8 Things You Should Always Keep in Your Camera Bag

There are a few things every photographer should keep in his or her camera bag. Check our list to make sure you’re not forgetting something important!

1. Spare memory card

There’s nothing worse than having the perfect shot, going to take your picture, and your camera telling you your memory card is full. To avoid going through all your pictures on the spot and deleting the bad ones—which is incredibly frustrating and time-consuming—keep a few spare memory cards in your bag at all times; they take up zero space, so there’s no excuses!

2. Microfiber cloth

A microfiber cloth is one of the most useful and cheapest accessories a photographer can have in their bag. It’s primarily used for cleaning dirt and dust off of camera lenses, but it’s also extremely useful for wrapping up other accessories in your camera bag (memory cards, lenses, flashes), to keep them from being scratched or damaged.

3. Plastic bag

It happens to all of us photographers: we get stuck in the rain. Make sure you have a grocery bag tucked away in your camera bag for those unexpected downpours. All you need is a hole in the bag for the lens, and you have an inexpensive way to keep your camera dry and still get your perfect shot.

4. Mini tripod

Carrying a full size tripod isn’t always practical. Keep a mini tripod in your camera bag so you are never caught without a camera support again. Travel models can be folded very small for storage, and although they are obviously not as sturdy as full size tripods, they are still versatile. They can be set up in places a full size tripod would struggle with (in trees, on walls, very uneven surfaces) and are perfect for low-light photography.

5. Flash

A flash is excellent for adding additional light to your shot. If you haven’t tried before, you’ll quickly see that it will add a whole new depth and dimension to your photography. A flash is a must for every serious photographer.

6. Battery

A full day of shooting will eat away at your battery life, especially if you overuse the LCD screen, which drains the battery quickly. I always like to keep a spare battery in my bag. I also find that turning your camera off and on repeatedly uses a lot of battery power. Hopefully, keeping a spare battery is obvious; if your battery runs flat, there’s nothing else to do but pack up and go home!

7. Lens

If you’re using a camera with a changeable lens, it is vital to have at least one extra lens. This is to give you greater choice with your focal length and will also be a backup lens if anything happens to your primary lens.

8. Manual- optional

Keeping your manual in your bag, might just save you one day. It can be used to sort out a camera problem or a setting you are struggling with. It can be difficult to remember the variety of settings on your camera, so always keep it handy!

Action Photography: Quick Tips You Should Use

Getting great photographs of the world in motion is a difficult task. More than any other kind of photography, action photography demands lightning-quick reflexes, a solid foundation in composition and other photo elements, and a little bit of luck. That being said, anyone can learn to take great action shots if they’re willing to commit a little time to understanding the methods to the madness. Here are some techniques to get you started taking action photos:

Know Your Subject Matter

Due to the short amount of time you have to shoot, it’s important that you understand the subject you’re photographing. For example, with basketball, if you’re not near the basket, you won’t get a good picture of the next dunk. Before you start shooting a particular subject in action, take time to understand your subject so you can anticipate the action before it happens.

Get the Subject in Action

You want to always try to get the subject at the time when the action is at its maximum impact. For example if you’re photographing snowboarders jumping off a ramp, know what type of shot you want. Do you want the launch, the landing, or the highest part in the jump? Action photography can be captivating if you compose the picture to include the most interesting part of the action. So, always be thinking of the best way to compose your picture.

Focus in Advance

Many professional photographers focus their cameras on an empty space where they expect something to happen. This is an easy thing to do if you know the activity you’re shooting, and it will save you valuable time when someone is flying through the air in your frame and you have milliseconds to react.

Pan with the Subject

It is important in action photography that you convey motion in the final print. While some subjects will have obvious motion, such as a basketball player frozen mid-dunk, others may require a bit of work on your part. Panning is when you move your camera to keep up with the subject as they pass in front of you. This will give you the end result of the subject being clearly in focus but the background being blurred by the motion of the camera.

Using the Right ISO and Using a Flash

High ISO is usually best for action photography. The high light sensitivity will let you use faster shutter speeds in more varied light situations and help you to freeze actions perfectly. For ultra fast movements, a flash can also be helpful; however, most built-in camera flashes won’t work well beyond 10 feet.

Frame the Image for Action

Try not to simply stop the action of a subject in your photograph. While freezing an action in progress is a good goal for an action shot, allow the viewer room to follow the action to a possible conclusion. For example if you have someone jumping down some stairs, position the subject near the top of the picture and have some stairs below so it’s easier to understand the outcome of the action.

