Different angles

Math!

In case you wonder what photography has to do with math, I am going to talk about angles. Telling you how many degrees your camera should make an angle with the horizon line. And for vertical shots explaining when to use 40 degrees and when to use 60. Of course this is also depending on the angle of the main lighting makes with the subject and the camera. Where you multiply this by 1.3 when poorly lit.
Okay, enough nonsense and now let's go to the angles I do want to mention.

Composition

It is said a good photographer knows when to adhere to the rules of composition and when to break them. As seen from the title of my blog, I am a noob, so far away from that. That does not mean I do not think of composition. I did read books and articles about it. In an early post, I already told one of those rules: fill the frame.
I think if you want the top 3 you would get a list like:

• Rule of thirds
• Leading lines
• Patterns

I do miss one remark in most of these books and articles. I think it is as Scott Kelby calls: work the scene. In this post I call it different angles. He means also switching lenses, from zoom to wide. Work with different apertures. I prefer, as a noob, to limit it to: change your position. Shoot from a different angle.

Boring train

Yesterday I was in the zoo and like many zoos, they have a "train" that you can ride on. Knowing I wanted to write a post about this topic, I saw my opportunity and made this not so exciting photo.
The composition is as you might expect from a snapshot. The subject is dead center and no attention has been paid to the background. You might argue that the empty space on the left balances the train cars and people on the right, but I can assure you: I did not think of that when I made the photo.
This is the kind of photo you see pop up on someones Facebook page. Nothing totally wrong, nothing of much interest except to the person taking the photo.

Slightly less boring train

As I had made the previous photo, I walked a few meters and took another snapshot. You can see in that photo that I again did not think of any of the three previously mentioned rules. All I did was change the viewpoint. The same lens was on the camera, the same camera was used and in both cases they were post processed by clicking "auto" in Lightroom.

My change of viewpoint did alter the photo dramatically, though. In my opinion it goes more towards a photo and less a snapshot, but everyone is free to think different.
I did accomplish some things, though.
The first thing is the background. Because of the viewpoint, much less of it is visible and thus less distracting. For the attentive reader: this also means there is less information. At the first it would be easier to guess this is a zoo, given the visible exhibit. The second photo has only the tiger print on the train to indicate that.
The change of viewpoint does bring a more interesting angle to the subject, simply because this is not how you normally see it. Unless crouching down next to zoo trains is your fetish, of course.
The second photo has a very different feel from the first photo. And this also demonstrates the importance of different angles. By shooting the train twice from different angles, I could now afterwards compare and decide what I find the better photo. Or not necessarily better. The first I could show if I want to let people be aware I was at the zoo. But if it goes about zoo trains, I could then take the second photo.

What angle should I use?

A question that for me pops up often is then: what would be the correct angle? Where should my viewpoint be?
Now we're back to photography. And like so many things in photography there is no rule for that.
I do like hard rules, where you can be: if situation x, do y. But the first thing of a photo should be: what do I want to tell? What must my photo bring over?

Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, the two photos of the zoo train tell different things. Even if they are the same subject and shot just a few moments apart. But that demonstrates nobody can give you a hard rule, as nobody knows what you want to tell. That does not mean there can be no advice.

I am sure that pro's can give many tips. But even a beginner like me can add his two cents. Or in this case three cents, as I will give three tips.

My first advice would be: Unless you have a symmetrical photo, do not put the subject in the middle. That often makes a photo feel static and dull. Should you do that, use the rule "fill the frame". If there is nothing besides your subject, the static feel goes away. Of course, your subject needs to be interesting enough to actually fill the frame.

My second advice would be: do not take a photo from your normal viewpoint. If you take a photo from an ordinary thing just as you see them normally, there is not much incentive to actually look at the photo. It has very little that we do not know.

My third advice is: Look!

In the photos of the flowers, I mostly followed my own advice. If you look at the first you can see the cluster of flowers dead center. You can also see I shot it as I was standing there, looking from above. And I paid no attention to any surrounding or distracting items.
The flower is nice, the shot is crap.

Compare that with the second photo. Same flower, and even same spot. Both post-processed with Lightroom auto-settings. But a different angle. For this shot I got down and took the photo looking upwards. I had wanted to even go lower and below the flower, but there was a puddle of water and I did not want to get wet, so stayed where I was.

My first advice about the dead center looks almost ignored, but by changing the angle the flowers at the top also became more a part of the photo, just as the cluster of flowers is lower and more to the right.

The second advice was followed, which shows you more of the inside of the flower, giving you a slightly different view than you would do normally. To me this is definitely more interesting and thus enhances my subject from "ordinary flower" to "interesting flower".

