1) A DSLR Is A Must

It’s been said that pure talent is enough in most types of photography, with equipment playing a minor role however motorsports is one of the rare exceptions where you definitely need special equipment. A good example of this would be when an aspiring photographer with an average skill level with a point and shoot can capture a beautiful landscape image while a relative newbie could totally botch it up with a state of the art DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex). All the skills in the world will not help you capture a motorcycle traveling at speeds over 200mph: One needs a DSLR for that. Specifically it is the speed and control a DSLR offers.

The main features that come into play is a high frames per second shooting mode, high-speed auto focus, and near-absence of shutter lag. The faster the above is usually better although today even an entry-level DSLR will do the job. A higher end, fast DSLR will definitely make your life easier. As for lenses, obviously the longer zoom range you have the more options are open to you but that doesn’t mean having a short lens will mean it’s hopeless. Work with what you have, and don’t spend time dreaming about what you don’t have.

3) Understanding The Track Layout

Unless you’ve been to the track numerous times, it’s important to explore the track as best as you can to scope out acceptable potential spots to shoot from. If you have never been to a racetrack at all you will see it’s simple to get caught off guard by the sheer size of the track premises. Many times just moving from one side of the track to the other can easily be a 20 minute walk or much more.

When it’s actually time to shoot the race, you want to know the exact locations you’ll go after you’ve finished capturing all the pictures you wanted at a particular spot. By not being prepared you’ll most likely end up getting stuck in the same position the entire time or worse, miss numerous laps (possibly even the rest of the race) by walking around looking for another suitable spot to shoot from. Race weekends usually include practice sessions for the racers. You can use them as your practice sessions too.

3) Totally Embracing The Sport

Having a good understanding of the sport is not necessary to take great motorsports shots but it can at least decrease the learning curve a bit and allow you to quickly move up the ranks to being a motorsport photographer. For example take a look at motorcycle racing. Were you looking to get a pic of racers dragging their knees? It’s best to position yourself at tight, relatively high speed corners to get a good one.

How about a motorcyclist tucked in low and tight behind the windscreen? Stay away from the braking zones where the racers need to sit up to prepare for corner entry. Need to capture a stand-up wheelie shot? No one will be trying any celebratory antics in the middle of a race, so wait until the end.

Although the above three tips may give you a head start of sorts, what they can’t replace is practice and an inevitable amount of trial and error. The first time out may prove to be a rude awakening, but once you get more acquainted with the speed of your subjects and the capabilities of your equipment, it will come together soon enough. Most of all, have fun!

Lighting plays the major role in the photographing process. No matter how good is your composition, if the lighting is not good, then the whole photo will not be good either. It has this power to ruin a good image and make it useless, but it also has the power to make an ordinary photo, a great work of art. That’s why the camera should be set to collect the correct amount of light.

Exposure is the amount of light that is collected by the photographic medium, whether it is a film or a digital sensor, while shooting a single photograph. There is no fixed value of a correct amount of light, because it depends on the available lights, the objects, and the photographer’s judgment. However, it is safe to say that there’s an acceptable exposure and an unacceptable exposure. Most exposures that obscure details while not adding any artistic value are considered unacceptable.

Basically, a dark scene will need long exposures, allowing more light to be collected by the sensor, which translates to a well exposed photograph. Otherwise, the photograph will be underexposed, having too many dark areas, the dark objects loosing their details, and the bright objects becoming dull. Alternatively, a bright scene will need short exposures, limiting the amount of light collected by the sensor, yielding a well exposed photograph. If more exposure is used, the photograph will become too bright with many blown highlights.

The camera controls the exposure through shutter speed and aperture. Shutter speed controls the time for which the shutter will stay open. Slow shutter speed means more exposure, while fast speed will allow less exposure. On the other hand, aperture controls the degree of openness of the lens. Narrow aperture will let less light pass through it than a wide aperture. ISO speeds also affect the degree of exposure. Higher ISO speeds will make the sensor more sensitive to light, reducing exposure, but it will add undesired noise to the photos.

When manually setting the exposure, the photographer usually sets the aperture and the shutter speed independently. When automatic exposure is used instead, the camera will calculate the optimum exposure based on the light meter used. Because of the lack of manual controls over exposure in many low-end cameras (including most digital compact cameras), exposure compensation (if available) should be used to fine tune the automatic exposure suggested.

Photographs with very dark and very bright spots will not show correct exposure on all their parts using any type of cameras. Usually, photographers take the same photograph at different exposures, and combine them together using software programs.

