Table of contents for Camera Bag Essentials Vol 2 in Camera Bag Essentials

1 LENS RELEASE To remove the lens press this button and twist the lens in an anti-clockwise direction. Make sure you have the protective body cap or another lens to hand when performing this task, because you don’t want to leave the sensor exposed to dust. 2 SHUTTER RELEASE To capture a photograph, press the shutter release button on the top panel. To focus and meter the scene, half press the shutter release first. 3 LENS The beauty of owning an SLR is that you can change the lens. This makes it far more versatile than a camera with a fixed lens because you can alter the angle of view. 4 SENSOR The sensor is where your images are recorded, before being processed and then stored on your memory card.…

The concept of aperture can be tricky to grasp. The physical side of it is incredibly simple. Here’s what’s going on inside your lens barrel, where a motor keeps aperture under control… No matter what camera or exposure mode you use, there are just two main ways to regulate how much light reaches an image sensor. One is shutter speed and the other is aperture. These are key concepts that all all photographers need to master. Aperture has an important effect on depth of field, which we explore later, but it can impact on the sharpness of your images in other ways, too. It’s also directly related to the working distance when you’re using flash, and maximum aperture is an important factor in differentiating lenses. Yet the concept of aperture…

Depth of field is an important consideration when you take a photo. It’s a measure of the extent to which the scene or subject looks sharp, and extends both in front of and beyond the point you’ve focused on. There are a number of factors that affect this, such as the distance at which the lens is focused and the combination of the focal length of the lens and the size of the sensor in the camera. However, the choice of aperture plays a significant role. In the examples here, the focus distance remains the same – somewhere in the middle distance – and it’s the change of aperture that makes more or less of the image appear sharp. However, the closer you focus, the shallower the depth of field…

The ISO scale is used to measure the camera’s sensitivity to light. Although the sensor cannot be changed to suit the subject (unlike film), its sensitivity can effectively be boosted by the camera’s circuitry. This is done with the ISO control. The signal from the sensor is simply amplified, and this helps you get the fast enough shutter speed you want in low light. The ISO can be altered for each shot. This makes ISO a powerful tool for the photographer helping you to get sharp shots in a variety of lighting conditions. The base sensitivity of D-SLRs varies according to the model – some start at ISO100, some at ISO200. Some cameras have an ISO button; you press and hold this while turning the main command dial to change…

Amajor benefit of a digital SLR is the availability of a variety of lenses suited to particular photographic situations. You may already know that ‘long’ lenses make distant subjects appear closer, or larger in the picture, while ‘wide-angle’ lenses take in more of the scene. Specifying the focal length numerically makes it easier to compare different lenses. Focal length is measured in millimetres. The range around 35-50mm is considered ‘normal’, or ‘standard’, because it roughly matches your field of vision. Wide-angle lenses have shorter focal lengths than this. Their wider view enables you to get more of a scene into your shot – good for big landscapes and tight spaces. Long (or ‘telephoto’) lenses – 70mm and upwards, say – excel at close-ups, portraits, and sports and wildlife photography. Focal…

Most of us use colour in our photography without really thinking about it. As soon as you stop and really consider which shades you use in your shots and how you match colours together, though, you’ll see a drastic change in your photos. The most useful tool for experimenting with colours is the colour wheel. Used for centuries by artists and designers, these rainbow circles show how different colours interact with each other. Primary colours (red, yellow and blue) are spaced evenly around the circle, with secondary colours (made by mixing primary colours together) falling in between. As a rule of thumb, colours that sit next to each other on the colour wheel work harmoniously together, and colours that are directly opposite each other are complementary to each other. It’s…

Hyperfocal focusing is an old-school technique that helps you maximise sharpness in a photo. A camera lens can only focus to a single distance at any one time, but there’s an area that extends from that point, both towards the camera and towards the horizon, where things still look sharp. This area is known as the depth of field. The depth of field isn’t a fixed distance: several factors can make it wider or narrower, including the lens’s focal length and the aperture you set. The distance to which the lens is focused makes a big difference, which is where hyperfocal focusing can help. The hyperfocal distance is the point at which everything from half of this distance through to infinity falls within the depth of field, and so looks…