The third advice is harder to define. But this image does show it. You can see how the changed angle did change the background. From that light stone to the darkness of the bushes behind the flower. It also mostly removed that ugly, distracting branch that comes in at the bottom of the first photo. And this is indeed where the "look" part comes in. I also had a photo from the same low position, but I was more to the left. That made the green of the foliage the background. I personally like more how the foliage frames around the dark background at that main cluster of flowers.

The truth

So, now everybody has read my three cents and noticed how I carefully composed the photo of the flower, you will all agree I am a master photographer. The truth is that I am far away from that. Almost all my photos are still snap shots. This photo is one of the very few times that I actually thought about what I was doing. Because I knew I wanted to make this blog post, so in the 15 minutes I was at the zoo before the others arrived, I actually looked around for possibilities to make photos that could demonstrate my points.

So, the first truth is that I am no master, but a beginner. There is also a second truth to be found here.
I think there is absolutely no doubt that the second flower shot is much better than the first. Now, if I can make the flower shots, the train shots (and some tree and building shots that could also demonstrate these points) in about 15 minutes, it does not take much time. And still I often just point and click. That is why I am a beginner, because I do not take time to think and look. Looking is the most important thing a photographer can do.

So, do not do as I do, but do as I say: Look and change your angle. Work the scene and think.
Or, if you like clicking: do as I do and not as I say, but still have fun shooting.

My glasses

Tools of the trade

As the header already says, I was not planning to talk about the glasses I need to wear for driving my car. I sincerely doubt there would be much interest in them, just as I would not really know what to tell about them.

Okay, I will tell you one thing. The picture here is totally wrong. First of all I checked and noticed I was not a girl and second: my glasses seem to be a bit smaller. I have not checked that last in the mirror, so that meant I had the glasses in my hand as I looked at them. They definitely seemed smaller than the one this picture, but perhaps my eyes fooled me, as I was not wearing my glasses.
Apparently when you're a photographer, you do not talk about your lenses, but about your "glass". Luckily I am just a noob, so can call it whatever I want. But should I below mention the term "glass", it is certainly about lenses and not the thing to wear on your face.

We need the best!

Like so many people I have looked at all the available lenses for my camera, and there really are many. In fact, for a newbie I would say there is way too much choice. In an earlier post (wearing glasses) I already said a bit about lenses. Just as I mentioned that bigger is not always needed. I will add immediately that "the best" is also not always needed. Besides that the best is hard to define, as it is mostly depending on what you will do with it, I would advise any beginner to stay away from "the best". Simply because the best tends to be the most expensive.
What you need to do is determine what kind of photo you want to make and where you want to show it. As I am a newbie myself, I cannot give the pro advice, but what I can do is tell about my lenses, and how satisfied I am with them.

The kit lens

My first set was two kit lenses that came with the camera I bought. The camera was a Nikon D3200 and the lenses were 18-55mm and 55-300mm. These lenses are said to be of a poor quality. Nonetheless I think they should perfectly fine photos, especially if you mostly post on the web. Being new, and sometimes looking at my photos, I knew I could make better photos. All I needed were better lenses.
Yes, I did think that. Not long, but I really did. And if you do too, let me correct you. Better photos are made by better photographers. The lens quality helps, but a good photo is not made by the quality. It is made by what you have photographed.
So, yes, I was wrong and if you mainly post on the web I think these lenses are great quality for their price.  I did replace them though.

The telezoom

The first lens I bought was a Sigma 150-600mm. Although I was ill prepared to decide which I needed, I knew I did want a telezoom. This was bought shortly before going three weeks on safari in Uganda. I wanted to be able to really zoom in.
Here you can see I for once followed my own advice and first thought about my needs. On a safari you cannot always simply walk up to your subject and this telezoom was indeed used very, very much during that trip.
After that trip? Not much at all. It is big, it is heavy and it will need a tripod or other support to get sharp photos. Some people seem to be able to shoot sharply without support, but I am not one of them. It's maximum aperture is f/5 - f/6.3. This means in lower light conditions, you need to raise shutter speed or ISO pretty fast. Would I buy it again? Yes, as it really is awesome to have such a beauty with you on safari. I was and am pretty happy with it. But you really need to know what you will use it for, or I would not bother with it.

The macro

After I could take photos far away, I was certain that I needed a lens to shoot close up. After all, how else could I get better photos? You guessed it: of I went to the shop. And back I came as the proud owner of a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro lens. With that I would be shooting awesome shots of flowers and insects and whatever else I wanted.

