Most people see someone carrying expensive SLR cameras at weddings and are immediately struck by a sense of awe and respect, getting out of their way to let them take pictures of anything they like. SLR cameras have a distinctive look; the large barrel, the popup flash. They look like they mean business, unlike the slim point and shoot cameras that are designed to fit as much ability as possible into your pocket.

I own both an SLR and a point and shoot. Personally, I find that with a good enough point and shoot camera, the knowledge of how to use the manual settings is all I really need to produce a picture as good as one taken with the SLR. In some cases the picture may even turn out better, because my point and shoot has auto-focus and anti-shake technology built in. The limited ability to change exposure and aperture manually even helps, because it refuses to allow me to use a setting that will create an overly dim or overly bright picture.

Together, this means I can focus on creating the best frame and composition for each picture without worrying about whether it will turn out blurred, too dark, or too bright. With my SLR, I find myself taking the same picture over and over, adjusting settings minutely each time. Of course, given enough time and a tripod, say with a landscape scene, I can adjust everything until it produces an absolutely gorgeous picture. But in a wedding, where every moment is special and only occurs for an instant, I simply cannot afford the time to adjust my settings between each shot. It’s a balance between leaving the camera on one setting and hoping it works for every shot I take, and risking missing out on something important as I adjust exposure and aperture. With a point and shoot camera, I let the camera worry about the basic settings, trusting it to adjust for light for me, and focus on capturing the events of the day in the best composition I can.

Besides, I would believe most brides would care more about the photographer catching the absolute joy on their face as they say “I do”, than about how exact the light balance is in the background, as long as it is not completely wrong. The point and shoot camera can guarantee that my backgrounds will always look alright.

So why do so many camera companies sell the idea that an SLR is better than a point and shoot? For that matter, why do I own both? Well, as I said, when taking photographs of things that are not going to change significantly in the next 5 minutes, such as flowers or even models in a photoshoot, I can spend time fiddling with settings and produce National Geographic-worthy pictures. It’s also far better when I want to take artistic shots or play with focal lengths and perspectives, because I can force the camera into settings a point and shoot will never allow, creating all kinds of interesting and unusual pictures. Every once in a while one of these pictures will be stunningly beautiful and artistic. But at an event where every moment is different yet important, I prefer to use my point and shoot for the reasons I detailed above.

Camera companies are not completely wrong to say an SLR is better than a point and shoot. The SLR has the potential to produce pictures of amazing quality, perspective and artistry that the point and shoot will only be able to imitate. But that’s all it is, a potential. What it comes down to is the ability of the photographer to maximise the ability of his camera. In the hands of someone who knows exactly what setting to use for every shot, every possible scenario, every possible balance of light and shade, a point and shoot can produce better pictures than I can, stumbling around with my SLR.

Make Money With Your Digital Camera

Turning a hobby or pastime like digital photography into a money making deal can offer possibilities of generating extra income for the person with a creative and entrepreneurial mind. With the current technology and quality of digital cameras, paired with the wide reach of the internet, many photographers can offer their products and services online. Below are some ways to cash in on the digital photography wave.

Follow the People

You must know what people want. Make your presence felt in the places people are. There are many places you can go where people would want their photos to be taken, somewhere memorable. You can offer your service during parades, concerts, competitions, gatherings, parks, and just any tourist attractions people might be compelled to have their pictures taken. It would help if you had your own business card, present your services to the crowd and start taking those photos. Open a legitimate website where people can view their photos and they can just choose to buy what they prefer.

Create Novelty Items

If you have access to software that can create novelty items that allow you to superimpose people’s images to a background, make use of it. Advertise yourself and offer a variety of unique services to companies. Take note of the additional expenses you might accumulate, including time and travel expenses to each item. This could add to your profit margin.

Custom Greeting Cards

Take advantage of the idea that people aren’t as creative as you are. People love sending postcards and greeting cards of the places they’ve visited to family and friends. Remember, there’s always a market for those eager to send Christmas cards, invitations, and special occasion cards. Make it known to your target market that you offer these types of services. There might be hard work involved in these ventures but you might be surprised how satisfying the returns are.

Create Slideshows

One way to advertise your services is to create slideshows. Most people don’t have the knowledge, time, or expertise to create such items. Your know how on this type of software could pay major dividends in the future. There are always organizations and companies in your area who are willing to pay for these services because it saves them effort and time. Offer packages according to the market. Show them a sample of your designs and build your market from there. Building relationships with company decision makers can make or break your business.

Offer a Class

If you’re an amateur photographer, chances are you’ve accumulated enough knowledge to teach others. There are groups out there eager to get some tips about digital photography, people who have the same passion as yours. What they really need is the personal touch, someone who offers a friendly face and helping hand to give them a grasp of the basics. Remember, there’s always someone eager to learn the ropes.