Silver reflector A silver reflector reflects a large amount of light. It’s best to use these at some distance if you’re working in the studio otherwise the light can look too harsh. If you want to make your own, silver foil works a treat. However, they’re not too expensive and most reflectors come with several covers, such as white, silver and gold, so getting one is a good investment. Gold reflector Gold is best avoided with studio flashlights, which are usually balanced to daylight, because the warm glow that it radiates is likely to create mixed lighting in your final images. This will only mean more work in the digital darkroom later on. If you’re working outside, using a gold cover warms skintones up beautifully. White reflector A white reflector…

There is no ‘perfect’ lens for all types of portraits, so it’s important to make the most of all the different types of lenses and different focal lengths at your disposal. This image above was taken with a 200mm telephoto lens, for example. A long focal length can be a great choice for portrait photographers as it compresses the perspective, which can often be more flattering for your subject. It’s also to easier to create a blurred background with a telephoto lens, so if you’re using a wide aperture such as f/2.8 you can get stunning results, as the blurred part of the image can often look lovely. However, a short telephoto is typically the portrait photographer’s favourite focal length – with a 70mm on an APS-C camera or a…

The default matrix, or multisegment, metering on most SLRs is accurate and reliable in most shooting situations. However, if you’re shooting into the light or against a light or dark background, the results can sometimes be under or overexposed. It’s not always easy to get the exact light level you want using exposure compensation. For complete control, use spot metering. Instead of taking several readings all over the subject, your camera’s spot meter takes one from a tiny area of the subject. It takes some practice to get used to spot metering, but is well worth it. The trick is to position the test area over the correct part of the subject. As with all metering systems, the exposure you’re given will be based on a mid-tone. So, to use…

Aflashgun, while very handy in low light, can easily kill the atmosphere. A great way around this problem is to use a technique known as slow-sync flash. As the name implies, this uses a longer shutter speed than normal flash exposures, enabling you to balance the ambient light with the flash exposure. It can be used for a range of subjects, such as portraits at night where you also want to record the light of a cityscape behind the subject. However, it really comes into its own when you want to add a sense of movement to your shots – the longer shutter speed enables you to capture some motion blur, while the burst of flash freezes the movement. Remember, the faster the subject and the closer it is to…

Asnoot is one of the handiest tools you can keep in your camera bag. It’s a long tube or funnel that attaches to your flashgun, converting it from a floodlight into a spotlight, and thereby picking out a small area of the scene. A snoot is very useful when you are photographing a portrait against a wall. Even though most add-on strobes have a zoom head that allows you to narrow the spread of light, the flashgun will still light up the majority of the frame. A snoot restricts the spread to a narrow beam, so that some areas of the frame are not lit at all by the flash. This is an effect that is not just useful for portraits, it can also be used for still-life. A snoot…

Freezing high-speed action, such a dancer in mid air, may seem a big technical challenge, but it’s not difficult, and just requires fairly simple, affordable equipment (a couple of hotshoe flashguns and a set of wireless flash triggers). The secret to this technique is using the very short duration of the flash – as short as 1/40,000th of a second. If everything else in the room is dark, the light emitted from the flash effectively becomes your camera’s shutter speed, making it perfect for capturing motion. Aside from the camera kit and a sizeable space, you’ll also need a few other items, including a black background that’s wide enough to give your dancer enough room to allow her to leap, and a trio of tripods to hold and position your…

Reflections are a great way to add intrigue to your images by offering a glimpse of the scene beyond the edges of the frame. They add an enigmatic effect and also evoke the lens of the camera. The first job is to mount your camera on a tripod. You will need to take two images, one with the model and one without. When it comes to exposure, keep it consistent, so it’s a good idea to switch to Manual mode. Here, we used a shutter speed of 1/60 at f/4 and ISO 640. Another good tip is to use a reflector. We used a large silver reflector off to the side on the right and hidden from view, so we could bounce the sunlight back at the model’s face (white…

