How To Take Award-winning Pictures - A Complete Guide.
- Date: 2009-08-18 - Word Count: 977
Share This!
Nothing is as easy as writing about something and make it sound easy. Take this for example "Shoot the model with some nice light and make her pose with a natural smile - and you have a winner". Could be right next to the word "Easy" in the dictionary. If only life was a piece of written advice. Well, fear not - we will get down to business and get cranking with some real world tips and tricks of how to get great pictures.
First up we need to make sure we have what it takes:
1. Camera
2. Pen and paper (or laptop for the ones who have fear of papers)
3. A friend or no fear of talking to one self
4. Be ready to plan ahead - the cost is in not knowing what you need
5. Photoshop or equivalent application for editing our masterpiece
Start with the camera - check if the battery is 100% loaded with juice. If not, put it in the socket that connects to a wall and let that baby recharge while we sit down with that paper and pen. Write down cool concepts - don't let real life get you down just yet - nothing is impossible at this stage. Right now you are Annie Leibovitz and the world is your oyster. Your imagination is your limit. Damn I'm starting to sound like that cheap "life-coach" tape stuck in the tape deck in the garage. But truly only the imagination is the limit here. Let it out. If you need inspiration think about contrasting subject - a giant in a class room or a colorful leaf in a black and white photo. Don't fall for the temptation to surf the web. The web is your enemy right now - can you spell unoriginal? Don't feel bad if you can't I'm just trying to make a point. There are gazillions of similar images on the web and you are not in the business of adding to the list and become a gazillion and one. Let the concepts grow on you, take one paper and use it to draw some figures, see potential angles for the image. Try another - is that even better? Cool go with that. Call a friend - a good friend that is ready to help out for no pay. Tell him/her your idea. Do you get the response you want? If not invite the friend over to help out with ideas.Good, now you might have (in your minds eye) a football-team of rhinos standing in a pretty line to buy lemonade, high noon, from a bossy little girl with freckles and a Leia hair due.
(Amazing how everyone thinks of that exact image huh?) You think I'm going to shoot you down with your crazy concept? I'm not. Let's use this example to see how it could be executed.
For this image I would use:
* 1 camera with a wide lens
* 1 masquerade mask of a rhino head (a few dollars at tops if you give them the right to use the image one-time-only in the store)
* 1 American football dress
* A Suburb in the summertime
* A girl with long hair (camera facing her back, over her shoulder where we see the lemonade table and the queue)
* A table with a bowl of lemons and a pitcher.
* A tripod
* Photoshop
Put a guy (that friend you always help move but who never got around to help you move is prime for this job) in the mask and the football gear. Get the table and lemonade ready where it should be. Walk around holding up the camera or thumb and index-finger in a rectangle until you find the perfect angle. Put the camera there on the tripod. Make that sucker stand against wind and hurricanes with a big rock or something. Direct your assistant (that is the first friend you called - you might need to call him/her "creative director" but that's cool) to put things where you want them. Now you need to carefully put the camera in Manual mode and find a exposure that works in the whole image. If the sky is in the frame, you might take just one "ok" exposed frame of that and let the sky be over-exposed in the rest. But keep that "sky"frame! Take a picture of the "front" rhino where he gently puts a coin in the girls hand and she is holding his glass of delicious lemonade, with her other hand, teasingly far away until he pays up. Make sure your happy with that frame as it is the most important one. After that, direct your rhino friend to step one step back and hold a new pose, then one step back, and so on until you have a long cue of very hot (as in warm) rhinos standing in queue. Give the guy in the suit a pizza, thank the girl, pack up your table and go back to wherever you keep your computer. Open your RAW-files in Adobe Camera Raw (or your choice of RAW-processing application) and make the same "development" on all the pictures.
Then open them all as layers in the same photoshop file. Put the First image (with the rhino-player giving coin) at the bottom, take the second in line and put it in 50 opacity - and start masking around the bottom layer. When the mask is top-notch put layer in 100% opacity again. Keep doing this until you have your Multi-award winning picture. Mask in the potential sky-frame. Done. total cost? Not more than 70 bucks. And you have an award-winning image. The real cost would have been 25 guys in Rhino/football gear. With photoshop we eradicate that need but get exactly the image we want. There is no cost to developing photos - all you need is your brain, your hands, and some time to practice the pitch in the mirror before entering the costume store.
First up we need to make sure we have what it takes:
1. Camera
2. Pen and paper (or laptop for the ones who have fear of papers)
3. A friend or no fear of talking to one self
4. Be ready to plan ahead - the cost is in not knowing what you need
5. Photoshop or equivalent application for editing our masterpiece
Start with the camera - check if the battery is 100% loaded with juice. If not, put it in the socket that connects to a wall and let that baby recharge while we sit down with that paper and pen. Write down cool concepts - don't let real life get you down just yet - nothing is impossible at this stage. Right now you are Annie Leibovitz and the world is your oyster. Your imagination is your limit. Damn I'm starting to sound like that cheap "life-coach" tape stuck in the tape deck in the garage. But truly only the imagination is the limit here. Let it out. If you need inspiration think about contrasting subject - a giant in a class room or a colorful leaf in a black and white photo. Don't fall for the temptation to surf the web. The web is your enemy right now - can you spell unoriginal? Don't feel bad if you can't I'm just trying to make a point. There are gazillions of similar images on the web and you are not in the business of adding to the list and become a gazillion and one. Let the concepts grow on you, take one paper and use it to draw some figures, see potential angles for the image. Try another - is that even better? Cool go with that. Call a friend - a good friend that is ready to help out for no pay. Tell him/her your idea. Do you get the response you want? If not invite the friend over to help out with ideas.Good, now you might have (in your minds eye) a football-team of rhinos standing in a pretty line to buy lemonade, high noon, from a bossy little girl with freckles and a Leia hair due.