Keep in mind that there are always a number of ways to make use of your passion as an income-generating machine.

There are always a number of people out there who have the same passion as yours. You can plan a proper business model that can ensure a profit. The best business is a business that ensures everyone gets what they want and keeps coming back for more.

Desert Rock Frame © Kerry Drager All Rights Reserved

Options: Frames come in all shapes and sizes. Some surround an entire background subject, while other frames are partial ones: i.e., side, bottom, or top. Examples of framing devices include overhanging tree branches, arches, windows, doors, sculptures, fences, looming rock formations, fountains, flowers, architectural elements, a companion’s outstretched arm, or a nearby hot-air balloon in a colorful race.

Composition: Although a foreground border often spotlights your center of interest, an extra-special frame sometimes serves as the primary subject itself. Also, a frame can show a subject in relation to its surroundings and can even produce a three-dimensional effect, in which the scene sweeps away from front to back.

In addition, a border can help clean up a composition – by concealing distracting objects or by filling up a featureless sky. Occasionally you can use more than one frame – for instance, picturing a subject through the openings on separate walls of an old building.

Wide Look: An exclusive “storytelling” perspective – the ability to combine intimate details with distant views in the same picture – makes the wide-angle a valuable tool for creating frame shots. The wide-angle also helps strengthen the sense of depth, since a close-at-hand foreground appears larger in relation to the background.

Tele Views: A telephoto or tele-zoom offers its own unique look for framing. Use it to compress space – in other words, to make the frame and backdrop appear closer together than they really are.

Sunset on California Coast © Kerry Drager All Rights Reserved

Exposure: Be careful of lighting extremes – say, if your frame is in shadow and your subject is in sunlight. A camera can’t record good color and details in both sunlit and shadowed areas at the same time.

Fill-in flash, however, could lighten up a shadowed foreground. But if that dark object is sharply outlined, easily identifiable, and set against a bright background, consider going for a striking silhouette to spotlight your distant subject. To achieve a silhouette, make sure your meter registers the sunlit areas of the scene and not the shaded frame.

Depth of Field: Most foreground frames look best if they are in sharp focus; others work more effectively when they are in soft focus (say, to emphasize a crisp-and-clear background subject).

Not sure? Then shoot the scene both ways: with a small aperture (high f/stop number) for maximum near-to-far sharpness and a large aperture (low f/stop number) for a “selective focus” effect. Such experimenting is crucial to success when framing frames!

More photo examples: Check out BetterPhoto’s “Framing the Subject” gallery.

Keep White Balance (WB) on ‘Auto’ most times, but change them when shooting in a light source that does not look right on the LCD (i.e. the picture looks way too yellow, red or blue).

Typically the most common mistake is when the ‘Indoors’ WB is set and we shoot outside!

Everything goes a nice bright blue color!

Custom WB Options

Test, test, test!
The real beauty of digital is that we can test the shot before we decide that we can move on.
In the ‘old days’ we used to have to either buy a Color Temperature Light meter (very expensive!!) or make lots of tests using Polaroid film.

It took a lot of time but was also incredibly expensive to get right. Most DSLR and consumer cameras have at least five different White Balance settings that should cover most lighting conditions.

If you find that the color still looks a bit ‘off’, use the camera’s Custom White Balance setting. This makes a one-off reading for that specific lighting condition.

It’s a very sophisticated feature that’s available in most cameras….

Incandescent WB Setting © Robin Nichols All Rights Reserved

Try Different WB Settings

Experiment with different settings to get it looking better.
Options include: Tungsten (incandescent) for indoors, Fluourescent 1, 2 and 3, Shade, Bright Sun, Electronic Flash and, in more expensive cameras, a Custom setting.

Tone Controls © Robin Nichols All Rights Reserved

Tone Control

You can set your camera to shoot in a range of special tone modes: Contrast, Sharpness, black-and-white, Sepia, and there’s even a Solarise mode in some models. Most are a marketing gimmick. While they produce fun results, I’d suggest not using most for the simple reason that it’s easier to change the tones later (on a copy) using your picture-editing software.

If you really have to (and remember that all three tone settings can be changed easily using a picture-editing software program like Photoshop Elements), the only one really worth adjusting is probably Contrast.

Set this to ‘low contrast’ when shooting in the bright sun (ie. at midday), or to ‘high contrast’ if the weather is heavily overcast and the lighting flat.

How to Shoot Wildlife Photography: Close-up vs. Environmental

It’s not necessarily desirable to always get full-frame head shots of wildlife – you can always take head shots in a zoo. Including the environment along with an animal gives a sense of place, and if the location happens to be spectacular then it becomes an integral part of the composition. Still, the subject should be significant enough in the frame to make a statement.