There’s a fine line between capturing a stylish ‘fine art’ nude and something altogether less tasteful. A good starting point is to try and think along the lines of an implied rather than full nude – a simple suggestion of nudity, rather than outright display, often creates the most powerful images. It’s also a good idea to direct your model to avoid eye contact with your camera’s lens in order to get a classier, more tasteful look. Once you’ve got the model into a pose, take a few shots, then change the angle and focal length to get a variety of shots. You’ll often find that the shoot will start to evolve easily once you get going. Checking your settings and kit between poses will give your model a chance…

Areflector will often give you all the control you need to achieve perfectly lit portraits. They are ideal for those situations where you’ve got a single, strong light source, such as a window or solitary lamp, and need to balance it by adding light from the other side so that the shadows don’t appear too dense. All you have to do is hold the reflector on the other side of your subject so it ‘bounces’ light back into the darker areas of shadow. If you’re shooting a head-andshoulders portrait, you might be close enough to hold the reflector yourself. If the light is coming from the left, cross your hands over and rest your camera hand on your left wrist. However, make sure you don’t get so close that your…

Here’s a cool portrait project for a long dark night – shoot somebody spinning a ball of fire (wire or steel wool, actually). Wire wool, often used in metalwork and furniture restoration, burns well and sends out brilliant sparks when spun. Set a long exposure and you can create some really memorable images. Once you have some steel wool (choose a thickness from 0000 to 00) mould it into an orange-sized ball. Get hold of a cheap kitchen whisk with a metal handle. Stuff your wire ball into the whisk, then hook a steel cable or chain onto the end of it. Your assistant is now ready to start spinning (it’s pretty safe so long as they wear long sleeves, tie hair back and protect their head). To set up…

Low-key lighting makes the most of dark tones and shadows to create images with drama and atmosphere. The backdrop needs to be mostly hidden in the shadows, while particular features on the subject are illuminated. So when you’re shooting low-key portraits you don’t need much in the way of lighting kit – a single flashgun mounted off-camera will be adequate. With low key portraits, you want to eliminate as much of the ambient light as possible, which you can do by narrowing your aperture; a fast shutter speed would achieve the same effect, but on cameras the top flash sync speed is either 1/200 or 1/250 sec. When you expose for the ambient light you don’t need to worry about underexposing your subject, as the flash will illuminate them –…

With a few simple props and adjustments to tones in Photoshop, you can turn an ordinary portrait into something resembling a still from the golden age of movies. Yes, we are talking film-noir, and this moody effect is created by converting the image to black and white, then making subtle toning tweaks. First, capture your portrait with your model styled appropriately, using a period hat and coat. Light the model using a ‘gobo’ to create the blinds effect. A gobo is an object that comes between a light source and the subject that changes the characteristics of the light. You can buy one of these, or make your own out of cardboard. Load your portrait and go over to the HSL/Grayscale panel and click Convert to Grayscale, then set Oranges…

The aim of an environmental portrait is to include things that tell us something about the person, and the background becomes their ‘back story’, so you need to show details and objects that help to explain who they are and what they do. For this image we photographed a talented glassblower as he produced one of his beautiful and delicate creations. We began the shoot by taking some candid shots while observing the glassblowing process. Most of the work of shaping the glass was done on the bench, so this is the setup we chose for the portrait, with the glowing furnace in the background. When going into an unknown environment like this, it makes sense to start out by observing for a while, looking for interesting angles and details.…

For this fun project you’ll need to find some miniature figures (try 00 gauge models from www.gascupboard.co.uk) and think about creating a landscape. Take a look at macro-world photographers Akkio Ida and Pierre Javelle if you need some inspiration. As the figures in this kind of composition are so small, you will need to shoot with a macro lens. You could improvise with different lenses and crop in, but you will then lose lots of detail. Then, set a narrow aperture. Yes, you want a shallow depth of field to blur the background, but at this range, f/2.8 will blur out most of the scene. This image was taken at f/18 and still has a shallow depth of field. Next, get low down and level with your scene as this…