A good approach to learn more about exposure is to look at the exposure settings of your previous photographs, and compare them Look for the exposure time (shutter speed), the aperture, the ISO speed, and the exposure compensation in the data that is stored in your image files. As a result, you will get a clearer idea on how exposure can impact your photos.

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From a scenic point of view, taking a photograph of a subject filling a small area in your frame may leave you with many empty spaces that if not effectively used, will render your photo boring. An effective remedy to this is to fill the frame with your subject, so as to get rid of these empty spaces.

Sometimes it is even better to include nothing but your subject. For example, consider this situation in which you are photographing a wild animal at the zoo. The most common composition is one that consists of an animal, a cage, and maybe spectators. But if you fill your photo’s frame with the animal’s face only, anyone might think that it was taken in the wild. The ambiguity resulted from close-ups lead observers use their imaginations to complete the picture . A photo of legs of a man and a woman standing in front of each other can tell many things. Here, all you did is that you removed the subjects’ personalities, so as to give a space for the observer to think.

Portraits are usually a strong candidate for closeups. While taking a portrait inside a specific environment is always nice, close-up portraits are used to give a very different sort of experience. A portrait in which your subject fills the whole frame gives some sort of a personalized feeling. A facial portrait usually makes you in direct contact with the subject, as if you are looking to someone sitting in front of you. Including only some body parts in the frame is usually done to produce an abstract feel, or to focus on a certain action.

Even with still life, close-ups work great. This allows you to see usual things in very unusual ways, revealing many details that were not obvious before. This is particularly important when photographing products and machine parts.

Zooming and cropping are the tools used to create close-ups. Cropping allows you to cut any part you want from any photograph, making it flexible to carefully choose your composition, but you have to know that the image size will be smaller than the original.

As you can see, close-ups open a new door for your creative expression using photography. So use your imagination, and make your audience use theirs.

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The reason why this rule is very well known is that it is pretty easy to apply. All you need is just to know how you should frame your subject.

A photograph is divided into a 3×3 grid similar to that of thee famous Tic-tac-toe game. Two lines are used to divide the photograph into three horizontal sections, while two other perpendicular lines divide it into three vertical sections. Thus, we will have four intersection points, each of which is a hot-spot for framing the subjects . These four points along with the lines should be used as guides on which you should align your subjects.

In case of closeups, the subject itself will probably be bigger than the whole frame. As a result, interesting features within the subject should be aligned instead. An interesting example of this case is a closeup portrait where the facial features are the objects that form the composition. Most photographers align the eyes to the first horizontal line from top. This is mainly because eyes are the most important feature of the face, and that by doing so, the rest of the facial features will be well placed inside the photo too.

Landscape photographers use this rule too. If the foreground contains any subjects, they should be placed in compliance with the rule (usually along vertical lines). As for the background, horizons are usually aligned to one of the horizontal lines. Some landscape photos may contain other elements in the background like clouds or mountains. These can also be aligned to the lines of thirds and, if possible, separated in different thirds, producing a well composed photograph.

In photography, it is very important to know exactly when to break the rules. There are some instances where the perfect alignment should be sacrificed for a better overall composition, such as when some important details are missing just outside the frame. In other situations the rule is usually neglected, like when trying to balance reflection with the real subjects inside the frame. Here, the mirror line (the line separating the reflection from the real) is usually aligned at the middle.

The Rule of Thirds is an easy to learn, yet very effective technique. By using it, you will be able to produce photos that are very appealing to the eyes.

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A plain photo with no focal points will probably not grab the attention of the observer for a long time even if the composition is great. The reason is that the eyes usually look for something interesting and unique to grab their attention. Whether it is a flower, a barrel, or a human, any interesting object will do.

There are many ways to enhance a focal point and all are related to the conventional rules of photography. The first thing to take care of is where to place your focal point. A good place to start is at the four hot-spots or along the lines of thirds. Another possibility is to place it at the convergence point of leading lines which naturally grab attention into the photograph. Studying your surroundings is essential to know which is the best approach to use.

In addition to the position, contrasting your object with a background of textures or patterns will make it stand out too. This contrast will add more definition to the shape of your object yielding an excellent focal point. A strong colorful contrast can only improve the effect further. Always remember that the brighter and bigger your object is, the more attention it will grab.

If the surroundings are distracting, maybe you should make them less detailed to bring out your object. It is a sort of distinction between the out of focus environment and the in focus object. With the whole picture blurred out except for a detailed object, it will naturally grab the attention of the observer. During this process, the depth of field is changed. The shallower the DOF is, the blurrier the out of focus objects will be. A similar effect can be the result of motion blur. In long exposures, moving objects tend to lose their details while still objects maintain their shapes and forms.