How to Shoot Wildlife Photography From a Vehicle

In many cases, a vehicle can gain a closer approach to a wild animal than a person can on foot. For example, most wildlife in national parks have grown accustomed to vehicles, and they know there’s no threat.

Shooting from a vehicle can be done using a stable platform that attaches firmly to the driver’s door when the window is rolled down. (These door mounts are available through various sources.) You can also use a burlap or fabric pouch filled with uncooked rice, beans or coarse sand. This actually is my preferred choice for shooting from a vehicle. I travel with it empty, but when I arrive at the shooting destination I’ll fill it.

Poison dart frog, Costa Rica © Jim Zuckerman All Rights Reserved

Finding Wildlife Subjects to Photograph

There are many options for locating wildlife – even if you live in the city. One technique is to try the Internet. For example:

One of my favorite macro subjects is frogs, and specifically poison dart frogs. These are brightly colored frogs that are poisonous in the wild but are not dangerous when they are kept in captivity (because their diet is altered). I especially wanted blue frogs because they are so unique. I did a search on the Internet and found several breeders of these frogs in the U.S., and one of them happened to be only 10 minutes from my home. I called him and made arrangements to photograph many of his creatures in exchange for photos.

How to Shoot Wildlife Photography the Right Way: Keep Things Steady

In addition to doing your wildlife photography in the best light, I strongly suggest using a tripod whenever possible. When photographing with a tripod is not possible, use a bean bag or some other stable support.

Image stabilization lenses, if you can afford them, go a long way to helping wildlife photographers get sharp pictures in low light. They minimize camera movement when you hand hold them, which in turn gives you more flexibility in your shooting. However, I would still recommend a tripod when it’s feasible.

Virtually all the images on my Deluxe Web site, with perhaps five exceptions, were shot using a tripod.

More on How to Shoot Wildlife Photos

This article is adapted from Jim Zuckerman’s Wildlife Photography online photography course. Check this 4-week course if you’d like to truly master the art of photographing wildlife.

About Author / Instructor / Photographer, Jim Zuckerman
Few people are able to spend most of their time pursuing their passion in life. I’m one of them, and I feel blessed to have had a love affair with photography since I began taking pictures.

In 1970, I decided to abort my intended career as a doctor in favor of photography and have never regretted it. Photography has enriched my life more than I can tell you. My career has taken me to over 60 countries, and I’ve seen and photographed wondrous things.

I specialize in wildlife and nature, international travel, and digital effects. In addition, I also shoot nudes, photo- and electron microscopy, children, and other subjects that stimulate my visual or emotional sensibilities.

For 25 years, I shot a medium format camera, specifically the Mamiya RZ 67, for its superior quality. When I would lecture, I’d project the large, glass mounted transparencies, and it was really an incredible experience to see the brilliant color saturation and resolution of these slides. However, I went digital in 2004 because the technology finally equaled or surpassed medium format. I now shoot the Canon 1Ds Mark II digital camera with a variety of lenses.

I am the author of 12 books on photography. My work is sold in 30 countries around the world, and my images have appeared on scores of magazine and book covers, calendars, posters, national ads, trade ads, brochures, and corporate promotions.

For many years I’ve led photography tours to exotic places. These include Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Burma, Greece, The Czech Republic and Slovakia, Spain, Morocco, and Peru.

To new photographers it can be quite surprising just how many types of lenses there are.  Some manufactures offer dozens of lenses at any given time.  Understanding the options is the first step to building your own photo system.

Basic Lens Types

At a glance there are three basic types of lenses: wide, normal and telephoto.  All lenses, in some way, warp what they are looking at.  The way they focus light can make the foreground and background appear really close together or really far apart.  A normal lens is one where these layers appear most like they do to the human eye.  Ones that push the background away are wide.  Those that bring the background close are telephoto.  The more popular lenses are called zoom lenses.  These are extendable lenses that are often (but not always) wide, normal and telephoto all built into one. 

Stabilization

For someone who likes to photograph sports, wildlife and other things that are typically far away, a telephoto lens is essential.  A big telephoto lens can magnify its subject 2 to 20 times (and then some…), with telephoto zooms giving you options within a given range.

The problem a lot of photographers faced over the years is that these lenses can get quite big, heavy and hard to hold; this makes it hard to hold a lens steady and any slight shake can result in a blurred image.  This is why stabilized lenses were introduced not too long ago.  These lenses offer mechanical elements that actually counteract the photographers movements to nearly eliminate any signs of shakiness.

Aperture is Speed

All lenses have a built in maximum aperture.  This refers to how wide the lens’s iris can be made.  There are lots of reasons to adjust aperture, but the basic reason is speed.  When the aperture is closed to a small opening not a lot of light can get it.  The result is a longer time to properly expose a picture.  When the aperture is open to its widest then more light can get in and the exposure time can be quick.

