on George Washington Memorial Parkway to be able to get into the park.

Queenscliff Pier by Luka Skracic

This is a very striking black and white photo. It has all the elements of good landscape photography: good composition (rule of the third), wonderful angle and perspective, magical light, and great depth. The arrangement of the elements in the photo lead viewer’s eyes naturally from the railings to the structure at the end of the pier, the sea, and the dramatic cloud. No sign of human presence here, which enhances the feel of the image. Simply amazing!

Many Nikon fans are eagerly waiting for Nikon to release the updates to the aging D2 series (D200, D2X, D2Hs). If you are one of them, here is the ground shaking news for you.

This YouTube video teaches you how to simulate the shallow depth of field effect using Photoshop.

Very simple but effective photoshop trick using history brush!

A Beautiful Bikini Photoshop Technique! - More amazing videos are a click away

People love taking photos on their family vacation trips. Here are some tips and tricks that may help you to take better vacation photos.

• Capture the whole picture so you can tell the story. Don’t just zoom onto your family’s smiling faces. Remember this is travel photography, not portrait photography. Capture the surroundings, the backgrounds, landmarks, etc. Sometimes if you try to capture the whole building behind your family, the people may become too small in the frame. In this case, take multiple shots with the lens zoomed in and out. So you will be able to tell where the photos were taken later. Bring a wide angle lens for your SLR, or a P&S with a wide angle zoom.
• Don’t forget to capture the entire family, including you. I have taken tons of photos of my wife and my son happily smiling. However I don’t see many with myself being part of the valuable memory. Kindly ask other tourists to take photos of your entire family. Prepare your camera so all they need to do is point and shoot. Be careful when you hand over your camera, especially heavy ones like DSLRs. The weight may surprise some people and accident can happen. It may become challenging if you cannot find people to help you. In this case, bringing your tripod so you can setup a shot with timer.
• Capture the moment. Don’t just pose up and say “cheese”. Try to capture the very precious, nature flow of feelings. That means that you need to have the camera ready to shoot all the time.
• Record the whole experience. Keep the tickets, guides, maps, etc until you are done organizing your photos after the trip. Make sure the clock on your camera is synced properly. Take a picture of the signs, attraction maps, placards, etc, at the places you visit, so you can recount the whole trip from beginning to end.
• Bring extra batteries and flash cards.
• Finally, learn the lesson and don’t lose the memories to thieves or hardware failures.

Are you a Flickr user? What type of shooter are you? Perhaps you can find a category that fits the description of you. I guess I have multiple personalities.

If you own a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod, this maintenance guide on NatureScapes is a good read. I have been using a Benro C-228 purchased from B&H. Some believes it is a knock-off Gitzo 1227/1228. So the guide may apply as well.