更多让人物呈现最佳状态的技巧

人物摄影要获得专业效果比你想象中更难，原因很简单：专业摄影师雇佣令人赏心悦目的模特，而你也知道，模特之所以是模特，原因也只有一个——他们废 寝忘食。当然，我是开玩笑。他们之所以成为模特是因为他们非常上镜。所以，让我们的工作更有难度的是：我们不是被迷人的模特环绕着。我们通常是为朋友，或 者是为很多长相介于憨豆先生和赫特人贾巴之间的人拍摄。

这也是作为一名人物摄影师，其工作比经验丰富的职业摄影师更有挑战的原因——我要从非模特相的人身上获得魔术般的效果。这也正是我们常常对我们的人 物照片感到失望的原因（当然是在不是我们的过错时）。本章我们将会看到两种经过力证的方法，可以帮助我们每次都获得更好、更专业的照片。

1. 如何跟长相更好的人交朋友（如果你很富有，这非常有帮助）。
2. 学习控制灯光和控制被摄体的姿势。关键是要使用戏剧化的灯光，我所说的“戏剧化的灯光”其实是指没有光。这些非模特出身的被摄体被打亮得越少，最
   终 的照片效果越好。实际上，考虑剪影或者长距离夜间拍摄，也就是距离被摄体100~200码拍摄——在这个距离上任何人都看起来非常不错（这也是距离产生美 的原因）。不管如何，本章将告诉大家拍摄人物的方法，并提供一个地点清单，在这些地方经常有穿着比卢森堡的GNP还要贵的牛仔裤而且表情较好的人们游 玩。 

有新意的构图技巧

大多数你看见的照片不是横拍，就是竖拍，所以拍摄角度应该更有新意，对，新意！现在，对于人物肖像摄影有一个非常流行的方法：转换相机角度，这个角 度会让被摄体朝向某一角落。这个方法简单得不能再简单了——只要将相机稍稍向右或者向左旋转，然后拍摄。你可能需要多尝试几次，让被摄体在你所想要的景框 位置，但是这种效果（它已经存在多年）将会更受欢迎。   

裁剪他们的头部上方

这是人物肖像摄影中“千万不要让被摄体的头部留下太多空间”的下一步骤。在这种构图技巧中，你需要修剪掉被摄体的头部最上方，读到这里，你们肯定会觉得奇怪。被摄体的头部填充满景框是非常流行的专业技巧。

像这样紧凑的构图形成了非常引人注目的效果，如上图所示，现在它引起了你的注意，你会发现这种构图技巧无处不在，已经成为很多顶级时装、美容和人物 肖像摄影的主流方法。（注意：虽然裁剪被摄体头部的最上方，或者手臂的边缘、肩膀、头发等的做法很好，但是你不应该裁剪下巴。人们实际上习惯看见最上面被 修剪，这样会看起来自然，但看见下巴被裁剪的照片视觉上会很不舒服。）

户外拍摄集体照更简单

照亮一张集体照，而且每个人都有等量的光线无疑是种挑战，这也是拍摄集体时，通常让被摄体在户外以获得更好效果的原因。使用可用户外灯光照亮整个被 摄体会更简单，特别是被摄体在阴凉处（不是阴凉深处，只是阴凉处的边缘，但是没有光斑透过树枝、窗户或建筑物之间的间隙投射在被摄体身上）。如果你足够幸 运，在多云天气拍摄集体照，那么你的工作非常简单——只是让被摄体走出户外，多云的天空就会替你料理好光线问题，所以你可以把注意力放在他们如何摆姿势 上。（顺便说一句，要想获得专业效果的集体照，摄影师绝不会说“现在所有的高个子都站在最后一排。”） 

集体照摆姿势的技巧

下一次拍摄集体照时，千万不要让所有人站成一排（你也知道这种效果看起来不好），试图让他们集结在某些景物周围——某些被摄体自己就会很自然地安排 好位置。比如说，试图让人在床上或者床周围，或者椅子、柱子、汽车、桌子或者任何可以把他们集合成一个整体的物体上或者周围摆姿势，这样他们就不会站成一 条直线。 