Event photographers often work with very little light.  To make the most of that light they have to have a lens that allows a wider aperture.  Doing so lets them take properly exposed shots that aren’t blurred due to people moving during exposure.

The widest apertures are available on non zoom lenses but tend to be very expensive in any form.

When Glass Isn’t Glass

Cheaper lenses, especially those that come built into a compact camera, can often contain plastic lens elements.  This is a big deal for people searching for perfect quality because light doesn’t travel through plastic as well as it travels through glass.  Even in a real glass lens though, light will reflect and refract slightly damaging the end result.

Lenses that boast higher grades of glass are able to cut down on this.  More expensive glass elements can offer close to zero refraction and reflection making them very appealing to photographers who want to print large detailed photos.

Similarly, there are different coatings on different lenses.  Some coatings are there to help fight reflection while others account for things like UV blocking.

When deciding where to start, a normal lens is a good idea.  From there try an ultra-wide lens because it will give you the clearest indication of what a lens actually does.  Otherwise experiment with the different types and have fun.

Below are two photos by world-famous portrait photographer: Elsa Dorfman. Elsa has the same kind of studio, background, lights, and equipment as a lot of folks with more technical skill. Yet those folks aren’t portrait photographers and Elsa is. What’s the difference? Elsa cares about people. She is genuinely curious about people she has never met and can connect with them in just a few minutes. After a one-hour session, she knows more about her average subject’s life than I do about my sister’s.

Elsa uses a 20×24″ Polaroid camera. Film costs about $50/exposure, so she limits herself to two exposures per subject. Yet her photo of me and Alex (below right) is one of the only pictures of myself that I like. Our advice to digital photographers is to fill the flash card with at least 50 images in hopes of yielding one that captures the essence of a subject’s expression.

Elsa’s artistic success implies that the most important thing about portrait photography is an interest in your subject. If you are so busy working that you can’t care about strangers, don’t take their photos! Or at rate, don’t expect those photos to be good. Some of my better portraits were taken on a trip to Alaska and back because I had 3.5 months in which to be alone and learn to appreciate the value of a stranger’s company and conversation.

Location

If you don’t have or can’t create a photo studio, concentrate on environmental portraiture. Show the subject and also his surroundings. These tend to work best if you can enlarge the final image to at least 11×14 inches. In any smaller photo, the subject’s face is simply too small. Taking photos that will enlarge well is a whole art by itself. Your allies in this endeavor will be a low ISO setting, prime (rather than zoom) lenses, a tripod, and at least a mid-range digital SLR.

There are two elements to a photo studio for portrait photography. One is a controlled background. You want to focus attention on your subject and avoid distracting elements in the frame. Probably the best portraits aren’t taken against a gray seamless paper roll. On the other hand, you are unlikely to screw up and leave something distracting in the frame if you confine yourself to using seamless paper or other monochromatic backgrounds. You don’t have to build a special room to have a controlled background. There are all kinds of clever portable backdrops and backdrop supports that you can buy or build. If you absolutely cannot control the background, the standard way to cheat is to use a long fast lens, e.g., 300/2.8. Fast telephoto lenses have very little depth of field. Your subject’s eyes and nose will be sharp. Everything else that might have been distracting will be blurred into blobs of color.

The second element of a portrait studio is controlled lighting. With lights on stands or hanging from the ceiling, you get to pick the angle at which light will strike your subject. With umbrellas and other diffusion equipment, you get to pick the harshness of the shadows on your subject (see out studio photography primer). There are some pretty reasonable portable flash kits consisting of a couple of lights, light stands, and umbrellas. These cost $500-1000 and take 20 minutes or so to set up on location. If you don’t have the money, time, or muscles to bring a light package to a project, the standard way to cheat is to park your subject next to a large window and put a white reflecting card on the other side. Don’t forget the tripod, because you’ll probably be forced to use slow shutter speeds.

Stealing a Location

What if you don’t have a big open space with diffuse light and a neutral background? Steal one. If you live in the United States, a vast open space with light pouring in from expensive skylights is as close as your nearest art museum or university. With a 200mm lens set to f/2.8, the background will be thrown out of focus. Here are some examples from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and a couple of lobbies at MIT, taken on a cold February day in Boston. Canon EOS-5D, 70-200/2.8 IS lens, handheld without flash.

Lighting

The most flattering light for most portraits is soft and off-camera. A large north-facing window works, as does the electronic equivalent, the softbox (light bank). The Elsa Dorfman Polaroid photo at the top right was taken with two large light banks, one on either side of the camera. Note that there are essentially no shadows.

If your subject is outdoors, an overcast day is best. If the day is sunny, make sure to use a reflector or electronic flash to fill in shadows underneath the eyes.

At right: In a New York loft, light coming from a bank of windows at left. Canon 70-200/2.8 lens on tripod. Possibly some fill-flash. Fuji ISO 400 color negative film.