Digital Makes it Easier

Action photography takes an enormous amount of patience and practice. Thanks to digital cameras and their near-endless supply of photographs, you can practice your action shots without taking a huge hit on your wallet. And even better, many modern cameras have continuous shooting modes that allow you to shoot 10-50 images in rapid succession, so you can have more opportunities for the perfect shot.

Anytime your shooting action photography, safety needs to come first so you can avoid injuring yourself or the subject in motion. Never position yourself where you run the risk of getting hit by vehicles or athletes, and make sure that the people you are shooting are aware of where you’ll be during the activity. Beyond that, the more you shoot, the better you’ll get!

8 point -You Know You’re a Photographer When…

Being a photographer is more than just a hobby or a career choice—it’s life. Something you feel you literally could not live without. Every instant of your waking moment, you feel the dire need to pull your camera out and take a picture of the beauty of your surroundings. Sound familiar? I have compiled a list of eight ways you know when you’re a photographer.

1. You get upset when you don’t have your camera on you.

I feel as though every photographer knows this feeling. For instance, maybe you decide to go for a walk down to the beach and accidentally leave your camera sitting on the kitchen bench. When you go to take a picture, your heart drops. And the only reason you don’t know you’re missing your camera until you get to the beach is because you’re so used to it being in your hands; it’s almost second nature. Your body has adapted to your photography addiction, and it doesn’t recognize when something is drastically wrong. Am I right?

2. Lighting > Equipment

At some stage in a photographer’s life, there comes a point when having the best equipment just doesn’t cut it. You begin to realize that there’s more to a good photo than the equipment (although it’s still one of my many pleasures) You realize that the the lighting of the photograph is the important part. Unfortunately, there is (arguably) no tool that can give you perfect lighting other than taking a photo at the right time, at the right angle, and using the lighting of the situation to your advantage.

3. You can make crap look good.

Okay, so this one might be stretching it, if we’re taking the point literally. I mean, maybe you can turn a piece of dog poo into art, but that’s not entirely the point I’m trying to make. Basically, as a photographer, you see potential photographs that most people couldn’t imagine being a photograph. Maybe it’s a picture of a trash can or a brick wall—whatever it is, you begin to think outside the box; you begin to take pictures, and you develop a sense of what makes good photographs, regardless of what other people may think.

4. Your camera battery runs out before any other gadget.

Photographers are known best for having their cameras with them at all times. Regardless of the event, the camera will be glued to the photographer’s hand for that perfect moment to take a quick photo. However, this comes with negative repercussions. The camera batteries do not last a lifetime. Unfortunately, photographers must face the constant annoyance of having their camera battery die before their phone battery. For most “normal” people, this is simply unfathomable. For photographers, this is the harsh reality of being addicted to using a camera.

5. You think the sound of a camera shutter is pleasurable.

There is nothing I love more than the sound of a camera shutter. It’s like music to my ears, and I know many people who can relate. For some, the sound of birds is pleasurable; for others, it’s math equations (is that even a thing?). But for photographers, it’s the sound of the camera shutter—knowing that a high quality photograph will be a result of the shutter. Surely there are more of us out there?!

6. You get annoyed at people who buy top-of-the-line cameras only to take selfies.

When you take photography seriously, just like any other form of art, nothing is worse than people who purchase the latest and the greatest cameras only to take photos of themselves. Okay, in some cases, it can be a justified purchase. Maybe you’re a model? But if you’re uploading it to Facebook for only your friends and family to see, then maybe you can understand why photographers get irritated. You see, photographers (in most cases) very rarely take photos of themselves. Instead, they’re exploring the beauty of the world around them too much to worry about themselves.

7. You are offended when someone makes a harsh comment about your camera.

“Your camera looks too big,” for example, is just unnecessary criticism. What do you want me to do about the size of my camera? Do you think I didn’t notice? People don’t seem to understand that if you insult the camera, then you might as well insult the camera owner. At least we then have a reason to get offended, right? I mean, how would you feel if someone came up to you and said you had a big nose? Is that more of a justified reason to act offended? If you’re a photographer, then the answer is no.

8. Traveling is more about photography than it is relaxing.

Finally, we have come to my favorite point of all: traveling. For most people, traveling is more about relaxing—building strong memories to last a lifetime. Photographers want much more than that. We want to be reminded of our traveling experiences with physical memories—photographs of our experiences. Why have a slice of cake when you can have the whole thing? That’s not to say that photographers don’t know how to relax, but we would rather capture the surroundings of the location than waste our time sleeping on the beach.

