How to make Star Effects without The Star Filter

One interesting thing that we can see at night photography is the star effects of the street lights. If we have a star filter, it is very easy to do that. Just plug the star filter and capture images as usual. Automatic light bulb on the street will give you star effect.

In this tutorial we will learn how to produce star effects without using the star filter. Actually it is very easy to do.

APERTURE

Aperture is a measurement of the lens open so that the light can enter the sensor of the camera. The aperture is usually marked by the f/number.

Let’s look at our camera, the aperture look like f/2.8, f /4, f/5.6; etc. The larger aperture will be marked by the smaller f/number and the smaller aperture will be larger the f/number. For example f/2.8 is much larger aperture than f /18.

ISO Speed

ISO Speed ​​in photography is a term used to measure the level film sensitivity to light (in the photographic film). While in Digital Photography, ISO Speed ​​is the sensitivity of the image sensor. 

ISO Speed ​​in the digital camera is marked with the numbers 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000, and so on. The darker the situation will requires higher ISO setting (800, 1000, etc.) to get a faster shutter speed and will affect noisier shot.

MOTION BLUR

Capturing moving objects is certainly not an easy thing and this is one of the photographic technique that has its own uniqueness. Some people might assume that capturing moving objects only in sports photography, but actually it can be done at any moving objects around us.

These are some tips to capture movement:

1.       Slow Down Your Shutter Speed

Having proper shutter speed is very important in capturing a moving object. Shutter speed settings depending on the results that we want to get. If we want to get the motion blur, we must slow down the shutter speed.

If we set the shutter speed 1/4000 seconds, we will not get the motion blur. Try set it at 5 seconds, just a little movement of any object will make it blur.  So, how long is the shutter speed? This is very dependent of the speed of our objects and lighting conditions. Take a lot of practices to get maximum results.

Tips to Buy a Camera

KNOW YOURSELF

Before buying the camera we have to know ourselves, we must know the ability of our pocket, the seriousness and purpose that we want to achieve.

This goal can be a variety, for examples photographed just for fun, call of office or family event, or want to get more money by being a wedding photographer or wanna be a contributor of National Geographic as the writers dream every night or perhaps only to get a girl.

CAMERA

After that, let’s find out what type of camera that we need. In this era of super-sophisticated, consumers are pampered with a variety of cameras from compact cameras, pocket cameras, SLR to a Digital SLR with a wide range of brands. If you need more details you can read it in the next post.

WHITE BALANCE

White Balance is one aspect of photography that many camera owners do not understand how to use it. White Balance is a very useful thing to learn and can impact to the result of the image that we took. The reason why we should set the white balance is to get the colors as accurately as possible in a photograph.

We may realize at the time when we observed the images that captured, sometimes the image will come out with colors like yellow, blue etc, although to the naked eye the results appear quite normal. It turned out that each light source will produce a different color and that what we called temperature.

Generally we cannot see the difference in color temperature because our eyes adjust automatically. A sheet of white paper will still be visible as white color although the temperatures are extreme. Digital cameras do not have the intelligence of a human brain that can automatically adjust remedy and sometimes we need to set the digital camera how to treat the different light.

Diagonal Line

In order to take a stunning photo we need of a good composition. The composition rules could make your pictures tell a story, but that does not mean you have to obey one hundred percent. In some situations, breaking the rules can even make the image more memorable. However, before we talk breaking the rules of course we must learn the rules first.

Great composition can hypnotize the audience. But as a beginner, certainly not as easy as it can get a good composition, we need lots of practice to make good photos. There are some basic techniques in photography composition. In this article I will share about Diagonal Line.

Diagonal Line is not the actual line, but the object in the show resembles a diagonal line that divides the picture. Lines may be either rows of power pole, curve of the river, leaves, etc. These lines can extend from the lower left corner to upper right or lower right to upper left and vice versa. Let the object image is formed by natural pattern so it does not look stiff like a hard line.

RULE of THIRDS

Many people say that a picture is worth thousand words, its meaning through a picture can tell something meaningful. If we want to produce images that can tell a meaningful story, we must understand the composition of the balance of an image. The first impression of an image is determined by the Composition Balance of an image.

You may have hundreds or even thousands of photo collections. Select a photo that you like. Take your time to observe the picture, and what is interesting about the photo that makes you like it? Maybe it contained a person who you loved, maybe just a picture of something that reminds you with a beautiful memory. But what makes the photo more beautiful than a proper exposure and a good object, but also the exact composition and interesting pictures. It is THE COMPOSITION BALANCE.

Make sure that the composition rules when we're taking pictures. For maximum image results let us learn together about composition balance of a photo.

Placement of objects in a photo shoot is very important. the object not always must be placed in the middle of the photo.

RULE of THIRDS is one of the best-known composition rules and the principles that must be learned by the novice photographer. In this rule, we must place the main object in the 1/3 to the right or left, (up or down to object landscape). In a picture there is some point at which our eyes are very interesting and will improve the quality of a photograph which makes the picture worth thousand words, called golden point.

The illustration below will further assist in the explanation.

 

The meeting point between the vertical and horizontal lines are golden point that will attract the attention of the eye and make your photo look more remarkable. Try to put the most interesting point of your photos at one point meeting the horizontal line and vertical lines to increase the dramatic effect that is saved from a photograph.

What is Shutter Speed ?

What is Shutter Speed?

Defined most basically – shutter speed is ‘the amount of time that the shutter is open’.

In film photography it was the length of time that the film was exposed to the scene you’re photographing and similarly in digital photography shutter speed is the length of time that your image sensor ‘sees’ the scene you’re attempting to capture.

Let me attempt to break down the topic of “Shutter Speed” into some bite sized pieces that should help digital camera owners trying to get their head around shutter speed:

•   Shutter speed is measured in seconds – or in most cases fractions of seconds. The bigger the denominator the faster the speed (ie 1/1000 is much faster than 1/30).

•   In most cases you’ll probably be using shutter speeds of 1/60th of a second or faster. This is because anything slower than this is very difficult to use without getting camera shake. Camera shake is when your camera is moving while the shutter is open and results in blur in your photos.