生活集体照的技巧

想拍摄更吸引人的生活集体照吗？那么让被摄体呈紧密的金字塔型（三角形），但是我说的紧密是指他们都接触到——手臂彼此相靠，头部凑在一起，一个人 在景框的最上方，各有一个人在金字塔底部的一侧（如上图所示），其他人都紧密地靠在中间。这样，你会发现他们的身体并不是呈一条直线——他们的位置是交错 的，但是他们全都斜靠在一起，这样让照片看起来更有活力和趣味性。我没有将这种方法尝试于人数众多的集体照，但如果你已经获得一张趣味横生的生活集体照， 这是对此种方法的最有力说明。

千万不要均匀照亮整个被摄体

人们看照片时，他们首先是被照片中最明亮的景物吸引，所以你只希望最亮的光投射在你希望的位置，对吧？完全正确！所以，如果拍摄人物肖像，你希望人 们关注被摄体的脸部或者叠错的手臂吗？当然如此。但是大多数人用相同的光线照亮整个人物，被摄体两侧的手部与其脸部的光线几乎一样。如果你想引导赏图者的 目光焦点落在你希望的位置，那么照亮被摄体，最明亮的光在被摄体脸部，然后逐渐沿着身体向下而变暗。这样增加趣味、生动性，你会发现视觉焦点通常在人物的 高端。顺便说一句，这也是羽化光线的另一范例，这样光线的边缘就是被摄体的脸部，脸部以外的光线完美迅速地减暗（但是不要让它变得太暗——它应该仍然很 亮，有细节，只是没有脸部亮）。

想要获得更好的人物肖像？千万不要报数！

如果你想人物的拍摄姿势看起来不错，然后在按下快门键之前数1、2、3。这几乎保证了你的人物肖像照片不可能具有自然的表情。作为一名摄影师，发现 人物自然的表情时刻，并及时捕捉这一瞬间是你的工作。任何人都可以站在那里，数1、2、3，然后在第四声按下快门键，如果这样做，你所拍摄的照片任何其他 人也可以拍摄。如果你想有些特别的效果，更自然的表情——真诚的微笑或者表情，那么摒弃1、2、3这种老套做法，而是与你的被摄体倾谈。激发他们，让他们 开始谈笑风生，甚至是让他们打发时间，然后时机成熟——捕捉这一瞬间。这样他们的照片不仅仅是布光良好、姿势自然，你会让他们的图片变得自然。

窗户光：被摄体应该在哪里

窗户光，特别是任何地方的北面窗户光源是人物肖像最美的光之一（事实上，某些专业摄影师坚持只使用自然窗户光拍摄所有人物肖像）。窗户分散了流入的 光，窗户越大，光线越柔和、分散。所以，如果你已经获得某些不错的窗户光，那么被摄体应该在哪里，光线才会最美呢？你希望被摄体及其肩膀面对窗户（这样光 线就穿越过被摄体，脸部一侧会有柔和的阴影）。然后，让被摄体距离窗户1.8米，这样光线就非常柔和，而且萦绕在被摄体周围（如果让他们之间的距离更近， 那么柔和的光线会变化很快）。而且，让被摄体稍稍在窗户后面，这样他们就能接触到窗户光的边缘，而不是直射太阳光。这种边缘光非常柔和，会让你获得很多专 业摄影师梦寐以求的完美的、魔幻般的光线。