6 Tips on Painting with Light: Intentional Camera Movement

Intentional Camera Movement is the when the camera is moved in horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or random directions while the shutter is open. The resulting image is deliberately blurred and often abstract.

ICM images are not what most people think of as traditional photographs. I describe it to people as “painting with my camera,” because my images are painterly and impressionistic. Others can be more abstract.

Each photographer finds their own process and develops their own style and signature—this is true for all photographers and for those who employ ICM in their work, thus, I offer these tips and techniques aware of our individual approaches to photography. As a photographer interested in ICM, you need to find your own way through the inspiration of others and develop your own style.

Tripod

Using a tripod is the best way to introduce yourself to deliberate camera movement. It’s an invaluable tool to start with by employing long sweeps from right to left and left to right in 2–3 second exposures under low light conditions. You need to be under low light conditions or use neutral density filters to allow you to shoot in daylight. Study your EXIF data after you’ve discovered what you like in your work; it will give you important information about how to set your shutter speed and aperture to achieve the look you’re going for in your photographs.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is probably the most important element to control what you want in your photos. I prefer, for my own work, to work between 1/20 and 1/5 of a second. In order to accomplish good results at these fairly fast slow shutter speeds, you need to move the camera very quickly with a strong follow through and camera set on “continuous shoot.” In daylight, setting your camera at its lowest ISO and closing your aperture down will help you get the shutter speed that works for you. I prefer to use aperture priority or bulb mode on my camera to achieve the slower shutter speed, because I’ve found that shutter speed priority will vary as the camera is moved particularly around light and dark areas in the subject matter.

Choosing Your Images

When it comes to choosing your best ICM images, it’s subjective, like all art. However, here are some guidelines to help you see beyond the initial photograph before you delete it! When you choose your images, certain interrelationships within the image you’ll want and others you won’t.

For example, the balance of colors, gradations and tonality— lightness to darkness within the image—will improve your photograph. Looking closely at your photo to find the image within the image is a great skill to develop because you can take an okay image and make it better through cropping—other images just cannot be improved. Interrelationships between light and dark, the “heaviness” in color or darkness needs to be balanced in an image. You do not want an image that is too dark or heavy on one side but rather, is equally weighted visually.

Layers of colors and tones need to be balanced, too. For example, a heavy layer at the top of an image that takes up 2/3 of the space with several smaller layers at the bottom of the image is not the best option because it’s not as pleasing to the eye. Cropping that layer to balance the bottom of the image is an option to consider.

Conclusion

Finally, experiment, experiment, experiment! Find inspiration in photographers you admire who take ICM images and have fun with it—play!! Experimenting with ICM will help you, as a photographer, find your own style, your own way of working with this approach to photography—you don’t want to copy another photographer, but be inspired by them!

If ICM is for you, you will find that your passion for it will grow daily and you’ll need several memory cards because this technique takes up a lot of space!

Perfect Timing in Photography Composition

When we create photographic images, we would like our compositions to be different and eye-catching—even when the subject is common.

We all know that timing is extremely important in photography, as it can make all the difference between an excellent image and one that is mundane.

We have the standard timing of sunsets—we have to be on site at the correct time and know when the sun will set.

By the same token, we know at what time the sun will rise if we are looking for sunrise images.

Both of these are linked to what’s called the “golden hour.”

Then we have other natural timings to help us capture images we have planned, such as tides:

This also applies to moonrises and sets:

These are all natural events and we have no way of changing the times at which they occur. If we want sunrise images we have to get out of bed early!

What I would really like to highlight, however, is how we, as photographers, can use timing to get unique images that are truly ours. This is not difficult. All it needs is a bit of forethought and patience.

Obviously, sometimes a slice of luck can help!

By just taking time to appreciate what is happening in the scene, we can give it a very different perspective. Look for any movement and decide how to somehow incorporate this into your image—but in a way that will complement the subject.

A standard early morning image of Big Ben along Westminster Bridge. If we take the time to wait, we can catch a bus!

The bus makes the image just a bit different.

We can try to catch the bus again—this is an interesting night scene as is, but, again, a bit of patience can be very rewarding.

The long exposure of the bus really does change the image!

Always wait for the right moment—with good timing, we can create excellent images that are distinctly our own! Shooting in digital makes this all so much easier as we can see immediately if we have captured the image we want. Have fun!