Although you may contain more than one focal point in your composition, too many will just render your photograph confusing. Therefore, when capturing your next photo, try to think about it from an observer’s point of view.  

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Knowing your camera’s features very well will lead you to make better decisions about what settings to use in different situations. Maybe you should first check the automatic settings as they will quickly give you a better control on your photographs. They are sufficient in most conditions, however, being able to manually adjust your photos will generally yield better results . In this case, manual controls should be used instead if your camera allows it. The give you the ability to fine tune your photos as you wish.

If printing photographs is desired, the camera should be set to maximum quality and the photographs should be stored at the maximum resolution. This is important to insure that the prints will not look pixelated. Consequently, the size of the images will increase, so it is advisable to make sure you will have enough space in your storage media, while at the same time trying to find a reliable backup solution.

Nearly every compact camera sports an autofocus feature these days. When taking your picture, just press the shutter button half way down and keep holding it that way. The camera will perform the analysis and try to automatically set focus on the subject. That’s why pressing and holding the button should be done while aiming at the subject and then the camera can be moved (while still holding) to get the desired composition. After choosing the desired composition, the button should be completely pressed so as to capture the photo.

Even if your camera has an anti-shaking feature, it is usually better to use a tripod (or anything equivalent) to hold the camera still while photographing in low light situations. The reason is that the camera will try to compensate for the low light with long exposure. Most compact digital cameras will not produce very clear images in low lighting even when a tripod is used, so it is always advisable to improve the lighting if possible.

Not all features are valuable though. Most compact cameras produce bad photos at high ISOs (>400) and they should only be used for capturing fast moving objects. Using the built-in flash should be avoided except when there is no other efficient light source. The small distance between the lens and the flash source will produce very harsh shadows behind the subjects making them look like cardboard. That’s why external light sources are usually preferred. The only feature that you should never use is digital zooming.

Getting to know your camera well requires experimenting . No matter how difficult it may sounds, you should know that this is the shortest path towards improving your photographing skills.

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Lines can have a very nice impact on your composition making it more appealing. They can grab the attention of the eye into a certain direction, they can add depth to the photo, and they can form interesting patterns.

While you may not notice, lines are abundant in our surroundings. The horizon, beaches and fallen trees, all can add interesting horizontal lines to your photos which can add a sense of stability to the picture. While adding lines to you composition, you should not forget about the Rule of Thirds, and try keep the horizontal lines perpendicular to the edges of your photo. Remember that this type of lines is usually more convenient to horizontal photos .

Vertical lines are even more obvious to us. It is a natural fact that nearly everything tends to grow vertically which is why vertical lines usually reflect growth and power. To avoid misusing the vertical lines, make sure that they are perpendicular to the top and bottom edges of the photo. These lines look best in portrait orientation.

Diagonal lines are even more usable than the previous two types. They can add depth to a photograph as well as creating points of interest inside your composition and if repeated, they can also produce nice patterns. They can give a sense of speed and movement. It is usually better to have the diagonal lines away from the photo’s diagonals so as to make it more interesting.

The lines’ types and orientations are related to the viewpoint used in the photograph. Just by changing your point of view, you can turn horizontal or vertical lines into interesting diagonal lines. Combining this with placing a subject at the convergence point will make an excellent composition.

Unlike lines, shapes are used to transmit the meaning of a photograph to the observer. Shapes are the 2D outlines of the objects, and they play a major role in making these objects recognizable. Contrasting an object with a different background is usually the best way to put emphasis on its shape . Thus, the edges of your object will be clear, and consequently, its shape will be very well defined.

Objects may look the same from some angles and that may result ambiguity. To avoid this, choose an angle that will portray your object in a unique way.

Understanding composition in terms of lines and shapes is one step forward toward more mature artistic expression.

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The first thing you need to think about is why you need the camera. This will allow you to limit your search in a specific range and which will eventually save you a lot of time and money.

If you are looking for an ordinary camera to take your photos without caring much about advancing in photography, then a basic camera should be enough. In this case, you may sacrifice the features for the price. It is still possible to find some good set of basic functions in this range such as autofocusing and white balancing. This will allow you to start taking photos without much hassle.

But if you are more of a hobbyist than a snapshooter, maybe it is better to consider a camera with more features so as to cope with your hobby’s needs. Cameras in this range usually have a decent overall quality of the pictures they produce, and they provide the photographer with higher light sensitivity, better zoom options, and more manual settings.