处理面部挑战的6个快捷方法

通过摆姿势和给被摄体打光，你可以隐藏或者减少很多典型的面部问题（比如大鼻子，圆脸，皱纹，大耳朵等）。下面有6种快捷方法，帮助你让被摄体面部表情看起来最佳。

1. 如果被摄体是秃顶，那么从较低角度拍摄，千万不要使用头发照明灯之类的东西。
2. 如果被摄体皱纹丛生，那么尝试直接照亮它们，因为侧光会强调阴影，让皱纹更明显。
3. 如果被摄体的耳朵较大，那么让他们摆姿势，这样只显示出一只耳朵，然后照亮它们，这样一只耳朵就会出现在脸部的阴影侧（所以基本上，只出现一只耳朵，而另一只隐藏在阴影中）。
4. 如果被摄体长着白人的大鼻子（这只是技术术语），那么让他们转过头，直接对着相机，让他们的下巴略微抬高，然后从一个较低角度拍摄，这个角度不会强调鼻子。
5. 如果被摄体有双下巴，那么让他们直接看着相机，然后他们的头部朝相机前方稍稍延伸。这样就拉伸并紧固下巴的皮肤。而且，如果直接照亮他们（把灯直接放在拍摄者所在地点的上方），这样在下巴下面增加了阴影，隐藏了双下巴。
6. 如果被摄体是圆脸或者脸部较胖，你可以嘲笑他们，让他们减掉几磅。然后当他们的眼中饱含泪水时，你就会有他们一天中最自然的表情。当然你也可以让他们的脸朝左或者朝右，只拍摄脸部的3/4，这样他们的脸看起来不会那么圆，尽管事实上当然是很圆的。

Super Wide Angle

For grand landscapes, focal lengths from 14mm to 28mm are typical for full frame, and 10mm to 18 for crop sensor cameras. In the grand landscape style of shooting composing the picture consist of using two main subjects, the background and the foreground. The foreground subject draws the eye into the image and then leads it to the background. The rule of thumb is the wider the angle of the lens the closer the camera should be to the foreground subject. The foreground in the picture often dominates the background, becoming the main subject in the picture.

For example with a 20mm lens set at f11 and a focused distance of three feet, everything in the photo from 2.0 feet to the horizon will be in focus. The emphasis will be on the foreground, as the wide angle perspective will make the foreground disproportionately large relative to the background, the wider the angle of the lens, the greater the effect. For the image to the left of the orange rocks and the tree, the 20mm lens would have rendered the tree to small to balance in the photo. A slightly less wide 24mm lens was used to balance the tree and the rocks in the image.

The wide-angle perspective gives depth, a three-dimensional look, to a two-dimensional photograph. This depth gives the viewer the impression they could walk into the photo. Lowering the height of the camera emphasizes the feeling of depth. In the photo the camera height was only 18 inches, the orange rocks photo, 12 inches above the ground.

The grand landscape utilizing superwide lenses is our favorite style. It is a little difficult to achive however because  of it requiring a strong foreground subject. My wife Tammy and I are often photographing in the same spot, of the same main background subject. We are very competitive always trying to get the better image. We know that whoever composes with the best foreground subject will have the strongest image.

Moderate Wide Angles to Normal

The moderate wide angle to normal focal lengths of 28mm-70 for full frame, and 18-55mm for crop sensor cameras are useful when the subject emphasis in the scene is on the background. A foreground element can be used but it will not dominate the photo. Photos taken with a moderate wide angle have a natural look and feel to them.

Long telephotos 200mm and longer need not be left at home, they too have their place in landscape photography. With their depth compression and narrow angle of view they can isolate and showcase the subject of your choice.

• The rule of Thirds
• S-Curve
• Rhythm and Repeating Patterns
• Using Horizon Lines
• Leading Lines
• Layering
• Scale
• Tension
• Keep it simple

• Set the Scene
• The Magic Can Be in the Details
• Bring Life into the Story with Portraits
• Key Moments Are Essential
• Bringing Closure to the Story
• Less Can be More

• Create a Sense of Scale
• Don't have the subject too close to the camera
• Use a clean background
• Incorporate subject elements that are familiar to the viewer
• Use any familiar object to for sense of scale
• Finding your subject
• Create Interest: Make your audience want more
• Keep simple in frame
• Have subject interact with the scene, not stare into the camera
• Use contrasting colors to create interest.
• Shoot during a time of day that can utilize the light
• Create a Sense of Place
• Start with a wide shot creating an overall scene.  Again, use your light as a key factor by shooting at good times of a day.  Supporting photos can be details and moments that help create that sense of grandeur.
• What attracted you to this area?
• Try shooting from different levels, up high, down low.  Look around.
• Include scale if the scene is grand.
• http://www.artphotogallery.org/
  
• Create a Sense of Magic
  

• Color
• Quality of light
• Direction of light
• Patterns and textures
• Reflections
• Motion
• Weather effects
• Translucence
• Sunrise/sunset
• Shadows/tonal contrast

