Henri Cartier-Bresson popularized the most famous photographic concept, the so-called “decisive moment”. In the 1930s, when he was shooting in cafes and alleyways in Paris to portray everyday and social themes with the aesthetics of that time, he did not spend hours in ambush to achieve that unique moment. Cartier-Bresson always defended the importance of not forcing photography, but letting it flow and this is achieved by living, enjoying, walking. Of course, as explained in an interview by one of Lonely Planet’s great travel photographers, Richard l’Anson, author of The Best Photography Tips, there are basic concepts that one must master, some of them as simple as using a tripod or make backups.
Without a doubt, all travelers want to return home with the best memories of those days. The best way for the vast majority? The pictures. Many of us get frustrated when connecting the camera to our computer we see that some are blurry, there are too many reflections or it has been impossible to immortalize that city at dawn or a leopard devouring a prey it had just hunted when we were on safari.
L’Anson concisely offers ideas, actions, and technical and creative skills necessary to achieve powerful images from the myriad of subjects and situations that the amateur photographer will encounter anywhere. Best of all, this award-winning photographer offers his advice for both those with a sophisticated SLR, for users of a compact camera and even, in some cases, for those who only travel with their smartphone.
Among the 59 tips Richard l’Anson cites in this book published by Planeta, we have selected five that are sure to have an immediate impact on your photos.
1. Do not exceed the range of the flash to avoid dark photos. Most cameras have a built-in flash. The external flash mounts directly to the camera’s hot shoe or to a special bracket with extension cable. Pictures taken with the built-in or shoe-mounted flash are often inelegant. Direct frontal light is very harsh and unflattering, it creates strong shadows and the background is often too dark. Flash photos can be improved with the subject within range of the flash, between 1 and 5 meters from the camera. It can also be done by selecting a higher ISO sensitivity to extend the effective range of the flash or working with smaller apertures to have greater depth of field. Another available option is to select fill flash or night scene mode to vary shutter speed and aperture and balance flash light with ambient light.
2. Goodbye to red eyes. Minimizing this unpleasant effect when we photograph people is still an obsession for many. To prevent this, many cameras emit a short burst of flashes before shooting to cause the pupils to close. Other tricks and techniques to reduce or remove this effect is to ask the subjects not to look directly at the subject; increase ambient light, which will close the pupils; bouncing the flash off a reflective surface; move the flash away from the subject or use the red-eye mode of the camera or the built-in tool in almost all image-editing programs.
3. There is no single point of view. Camera position is important for two reasons. First, combined with the chosen objective, it will determine the elements that can be included and the situation of one with respect to the other. Second, it will determine the lighting of the subject based on how it is positioned in relation to the main light source. Do not assume that eye level or first sight of your subject is the best vantage point. Taking a few steps to the right or left, bending the knee or climbing a step can be decisive. The collection of photographs will be more varied if the photographer changes the point of view. You also have to take into account whether the subject will look better in a horizontal or vertical shot. Camera orientation is a very effective and often very practical compositional device for filling the frame and reducing superfluous space around the subject. Holding the camera horizontally is much more natural, which is why many people forget to rotate it to frame vertically. You have to change perspective; You can start by photographing the vertical subjects in vertical format.
4. To photograph food. When you sit down to eat in a street stall, cafe, bar or restaurant, you will soon be served a chance to take a photo worthy of the hashtag.
5. The spectacularity of moving lights. When combined with other incandescent light sources and the color of the sky at dawn or dusk, light trails add a dynamic element and can make for some very striking images. Fireworks and car headlights are favorite subjects of many photographers. In all cases you have to turn off the flash and use a tripod and a cable release. It is not necessary to increase the ISO value, with the usual settings you will get enough sharpness. In case you want to photograph car headlights, it is advisable to adjust the aperture between f11 and f16 to have sufficient depth of field and let the camera select the shutter speed that can be between 2 and 15 seconds, depending on the ambient light. . The appearance of the photographs will vary from one shot to another depending on the intensity and length of the traces, which will depend on the number of vehicles and their speed.