The photo next to this text was actually shot with that lens. I think it's a nice shot. Will it win a photography prize? I think not. Again, the lens did not make my photos suddenly much better.
In fact, I only then learned a big problem with macro photography. If you are very close to your subject, the depth of field is very narrow. The photo shows this already, when you look - well whatever those pointy ends are called in English - you can see that some of them are pretty sharp. But the ones further away are already out of focus. trust me, this thing was only a few centimeters long.
Okay, I mostly wanted to do a bit of macro photography, so the lens delivered as promised. But unless you use focus stacking (Brenda Hoffman posted a link to a guide in one of my Google communities recently), you can quickly find yourself having problems with focus. Taking shots of flowers real close up? It better be inside, or a day with very little wind. Wind is an absolute horror for getting sharp close-ups outside.
Would I advise people to buy a macro lens? If you want to do macro photography: yes. Otherwise: no. It's that simple.
Note that there is also a cheaper way to get likewise closeups. You can buy a reverse ring and put your normal lens on the other way. You can read a bit about it on this article.

Jack of all trades

I mentioned earlier that I did replace my kit lenses. I like to take my camera along when I go out, I do not want to carry a lot of lenses. Especially not when I am going abroad for work. I already need to carry a laptop then, so reducing the amount of lenses helps. Just as it helps when you are lazy and do not like swapping them. I admit being guilty of that as well.
The replacement is a Nikon 18-300mm covering exactly what the two kit lenses did. I really love this lens, it can basically do almost anything. I doubt it's the most sharp lens and I am certain a pro would not touch it. But keep in mind that most of my photos end up on the web. I put most of them in original size, but most people will only see the smaller version. My photos do not need to be that sharp, so for me this lens is perfect. It did cost more than the two kit lenses, and it gives no better performance. If you are lazy like me, or travel a lot and want to reduce on lenses, this is a nice one. In other cases, you might simply stick with the kit lenses.

Wide angle

I was still not done with getting different lenses. Knowing that my camera had an APS-C sensor, which meant an 18mm on it, would equal about 27mm on a full frame camera, I felt the need to have a really wide angle lens as well. I bought myself a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. I shot the photo in my previous blog with it, just as the photo next to this text.
The lens delivers, you can make pretty wide shots with it. And due to its aperture I also used it a few times in museums. These places are usually poorly lit and do not allow flash, so a wide aperture is a real advantage there.
As with the previous purchases, I am happy with the lens. It is pretty nice to bring on holidays, where you can expect to shoot some landscapes as well. Or shoot a hotel room and have it look bigger than it is. On the other hand, with already 18mm available on the kit lens (or my jack of all trades), it is definitely not a need. This is like the telezoom, it surely warrants thinking before buying.

Fast glass

I did it. I meant lenses and called them "glass". In this case on purpose, because fast glass has a meaning. In general it is meant that the lens has a wide aperture and is therefore able to catch more light, allowing it to (auto-) focus faster. That is at least how I understood the term. And this would surely be the stuff I need, right? This is where the pro's go. Fast glass, yes.
For once I did not run to the shop, but thought about it. In the end I got myself a Nikon 35mm and a Nikon 50mm. Both are f/1.8 and thus have the widest aperture of all my lenses. As they are prime lenses they are cheaper than zoom lenses. They are also supposed to make sharper photos. I believe that, although for my purpose (web content) it is not noticeable.
Anyway, they are - compared to the other lenses - pretty inexpensive, so you could pick them up. Everyone talks about the nifty fifty and that this is the lens closest to what we really see. That is - as far as I know - true. On a full frame camera. So on an APS-C sensor like my camera has, that would be the 35mm. It works great for what I bought it for, shooting in lower light conditions. The photo of the starfish was shot at the local aquarium and that has very little light. I don't mean dusk or so, but really dark. Having the wide aperture allows the ISO to be acceptable, while still having a bit of shutter speed to prevent blurry photos.
If you shoot in low light conditions, I would definitely advise getting one of these lovelies.

Finishing thoughts

Let's start with a disclaimer. I am not a pro, I am a newbie and tell you what I think/experienced. So keep that in mind when following my "advice". To put a bit perspective in it, I can tell you how much I used each lens in 2018. I did buy the two prime lenses in 2018, so their usage is lower than could be. But I think it gives an idea about how much I use each lens.
Total photos: 4665
Nikon 18-300mm: 3893
Tokina 11-16: 643
Nikon 35mm: 55
Nikon 50mm: 48
Sigma macro: 23
Sigma 150-600mm: 3

Which tells me I need to make more macro photos, and will probably tell you what lens tends to be on my camera.
Now, did these lenses make me a better photographer? No. I think over the years I have made a few nice pictures and made much less crap photos. But that was because I tend to look better and by looking better, you also throw away more.
Do I regret buying these lenses? Definitely not. Most of them have their specific use and by having them, I can actually do these things. That's not to say it is impossible to do with the kit lens. You can go very, very far with just kit lenses. But sometimes it is nice to have tools better suited for the job. And lenses are the tools of our trade. But don't buy them with the idea that they make you a better photographer. I fear practice, listening to advice and all the stuff that works for all other professions are what can make you better. I also believe that you do not need to be a pro, to have a fun hobby. And that last can definitely be done without many expensive lenses.
Happy shooting!