• Composition
• Depth of field
• Exposure
• Lens choice
• Multiple exposure
• Sandwiched images
• Zoomed exposures
• Flash
• Shutter speeds
• Camera motion
• Filters
• Diffusion
• Angel of view
• ISO
• Combinations
  

• Subject
• Light
• Background
• Foreground
• Color
• Weather
• Graphic elements

• Use an autofocus SLR
• Use a lightweight but sturdy tripod
• Shoot at dawn and dusk.
• Use the Rule of Thirds.
• Use graduated neutral-density filters to reduce the extremes in high-contrast scenes.
• Use a polarizer to increase color saturation
• Control depth of field by selecting the right aperture number.
• Intentionally blur your subject or its surroundings for interesting creative effects.
• Use the histogram to judge exposure, and use camera raw to interpret exposure, white balance, and many other factors back at the computer
• Include an interesting element in the foreground when photographing wide-angle landscapes.
• Aim to capture story and character when you shoot.
  

• Quality
• Intensity
• Direction
• frontlight
• backlight
• sidelight
• reflected light

• Simplicity -- main attraction
  
• making choice
• sacrificing the good for the best
• eliminating distractions
• Orientation
• Lens Choice
• The Rule of Thirds
• Color:
  
• red=heat, blood, love, lust, meat, warmth, fire, danger, and pain
  
• blue=cold, calm, tranquility, authority, sleep, winter, and sadness
• yellow=cheerfulness, brightness, optimism,and curiosity
• green=growth, spring, fertility, and life
• orange=warmth, exuberance, and inspiration
• black=solidity, mystery, death, and evil
• white=purity, goodness, life, and heaven
• Geometric Elements

• Great light and color
• Balanced and creative exposure
• String composition (one that fills the frame and features a clear focal point).
• A supporting cast
• No distractions

• The less realistic an image looks, the more appealing its abstract quality will be
• Use some of the other techniques such as panning, cross polarisation, grain, infrared, and zooming.

• In tricky lighting you can avoid exposure error by taking a meter  reading from an 18% grey card held in front of your subject. 
  
• It's a good idea to make notes of the exposure you use to take pictures in tricky lighting.
• Intentionally underexposing color transparency film by 1/3 to 1/2 stop can increase color saturation.
• When using color transparency film it's normal practice to expose for the highlights and leave the shadows to their own devices, but with negative film you should expose to record detail in the shadows, as the highlights can be "burned-in" at the printing stage.
• Bracketing, one metered, one over it or under it in 1/3, 1/2, or full stop.
  
• Using a handheld meter

• The optimum time to photograph woodland before the leaves begin to fall only lasts a few days
• Create autumn still-life pictures by collecting things that are associated with the season, such as leaves, berries and fungi.
• The weather can change very quickly during autumn, so be prepared to brave the elements - it may be raining when you set out, but within minutes the sun may break through.

• Remember that you can produce completely different effects by varying the exposure when shooting into the light.
• If you shoot backlit portraits, brighten up you subject's face using a burst of fill-in flash.
• Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to take contre-jour pictures outdoors, as the sun is low in the sky making it easier to include in your pictures.

• To produce successful b & w pictures you need to think slightly differently, and look at your subject in terms of its texture and form rather than color.
• Some colors look very similar in b & w -- red and green record as the same shade of grey, for example. To avoid this, use colored filters -red, orange, yellow, green and blue are the most common.  They work by lightening their own color and darkening their complementary color.
  
• Colored filters can also boost contrast to give your b & w pictures more impact.  An orange filter makes blue sky look much darker so that white clouds stand out.  For instance.

• Try to use smallest aperture f/16 or f/22 to record all of subject in sharp focus.
• Choose the background to your close-ups carefully.  Anything plain, such as green foliage, is ideal.  Carry a few pieces of card in your gadget bag.  So they can be slipped behind your subject to create a backdrop.
• Use white reflectors to fill in shadows and provide more evenly lit results when shooting close-ups in available light.
• A small, low-powered flashgun is ideal for close-up photography.  The light is quite harsh but, because the source is very big in relation to the size of your subject, it will give soft, flattering illumination.
  