Wide apertures The widest apertures have f-stops with the smallest numbers. The maximum aperture available depends on the lens you’re using. On many zoom lenses, for example, the maximum aperture gets smaller as you zoom in Medium apertures The middle apertures on your lens tend to give you the best-quality images. However, they might not give you the amount of depth of field you require. Think of it as a balancing act, with some compromise required Narrow apertures Most lenses have a minimum aperture of f/22, although some stop at f/16 while others go down to f/32. As aperture gets narrower, depth of field increases. Ultimately, though, the image resolution deteriorates due to diffraction The crucial point is that aperture numbers are fractions: f/2 means focal length (f) divided by…

The camera meter measures a subject’s brightness so that the camera can determine how long the sensor needs to be exposed to record a picture. The problem is that the metering system doesn’t always work flawlessly, and you may end up with pictures that are either too dark or too bright. For more refined results, you can correct these errors using exposure compensation, or dial in the exposure settings – aperture, shutter speed and ISO – manually. Camera meters are calibrated to what’s called ‘18% grey’. The theory is that a mid-tone grey, halfway between black and white, reflects 18% of the light falling on it. Point your camera at a grey card or a rough mid-tone equivalent, such as a field of grass or a pavement, and the camera…

Your SLR’s optical viewfinder enables you to see through the lens you’re going to use to take your photo. The light coming through the lens is reflected up into the viewfinder using a mirror, which you can see when you take the lens off your camera. Normally, the image that you see in the viewfinder is shown with the lens at its maximum aperture, which means that it may not exactly match the appearance of your final shot. On many SLRs the viewfinder doesn’t quite show you the whole of the frame, because there’s an area around the edges of the image that isn’t visible in the viewfinder. But because of the design and shape of an SLR, using the viewfinder with the camera held up to your eye is…

The phase detection autofocus sensor can detect how far out of focus a subject is, and whether the lens needs to focus nearer or further – it knows the correct adjustment before it focuses Focusing is one of those tasks that sounds like it ought to be easy, but often it’s not. In the old days, you simply turned the focus ring until the image looked sharp, or turned a ring on the lens to line up the index marker with a picture of some mountains, a group or a single person. But today’s digital SLRs offer much higher levels of resolution, and the old techniques of guesswork and estimates aren’t good enough any more. We want our photographs to be razor-sharp, and for that we need the precision and…

Your digital camera does a lot more work to turn what you see in the viewfinder into a finished image than you probably give it credit for. Understanding a little of what goes on deep inside your camera’s circuitry will help you understand some of the many options that you have to play with. Perhaps the most important thing to appreciate is that your image is only converted into digital form well after it has left the sensor. The sensor itself is an analogue component, creating an oldfashioned electrical signal that can be tweaked by electronic circuitry to increase the ISO, for instance, amplifying the signal in much the same way as you crank up the volume on your radio. The sensor is made up of millions of light-sensitive units,…

There’s a lot of complicated sounding equipment that comes with studio photography, but don’t get too bogged down with this. Our basic studio set-up above shows you the essential items that you’ll actually need. And all of it can be packed away into a small bag. When you’re working with two lights, a reflector is still surprisingly useful because it will effectively act as a third light. It can be used to bounce one of the existing lights back at the subject. If you’re working outside with natural light, a reflector is extremely handy. Reflectors come in many shapes and sizes, and different colours and surfaces will have different effects on a subject. Just like the studio lights, the height, angle and distance at which a reflector is positioned will…

Knowing how different lenses will affect perspective in your images is as important to the photographer as learning how to draw converging lines is for a draughtsman or architect. By changing the distance between the camera and the model and altering the focal length, we can manipulate the perspective and get some very different results. For the main image here, we shot our model Elle with a focal length of 185mm. Much less is visible in the background, the sky is out of the shot and the setting is much less important to the image. Elle is very much the focal point of this composition. There’s no right or wrong focal length to use, as it depends on how you want your image to look, but it is a great…