Processing a photo

Click and done

Or perhaps not. When you shoot in JPG format, you might be done indeed, as the camera will process the photo for you. In RAW format this does not happen and you're on your own. I do like post processing, so shoot almost always in RAW format.
In this post I would like to go over a photo that I did process to show what I did and tell why I did that. It will be specific to Lightroom, because that is the tool I use.

The start

This is the original photo. My eyes were caught by the rope holding the ship moored and how it would make a nice leading line. I also found the photo had some kind of geometry in it. The water and air would divide it in half vertically. Then the clouds in the air plus the two ships would occupy the right half of the photo. While the left half would have no clouds and the two buildings. The ship that came into the photo from the left was not planned for, but it added a feeling of movement to the static picture.

The basics

My first action was to straighten the buildings on the left, using a guided upright perspective in Lightroom. I felt that buildings should not look like they fall over. The original photo also had a cool tone, which changed to much warmer when I changed the white balance.
I always start with these things. Cropping and straightening the photo and then the white balance. These two can have a huge impact on the overall mood of the photo. I did not really crop here, but the straightening did modify the photo a bit, so there are some parts cropped away.

My second step is a global adjustment. here I would definitely want to open up the shadows more. I ended up with a +54 on that slider. As I also wanted to add a lot more punch to the photo, I raised clarity to +48. The photo was quite light and although not foggy, it had a little of that same feeling of being smoothed out. So I actually used the dehaze slider to get it a bit darker and more contrast in (mostly) the sky You can read about dehaze on The Lightroom Queen's forum.

Local adjustments

I mostly want to emphasize the two moored ships and therefore thought of darkening the left side of the photo. Because of the ship that sailed in from the left, I thought of making it like coming from the dark to the light. So I added a radial filter that would lower exposure a lot. As I only wanted that effect on the left, I used the brush to remove the right side of the photo from the filter. The left corners being as dark as they are now, gave me the feeling of "opening up" for the ship on the left. Here you do not need to look very well to immediately see this photo is processed, as there is little chance of finding this in reality. But to me a photo does not need to be 100% real. In that case I should have kept the original raw photo. However, be aware that others might not like over edited photos and this one is pretty obvious now.

While I am happy with the quay being on the photo, as it holds the base of my leading line (the rope), I do not want it to hold attention for long. So I dimmed it a little, by using a gradient filter that just covers the quay. Here I lowered exposure (-0.35), whites (-24) and mostly highlights (-78). The part holding the rope is very dark, so I opened the shadows in it (+54).
I do not think these settings are too obviously noticeable, unless you have the before and after next to each other. Still, they do improve to what I would like to get.

To me, the white text on the back of the right ship was an eye catcher. This had to stand out a bit more. For this I added a new radial filter, around the text. Here I mostly raised whites (+63) and highlights (+22) to have the text stand out more. I also added clarity and sharpness here.
Like the previous adjustment, I think it is step that one will not immediately see, but it definitely contributes a lot. The text stands out better and is more of a point to attract attention now.
If you look at the image, you can see that in the previous step the text was a bit toned down, like the white of the bridge on the ship. It now jumps out, so for the careful watcher you can surely see that has been edited.

The last step

My final step was a slight alteration to the air. Here I used a gradual filter where I lowered the temperature (-15). This gives a more blue tint to the air. Using the brush I made sure the ships were not altered by this filter.
Like the previous adjustment, I think this one is not attracting much attention. Unless looking at the top of the sky, I think the effect is very minor. But it changes the sky to less gray, for which I am happy.

Looking at the result, it surely changed a lot from the original one. The leading line and radial filter that darkens the left corners do immediately pull the eyes towards the center of the photo. The ship on the left and the buildings there do give a bit of context, but do not divert attention. From the center the eyes go to the right, where the ships - the topic of the photo - are moored. The text on the back of the right ship keeps attention for a bit due to how it jumps out. From there the eyes can look around at the ships, go to the quay and finally one would look around and glance more at the buildings and the sailing ship.

The photo is much to my liking, the edits make my eyes go as I described above. Of course, I cannot say how others look and whether they will perceive things as I do.  But to me that is less important. Of course, I hope others like my photo and feel I made good edits. Yet, given that I do this for fun, I mostly strive for photos and edits that please me. Which I think should be the case for all us beginning photographers.
Do the things you like, make photos that please you. And then enjoy your hobby.