• Slight underexposure - 1/2 or 1/3 stop - will also make colors look more intense when shooting slide film.
• For maximum impact, juxtapose colors in a picture that contrast with each other, such as yellow and blue.
• Red is the most dominant color of all, and will dominate a picture even when it only occupies a tiny area.

• Get into the habit of checking the depth-of-field scale on your lens before taking a picture, so you have a clear idea of what is likely to be in and out of focus.
• Depth-of-field extends roughly twice as far behind the point of focus as it does in front, so a 'Heath Robinson' way of maximising depth-of-field is to set your lens to its smallest aperture and focus roughly one-third into the scence.

• Fill-in flash can be used to add sparkle to portraits taken on a dull day.
• Fill-in flash doesn't have to be reserved just for portraiture - it's also a handy technique to use when you need to brighten up any close-up subject.
• Once you've mastered the art of fill-in flash, why not experiment with other interesting flash techniques, such as slowsync or filtered flash.  

• Aperture f/16, f/22, shutter B, or 30-60 s

• The optimum time to begin photographing floodlit buildings is at the point after sunset when ambient (daylight) levels are similar to the artificial light levels.  At this time, the floodlit building will stand out from its surroundings, but there will still be enough daylight left to record detail in the unit areas, and plenty of color in the sky to provide an attractive backdrop.
• If the building fills most or all of the camera's viewfinder, you may find that by leaving the exposure to its integral metering system you get perfect results.

• Photograph flowers when they are still fresh, otherwise the colors tend to fade and the petals begin to wither.
• Dead flowers also make interesting subjects when laid out on slate or an old panted door, so once you've finished with the fresh flowers, leave them to dry for a couple of weeks, then take some more pictures.
• Spend time experimenting with different compositions and lenses to see how many pictures you can take of a single flower.

• Landscape and architectural pictures lend themselves to the inclusion of frames, so look out for suitable features when you're exploring a location.
• Frames can be created where none appear to exist by adopting an unusual viewpoint from which to photograph the scene. If you crouch down low among a bed of tulips, for example, the tall flowers will frame the scene beyond.
• Use frames to cover up annoying details in a scene, such as a litter bins, colorful signs and other features that would catch the eye and cause an unwanted distraction.

• Use ultra-fast film 
• Use filters to enhance the painterly, grainy effect - soft-focus an warm-up filters work well with fast color film, adding a wonderful 'dreamy' feel to the image.
• Choose lighting conditions carefully, Fast color slide film generally performs better in soft, low contrast light, while black and white film can be used successfully in any conditions.
• Grain can be used to enhance photographs of all types of subjects - landscapes, nudes, architecture, still-lifes, flowers, portraits and many more.

• Whenever you see a long, straight road, you could take a picture of it with a wide-angle lens.
• Learn to look for lines in a scene, and don't always expect them to be obvious.  Repeated features such as trees, electricity pylons and telegraph poles can all add impact to a composition, even though at first glance their effect may not be seen.
• You can vary the effect lines have on a composition by altering camera format.  If you hold the camera horizontally, for example, horizontal lines will be emphasised, whereas turning the camera on its side will make better use of vertical lines.

• Use filters to make your pictures more interesting.  A starburst will turn bright points of light into twinkling stars, while a multiple image will multiply the sign to produce eye-catching pictures.
• Illuminated signs are ideal subjects for the 'zooming' technique.  As light levels are low you will have plenty of time to zoom through the focal length range, turning an ordinary sign into an explosion of colorful streaks.
• Some signs flicker.  If you photograph this type of sign, watch it first and make sure you use an exposure that's long enough so the whole sign is illuminated while your camera's shutter is open.
• You can use exactly the same methods outlined above to photograph scenes such as outdoor Christmas illuminations, or seaside illuminations.

• You need to have very quick reactions to to capture fast-moving subjects such as racing cars.
• Autofocusing can help to ensure your subject is sharply focused, but most sport and action photographers prefer to focus manually on a predetermined point.
• Add extra drama to your panning shots by using electronic flash to create 'slow-sync' images.
• You can create a similar effect to panning by moving alongside a moving subject at the same speed and photographing while you're in motion.  This technique, commonly referred to as 'tracking', works particularly well when photographing cars and motorbikes through the open window of another car.