If you fancy trying some cool ‘strobist’ off-camera flash effects but fear it could be too difficult, take heart. To produce a moody, side-lit strobist portrait, all you need is a flashgun that supports automatic TTL exposure metering, so it is actually very straightforward. Once you have set up on-camera flash, you can position the flash either on a lighting stand or on a normal tripod. It’s a good idea to place the flash to the left and slightly above the subject to create dramatic side-lighting, making sure the flash is out of the frame. Take some test shots at different apertures until you get satisfactory settings, and remember that the wireless system needs a direct line of sight between the front of the flash and the camera. To give…

B‘ouncing’ flash, by aiming it at a ceiling or a wall, is a good way of getting more natural looking pictures, as the light becomes more diffuse and even. Bounce flash can look bland, however as the light can be a bit too even. Portraits also lack sparkle, as eyes don’t have ‘catchlights’ (the small, bright reflections of flash in people’s eyes). To get around these issues, it’s a good idea to use the pull-out ‘bounce card’ found on many hotshoe guns. This white plastic sheet directs some of the flash output straight at the subject, giving a smidge of direct light and adding mirror-like catchlights. Getting started is easy. The camera and flash can be set to take care of the flash exposure for you, even when you’re bouncing…

This photostitch project is the perfect thing to try on a wet Sunday afternoon. Simply clear a bit of space around a plain white wall, so you can set up some basic equipment, gather a few outfits or props and then set up your flash. Flashguns are a small light source, so the light is hard and unflattering, so fix a white umbrella to it. Attach your flash to a tripod using the thread in its stand, then rig an umbrella in front of it. If your flashgun is compatible, you can control it wirelessly with your camera’s pop-up flash. If not, use a sync lead or remote trigger. Use Manual mode, and set your shutter speed to about 1/200 sec. Set the aperture to f/11 and take a test…

The surreal effects of UV lighting are ideal for creative portrait photography, where props, clothes and make-up that react strongly to UV can be combined for psychedelic effects. The first job is to choose your lights. You can get bayonet- or screw-fit UV bulbs for around £5 each, which can be used in normal desk or ceiling lamps, but strip lights work best. A 20W mains unit with a tube costs around £30 from Maplin (www.maplin.co.uk); ideally, you need two for a balanced effect. For the above image we used strip lights. As these are designed for wall lighting, we attached them to studio flash stands using gaffer tape for ease of positioning. One was placed each side of our blonde model. A theatrical black backdrop was placed behind on…

When it comes to shooting fashion beauty portraits we invariably want to flatter the subject, so an effective way to do this is to shoot them in soft light. When shooting in daylight, it’s a common misconception that bright sunlight is best. The problem with sunlight is that it creates high contrast and hard-edged shadows, which isn’t kind on faces. We need to reduce the contrast with softer light. Forget the sun: a cloudy sky is much better for portraits. Clouds act like giant diffusers, creating softer light that fills in shadows and reduces contrast. If there isn’t a cloud in the sky, use a reflector or a piece of card to shade the person’s face, or go and find a better spot in the shade. When using flash in…

With a little ingenuity and some simple techniques you can create the illusion of speed with the car travelling at walking pace. This technique, known as a ‘bolt-on’, involves attaching the camera to the car and then using a long shutter speed to blur the background so that it looks like the car is travelling at speed. The first task is to find a safe location to take your shots. You’ll need a location where there aren’t any other vehicles, such as a dead-end road. You’ll also need a smooth surface, because any bumps will cause the camera to move, creating the wrong sort of blur. Some objects fairly close to the car will create the right sort of blur and give a sense of speed. Use a dedicated mount…

The majority of lenses use a standard scale of f-stops to indicate the size of the aperture, although the range of settings available varies depending on the lens being used. For instance, a 100mm macro lens typically offers an aperture range of f/2.8 to f/32, while a 28mm f/1.8 lens typically offers a range of f/1.8 to f/22. Each time the aperture is opened by one stop (from f/11 to f/8, say), twice as much light is let in. The reverse is also true: close the aperture by one stop and half as much light makes it to the camera sensor. There are two key reasons for changing the aperture. First, it ensures the sensor receives the right amount of light. If you’re shooting in the dark, for example, or…