(Amazing how everyone thinks of that exact image huh?) You think I'm going to shoot you down with your crazy concept? I'm not. Let's use this example to see how it could be executed.
For this image I would use:
* 1 camera with a wide lens
* 1 masquerade mask of a rhino head (a few dollars at tops if you give them the right to use the image one-time-only in the store)
* 1 American football dress
* A Suburb in the summertime
* A girl with long hair (camera facing her back, over her shoulder where we see the lemonade table and the queue)
* A table with a bowl of lemons and a pitcher.
* A tripod
* Photoshop
Put a guy (that friend you always help move but who never got around to help you move is prime for this job) in the mask and the football gear. Get the table and lemonade ready where it should be. Walk around holding up the camera or thumb and index-finger in a rectangle until you find the perfect angle. Put the camera there on the tripod. Make that sucker stand against wind and hurricanes with a big rock or something. Direct your assistant (that is the first friend you called - you might need to call him/her "creative director" but that's cool) to put things where you want them. Now you need to carefully put the camera in Manual mode and find a exposure that works in the whole image. If the sky is in the frame, you might take just one "ok" exposed frame of that and let the sky be over-exposed in the rest. But keep that "sky"frame! Take a picture of the "front" rhino where he gently puts a coin in the girls hand and she is holding his glass of delicious lemonade, with her other hand, teasingly far away until he pays up. Make sure your happy with that frame as it is the most important one. After that, direct your rhino friend to step one step back and hold a new pose, then one step back, and so on until you have a long cue of very hot (as in warm) rhinos standing in queue. Give the guy in the suit a pizza, thank the girl, pack up your table and go back to wherever you keep your computer. Open your RAW-files in Adobe Camera Raw (or your choice of RAW-processing application) and make the same "development" on all the pictures.
Then open them all as layers in the same photoshop file. Put the First image (with the rhino-player giving coin) at the bottom, take the second in line and put it in 50 opacity - and start masking around the bottom layer. When the mask is top-notch put layer in 100% opacity again. Keep doing this until you have your Multi-award winning picture. Mask in the potential sky-frame. Done. total cost? Not more than 70 bucks. And you have an award-winning image. The real cost would have been 25 guys in Rhino/football gear. With photoshop we eradicate that need but get exactly the image we want. There is no cost to developing photos - all you need is your brain, your hands, and some time to practice the pitch in the mirror before entering the costume store.
Related Tags: photography, award, photos, photo concepts
Linus Öhman is a Photographer and Entrepreneur from Sweden. Photographer both at large corporations and magazines and as a freelance for many years he recently started a network for "quick guides to the best of the best" with initial focus on photography.Websites:www.mememe.se - The photographer page.www.mostawesome.info - The network site for the micro sites.www.mostawesomephoto.info - Take photos like a Pro. Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
Recent articles in this category:
- A Subject And His Personality
The challenge to all portrait painters is pleasing the beholder as well as having the ability to fix - A Review Of The 28 Page Free Report "shoot Digital Pics Like The Pros"
There are a lot of fine, relatively recent products coming available to buy daily. A few of these ar - Night Vision Scope- Explore The Beauty Of Nature In Night Also
Going out for a camp in forests??? Or somewhere?? Not possible to see far of objects or things in th - Commercial Photography - Photography As A Business
Photography- I guess this won't be a strange word to hear for most of you but commercial photography - Night Vision Camera Ensuring Your Safety
No one can see anything in darkness. But imagine you are capable enough to do so then what would you - Looking For A Wedding Photographer In Edinburg?
You've spent sleepless nights to ensure that your wedding day is picture perfect and goes smoothly w - Hiring A Budget Wedding Photographer?
Wedding Photography accounts for almost 10 % of the entire budget of the wedding. Does this mean tha - Cost Effective Wedding Photography
It's the most special day of your life and you've dreamed about this day, since you were a child. Yo - Image Editing:a Must For Advertising Agencies And Publications
When you see any attractive image in any online publication or in print, have you ever thought who t - How To Guide For Properly Storing Photographs
Photographs are more than just pieces of paper, they are reminders of a life once lived, and cherish
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Matting Fine Art Photographs
Picking the right mat when framing fine art photographs and other pieces of art can enhance the visu - What Are Giclee and Digital Prints?
Digital images are created from photographs taken with a digital camera or from scanned images. Fine - 32 Bit Images-Stunning New Style Of Photography
The new version of Photoshop which came out last year offers a whole new feature which allows photog - Ten Tips For Working With Macro Digital Photography
Macro photography is a fun way to get close up shots look stunning. If you want to get technical, th - Buying Limited and Open Edition Prints
When you're buying fine art photographs, lithographs and other printed art, you'll notice that they - Merging Two or More Images in Photoshop
Have you ever noticed how magazines, newspapers and some web designers are able to combine multiple - Do You Have A Passion For People Photography?
Well, I'm sure you have a passion for photography and that's why you are reading this article.If you - What to Look for When Shopping for a Digital Camera
Shopping for digital camera for the first time can be a confusing and daunting experience. With so - Hong Kong Photographer Stock Photography Royatly Free vs. Licensed
There are two types of licenses for the reproduction of photographs. One is called Traditional Licen - Stock Photograhy Lesson - Quality Requirements for Online Stock Photograph Sales
Most online stock agencies require that your images be submitted in TIFF or JPEG format at resolutio