• Depth-of-field is not as extensive as you might think, so whenever possible use a small aperture and use the depth-of-field scale on the lens to check the nearest and furthest points of sharp focus.

• Urban area are ideal places to find patterns - look closely at office blocks, windows, doors, street furniture, road markings, the designs painted on cars, vans, buses and lorries, fancy brickwork and paving, and displays in shop windows and on market stalls.
• Building sites and builder's yards are also perfect locations.  Piles of bricks, concrete blocks, timber, drainpipes, roofing slates, gravel, paving slabs. buckets, reinforcement bars, scaffold tubes and ladders are just some of the subjects that create patterns.
• In the countryside, nature patterns abound, such as furrows in a ploughed field, stone walls, rows of flowers and crops, trees in woodland, and so on.

• Creating a sense of depth, scale and distance is vitally important - especially in scenic photography - so always think very carefully about how you can achieve it when composing a picture.
• If you look around, it's possible to find something to suggest scale or depth in most scenes.  Sometimes you may be able to include more than one.
• The quality of light can make a big difference to a picture.  Strong side-lighting reveals texture and modeling and the inclusion of shadows in a picture suggests depth; on the other hand, pictures taken with the sun behind you tend to look rather flat because the shadows are falling away from the camera and out of sight.

• Polarisers work best in bright, sunny weather when glare and reflections are more pronounced and there's more polarised light around.
• When using a polariser to deepen blue sky, ideally keep the sun to one side of the camera so you are aiming towards the area of sky where maximum polarisation occurs.  In this way, you will get the strongest effect.
• Polarisation is uneven across the sky, so take care when using lenses wider than 35mm, otherwise the sky in your pictures may be darker on one side than the other and the effect looks odd.
• To remove reflections from surfaces such as water and glass, the angle between the surface and the lens axis must be around 30 degree.  You can find this by making slight adjustments to your position, then rotating the polariser to see what happens.
• Polarising filters reduce the light entering our lens by two stops. 
  
• Polarising filters can sometimes give your pictures a slight blue color cast when used in bright, sunny weather.  To remove this, use an 81B or 81C warm-up filter. 
  

• Photographers mainly use the rule-of-thirds for landscape and scenic pictures, but it's just as useful for still-lifes, portraiture, architecture photography, close-ups, and any subject where there's a main point of interest or natural divisions in the scence.
• Although the rule-of-thirds is a useful aid in composition, never force a picture to comply with it - or with any other rule for that matter. Doing so will make your work predictable, and, more importantly, boring.

• An interesting theme you can produce literally anywhere is to photograph the same scene with the same lens, from exactly the same position every month of the year, to record how seasonal changes affect it.  Alternatively, photograph the same scene eery hour from sunrise to sunset, to show how it changes throughout a single day.
• When you've completed your theme, why not select your favorite pictures from it, have a small print made from each, then mount them all side by side in one frame to produce an interesting collage of images.

• Make sure your main subject forms an easily recognisable shape when reduced to a silhouette.
• Keep your composition simple to avoid messy, confusing images, and look for clear, clutter-free backgrounds.
• Your camera's integral metering system will give well exposed results in most situations, but you will have to take care if the background is very bright.
• Use colored filters to brighten up dull backgrounds.

• Patience, creativity and imagination are the three most important aspects of still-life potography - you have to create the picture before you can take it, instead of simply shooting what's already there.
• Choose your props carefully so that they relate to each other, and so they form an attractive composition.
• Still-life photography has no time limit, so never rush a shot.  You can leave the props in position for days if necessary, while you experiment with different compositions and lighting set-ups or work on different ideas with the same objects.
• Keep your eyes peeled for interesting objects while you're out and about, or browsing through junk shops and car boot sales, and gradually build up a collection of props that can be used in future sill-lifes.
• Remember to keep things simple.  If you over-complicate a composition it will lose impact and create confusion.