When you press the shutter release button, there are a number of mechanical processes that have to happen before the light reaches the camera sensor and a picture is recorded. First, the mirror, which reflects the image into the viewfinder and allows you to focus and compose the shot, has to flip out of the way, which is why the viewfinder goes dark. Next, the shutter curtains, which prevent light from hitting the sensor, open and close… Photographers work very hard to get their subjects perfectly sharp, and to create just the right degree of background blur in their images, but it’s a mistake to imagine that focusing and lens aperture are the only controls that count. In fact the shutter speed plays an equally important part in controlling sharpness.…

Histograms look like rather daunting technical graphs at first glance, but they are the most useful tool you have to help you capture the exposure you want, every time. And they are actually not nearly as daunting as they appear. The histogram is essentially a graph that illustrates the range of tones in your image, from black on the far left to white on the far right with a mid-tone (18%) grey in the middle. As soon as you fire the shutter, a preview of your picture flashes up on the camera’s LCD. You can instantly see if the shot is too bright or too dark, so it seems unnecessary to have a second, more scientific, way of judging the suitability of your exposure settings. So why should you bother…

Angle of view is the maximum view a camera is capable of ‘seeing’ through a lens, expressed in degrees. The choice of focal length is obviously key here, with longer lenses having a narrower angle of view than shorter lenses. For instance, a 200mm lens has an angle of view of 12 degrees, while a 20mm lens offers a wider angle of view of 94 degrees on a full-frame camera. When it comes to zoom lenses, the angle of view changes according to the focal length the lens is zoomed at. However, the size of the imaging sensor inside the camera also affects the angle of view. The angle of view can be measured horizontally, vertically and diagonally, but lens manufacturers often list just the diagonal, corner-to-corner angle (as we’ve…

There’s a time and a place for flash. It will often kill the atmosphere at a party, but there are other times when it’s the essential ingredient for a successful shot. The secret to success is to use the built-in flash on most SLRs with caution. The key to getting good results is often a matter of exposure, ensuring you use settings that make the flash look as natural as possible. Using flash complicates the usual problems of exposure. You not only have to choose the shutter speed, aperture and ISO to suit the scene, you have to add the flash power into the exposure equation too. A flashgun provides a brief burst of light – but the duration can be varied to alter how much flash ‘power’ is added…

Whatever we do in photography, we need light to make our images happen. A reflector is simply a tool that helps us put that light where we want it. A reflector allows you to bounce available light – whether natural or artificial – back towards your subject, so you can change the way the light illuminates it. Reflectors come in various shapes and sizes, although the most common shapes are circular and rectangular. They are made from reflective material, usually in white, silver or gold for different effects. Some have handles or can be folded together for easy storage, while others are large and difficult to handle. You can even make your own reflector from white card. All photographers should have at least one reflector at their disposal, even if…

Pop-up or hotshoe flash is a necessary evil when taking pictures of people after dark, as however high your camera’s light sensitivity, you can only push it so far without the image degrading. After dark flash can appear crude, however, One of the major reasons that simple flash images don’t look so great is that the colour of flash is so different from the ambient lighting. Shoot indoors at a party or out on the high street and the background will look unnaturally orange, due to the predominantly tungsten bulb lighting that surrounds you. For more pleasing flash portrait effects, a solution is to fit an orange filter to your flash – this gel is known as CTO (which stands for Colour Temperature Orange). With this gel in place you…

While it’s possible to buy all manner of soft-focus filter attachments for your camera, all you actually need is a pair of tights. Simply take a pair of scissors, and carefully cut out an area large enough to cover the lens and extend down onto the barrel. Fix it down with an elastic band and start shooting. You’ll need to get tights of the right thickness and take the colour into account, and be careful not to ladder the fabric, but that really is all there is to it. The fine net pattern of the fabric produces the soft-focus effect, as the image is formed from the light that passes through the tiny gaps between the threads. This could be related to the diffraction (softening) effects you get when taking…