While they might not be considered basic, high-end compact cameras are regarded as a cheap alternative of DSLRs . The results may not be as good as those of DSLRs, but these cameras are capable to produce very high quality photographs compared to other compact cameras due to the manual settings they have (aperture, focus, and shutter speeds), the better lenses, and the stronger sensors. They also usually provide the ability to take RAW type photos which allows later precise adjustments.

When buying a digital camera, it is important to understand well the features you really need, not those advertised. Features such as video and audio recording may not be needed by some. So it might be better for you to focus on cameras with stronger photographic capabilities and disregard the other features. Another feature that is usually emphasized so as to confuse the buyers is the amount of megapixels that constitute an image produced by the camera. A large number of megapixels is needed for very large prints and it allows more details in the photographs. However, it is not enough to produce high quality prints if the camera has a bad sensor or lacks many features.

To have a good idea about what to expect, it is usually recommended to read online reviews and comparisons regarding the cameras you are considering. Many websites provide samples of photos taken by many different cameras and compare them. In the end, this will make you confident that you are making the right choice.

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One of the most common types of hobbies that many choose is photography. {Some go to college to learn how to make the most of a camera, but you don’t have to do that to take some really great shots.} {To take some really great shots you don’t need to go to college to learn to use a camera, although some people do.} You will lay the foundation for exceptional picture taking talent if you take the time with beginner photography. As with any endeavour and photography is no different you need a good basic knowledge.

You may want to get reference material that explains what you need to know about light, focus and distance and how a camera works when you start photography. There are various settings on a camera, and the manual ones are the ones that take the best shots. Auto setting works well for many, but for those truly artistic and breath-taking photos, you have to know what all the settings on the manual camera really do.

For beginners the next step is to find a camera. You can find a great camera no matter what your budget however some are very expensive. You do have to be aware that some of the lower end ones may not have the longevity of some of the pricier ones and they may have other limitations. Bells and whistles should worry you less however than the basics for beginner photography. You also have to decide if you want digital or film, or perhaps one of both.

You can teach yourself if you do not want to take beginner photography classes. What you need to know about framing a shot properly, F stops and lighting can be found in many great books that you can find. Those are all essential for truly great photos. Beginner photography course can also be found online that you can go through at your own pace when you have time. As a hobby photography for beginners should be fun not stressful. That is why the best way to go is learning at your own pace. Before you know it, you will have a fun hobby that gives you the creative outlet that you need.

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Ansel Adams is one of the most treasured American exponents the arts. He became famous for his art photography prints of the American West and Yosemite National Park in particular. He loved this landscape and was a passionate environmentalist. To capture vast scenes of mountains, forests and lakes he used a large format camera. He was made a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1966 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, which is the highest award that a civilian can receive in the United States. His reproduced works include Moon and Half Dome Yosemite National Park 1960, Oak Tree, Sunset City, California 1932, Mount McKinley and Wonder Lake, Denali National Park, Alaska and Aspens Northern New Mexico.

Known as the ‘father of modern photo-journalism’ Henri Cartier Bresson was a French man. Rather than formal poses he was largely responsible for taking photography out of the studio into the streets. He began as a painter and was a true artist with a camera. He travelled extensively in Europe, taking art photography prints of Berlin, Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, and Madrid. Japan, China, India and the Soviet Union were also places he visited. He formed the influential Magnum picture agency for photo-journalism with the help of Cartier Bresson. Ahmedabad, Guejerat, India 1966, Queen Charlotte’s Ball 1959, Sidewalk Café, and the view from Top of Notre Dame are among his prints that are available to buy.

Bill Brandt was a British photographer and photo-journalist, celebrated for his landscapes, nudes, and his documentation of British life. The Government commissioned him to photograph the underground bomb shelters for civilians during the Blitz in London in World War II. As in Nude 1952, his nude art photography prints are artfully shot in black and white. Brandt’s work was used by Life magazine, including the print, Rider on Horseback in Hyde Park, a shot from 1940 in London’s famous park, showing a rider on a white horse and a line of trees.

Robert Mapplethorpe is an American photographer, mostly known for his pictures of celebrities. His reputation was sealed when he photographed Patti Smith for the iconic cover of her debut album, Horses. He also took pictures of Grace Jones, Richaed Gere, Debbie Harry and Andy Warhol. Many of Mapplethorpe’s other art photography prints are of flowers. They often have a luminous sheen when delicately shot with pale colours. 

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