• Soft focus subdues fine detail, so take care when using it on subject which rely on this for their appeal.
• Color saturation will be slightly reduced too, so if you photograph a scene containing strong colors, don't expect them to look as strong on the final image.
• With home-made soft-focus filters, cut a small hole in the center so part of the image will be rendered sharp while the area around it shows the soft-focus effect.
• When shooting backlit subjects and scenes, overexpose your pictures slightly - by a half-stop - to make the bright background burn out a little and to enhance the romantic feel of the image.
• Like any effect, soft focus can become a little tiresome if you over-use it.
• When adding soft focus to an image at the printing stage, you can minimise the effect by only holding the filter under the enlarger lens for part of the exposure.

•  If the sun is behind you, you should be able to take perfectly exposed pictures by relying on your camera's integral metering system.  If your camera has a spot metering mode, you could use it to take a meter reading from the sunlit foreground.
• If you're shooting into the sun the sky will be very bright and could cause underexposure.  To prevent this, set your camera to manual exposure mode, tilt it down to exclude the sky from the viewfinder, take a meter reading direct from the sunlit foreground and use the exposure when you re-compose.
• If you have a handheld meter, a much quicker method is to set up the shot with the graduated filter on your lens.  Then, when the sun breaks through, take an incident reading of the light falling on the landscape, set the exposure on your camera and take the picture.

• Always fit a lens hood to your lens when shooting a sunset, to prevent flare which will ruin the picture.
• Use an 81C or 81D filter so as to make your sunset pictures even warmer.  In hazy or overcast weather when the sunset is weak, you could even use an orange 85-series filter, or a 'sunset' graduate.
• To ensure a perfect result, bracket exposures over and under the meter reading your camera sets.  Do this using your camera's exposure compensation facility and bracket one stop over and under in half-stop increments.

• Roundabouts make good locations for traffic trail pictures as you can record moving and stationary traffic in the same picture.
• Bracket your exposures by using different exposure times to ensure that at least one picture is perfect.  If you first exposure is 30 s at f/16, take others at 45, 60 and 90 s.
• Remember the best time to shoot traffic trails is during the period after sunset when there is still some color in the sky to add an attractive backdrop.

• Instead of automatically holding your camera at eye-level to take a picture, try using it in ways you've never thought of before.
• When shooting from ground level, set your lens to a small aperture so there's sufficient depth-of-field to record everything in sharp focus.
• Clamps, suckers and other accessories are available that will allow you to place your camera in the most unusual places.

• For the best results, include stationary features, such as rocks, in your picture so they will come out pin-sharp and help to emphasise the blurred effect of the water.
• Use a telephoto lens to home in on more interesting parts of a waterfall, rather than always trying to capture the whole thing with a wide-angle lens.
• Look out for interesting details to photograph in fast-flowing rivers and streams, such as a solitary leaf caught on a rock in the middle of the flow, or water flowing around a fallen tree.  Anything that breaks up the regular flow of the water will produce more interesting images.
• If you are taking pictures close to a large waterfall or weir, protect your camera and lens from the flying spray by placing it in a polythene bag.

• To soften the light coming through a window, fix a sheet of white cotton muslin or tracing paper over it.
• In late afternoon, hang net curtains over the window to create dappled shadow patterns across your subject's face.
• You can control the amount of light coming through a window by simply pulling the curtains closer together so that the size of the window is reduced.

• Early morning and mid-afternoon are generally the best times to shoot.  This is because the sun is low in the sky so it casts long, cool shadows which add interest to your pictures.
• To prevent underexposure in a snow ground, take a general meter reading, then, using your camera's exposure compensation facility, increase it by 1 1/2stops (set +1.5) for photographs taken in weak sunshine or that contain darker and two stops (set +2).

• Zoom your lens from one extreme of the focal length range to the other while the camera's shutter is open and a picture is being taken.
• The best results tend to be produced by photographing static or relatively slow-moving subjects.
• The key to success is setting your camera to a shutter speed that's long enough for you to zoom the lens through its focal length range - ideally at least 1/15 or 1/8 second - and zooming at an even pace to ensure you get a smooth effect.
• For even better effects, try panning the camera and zooming the lens at the same time so that you get blurred streaks in two directions.