The sun is a wonderful light source for portrait photography, but you need to use it as carefully as you would use an artificial light source like studio flash. When shooting subjects with the sun behind them, it helps if the sun isn’t too high in the sky, so shoot in the mornings and evenings when the sun is lower (especially in autumn and winter). At the day’s beginning or end sunlight becomes more diffused because of the angle of the earth’s atmosphere, so the light is softer. Don’t position your subject so that direct sunlight falls on their face. Hard light from the sun creates too much contrast, with hard, deep shadows. It can also lead to squinting and unflattering expressions. If possible, look for the shade of a…

Shooting fashion images in an outdoor environment has a lot more potential pitfalls than being in a studio. Not only is the light constantly changing, but you also have to be able to find the right location to shoot in. This can bring added stress, because you’ll have to deal with messy backgrounds and the possibility of people walking right through the middle of your set! As with so much portrait photography, it’s really important to build some rapport with your subject. If your model is a relation or a close friend who’s only used to being snapped in the pub, then it’s best to choose a quiet location; to start with try to find somewhere away from crowds, such as a secluded area of park land. Take charge of…

Point of view or first-person shots are fun to photograph, and make great additions to your travel albums. They’re also great for sharing what you’re up to without taking a selfie. There’s no need to invest in a GoPro sports camera – with an ingenious SLR accessory you can get brilliant images of your adventures. It’s easy to get started. Shoot your hands and feet in different situations, such as patting a dog, dangling over a wall or buying an ice cream. At such close range, a super wide-angle lens is a big help for getting everything in shot, but you could use your kit zoom lens at its widest zoom setting instead. Hands-free shots require a bit more preparation, but with the right equipment you’ll be able to take…

Capturing the magic of an exploding smile, the emotion of a child in thought or the expressiveness of a mischievous grin far outweighs the risks of tears and tantrums. Forget about formal settings and posed shots. Those aren’t the ideal situations for taking shots of children that also express their personalities. For a natural look, create a relaxed and casual environment in which children can simply play and be themselves, and while they’re playing, capture some candid images. This is a great way to capture natural expressions, and the children won’t get so frustrated with adults pointing cameras in their faces or shouting at them to “say cheese”. There’s an art to successfully capturing a real winner. You need to make sure you’ve got the right location for photography as…

Water and cameras don’t usually mix. However, there are a wealth of options available to help you take pictures underwater without wrecking your camera. At the top end of the market you can get pricey hard cases, but a more wallet-friendly choice is to use a soft case like the ones from Aquapac or Dicapac. These have a cylindrical space for your lens, fronted by a hard, clear plate. Your D-SLR sits in the bag, and you can press buttons and access controls through the soft material. All bagged up, here’s a quick guide to getting great portraits at the beach (a risky place for an expensive camera...) Before you submerge your expensive D-SLR, it’s worth checking that the seams are water-tight and the locking mechanism is secure. An easy…

Reflections are a ripe subject for photographic trickery. To create this kind of mirror image that couldn’t possibly have occurred in real life is easier than you think, and it all begins in-camera. As with our example, you will need three images. In the first, the subject holds the camera with one hand, and stretches the other out to the surface of the mirror. In the second, he switches hands in order to capture the other arm stretched out. And in the third, he holds the camera below his chin to capture his face. If you plan to shoot your own images for this, keep your camera and body position as fixed as possible so that everything can be aligned. Shooting somebody else is probably a lot easier, as however…

Shooting outdoors is always a challenge. The key is to be discreet (turn off any autofocus beep, for instance), and don’t be afraid to bump the ISO right up if you need to; better a grainy shot that an indistinct blur. Ask the best man to take charge of organising the various groups that need to be photographed. Shoot in burst mode to maximise your chances of getting a shot without anyone blinking.…