How to make your own animation

Nope, you don't need to be George Lucas or Michael Bay to film something these days. Anyone can film it, edit it, and upload it. And nope, you don't have to be Disney to produce some simple animation.

All you need are the following:

• some moment of brainstorming the storyboard - you really think you better than George Lucas, can shoot right away arh?


• something to film with - er... no I'm not talking about those bulky thing-of-yesterday videocams... just a handphone will do lah!


• something to record the video - I'm using iPhone, so this is the app I'm using for motion capture: Stop Motion Cafe, and it's FREE!

And then TADA!

Landscape photography tips

Pure white subjects generally require 2 stops more exposure.

For misty scene, take a spot-metering reading from the brightest area of the image and assign it as a very light tone by increasing the reading by 1-2 stops.

For reflections, use a neutral density graduated filter over the sky to lower its brightness, but take note that the reflection should never appear brighter than the source.

Shutter speed lower than 1/60 will be more prone to exhibit the effects of camera shake and vibrations.

To record proper movement of water, 1/15-4sec are generally very effective. Shoot when the waves are receding as this has a more predictable result and reduces the chances of large areas of bright foam.

Use shutter speed of 1/15-1/2sec to record waterfall movement.

To take snow, take a spot-metering reading from the sunlit snow and add 1 1/2 stops to the reading so that the snow is recorded as a very light tone.

To make sure silhouette appears as a featureless black, take a meter reading directly from it - it should be at least 3 stops darker than your shooting exposure.

For wide-angle landscape, in order to have foreground and background distinctly sharp, use a small aperture, e.g. f/16.

Field Exposure Tips

• Neutral-Point Method - Find a medium-toned object in the same light as the subject, frame it in the viewfinder and take a light reading to lock the exposure


• Constant-Tones Method - If there is no neutral point, twist the len focus to infinity or its closest focal point. This renders the viewfinder image completely blurred out, which usually removes the distracting extremes of color and helps the meter make a better choice for the exposure


• The F16 Rule - On a sunny day with the sun directly over your shoulder, the exposure will be 1/125 at f16 on ISO 100. Using exposure ratios, this equates to 1/250 at f11, 1/500 at f8 etc. Use this as a starting point and underexpose slightly.


• The Rouse Method - Set the exposure compensation to -2/3 stop underexposed. Generally the DSLR tends to overexpose, so this ensures you will always have slightly underexposed images in RAW. You can then edit them post-processing.


• Flash Exposure - To use flash in daylight to brighten the shadows, set flash unit compensation to -2 stops. At night, reduce to -1 stop.

Urban photography tips

Just some urban photography tips that I read :)

• Fountains - To blur the water, use tripod and shutter speeds of between 4sec to 1/15sec


• Stained glasses - If there's very dark and very light glass in your composition, better bracket half a stop under, half a stop over and one stop over


• Stage performance - Use slow shutter speed and expose for the ambient light. Any movement by your subject is captured through the blur but the action can be stopped and the subject rendered sharp at the moment the flash is fired. If you don't have spot metering, zoom in and fill the frame with your subject to lock the exposure, then zoom out and recompose.


• Sports - Allow a minimum shutter speed of 1/250 but ideally 1/500 to freeze the action


• Museum - To photography without a tripod and flash, place the lens directly on the glass for support. This method will also eliminate unwanted reflections.

Some photography tips from the web

Source: PixelatedImage Blog

Histogram

The best digital negative was the one with the most information and the right half of the histogram is capable of storing exponentially more information in it than the left half. There isn’t much information at all in the dark. More information means better image quality and more flexibility in the digital darkroom before noise becomes an issue.

White balance

it’s important to remember that for most of us it’s more critical that the colour balance of the image be an ally in what we’re trying to communicate than to be perfectly accurate. It is, to put it another way, completely subjective. It’s a matter of interpretation. Want to know the top-secret way I deal with colour-balance? I set the camera to Auto White Balance. I shoot in RAW. I bring the image into Lightroom and push sliders around until it looks the way I want it to.

Timing

When we create an image, from the split-second difference between blinks to the 5 minute difference between sunset and dusk, is no small matter. It doesn’t help make the image better, it makes the image. Period.

Sensor-size

Photography is an aesthetic art and when something – whether that’s gear or settings – affects the aesthetics of an image, it matters as much as the painter’s choice of brush does. Sensor size affects your potential depth of field. Why do some images look more film-like and “professional”? Better glass, yes, but I’d wager that the images had a better-than-good chance of being shot on a full-frame sensor.


Source: Pixsylated

The exotic is easy. The common is hard.

If you really want to hone yourself as a photographer, then point your lens at the people, places and things around you everyday. When you can routinely craft an image that captures a new way of seeing the common, then you are truly growing as a photographer.

The manual should be read several times

No matter how smart you are, no matter how much you use your gear, there will come a day when a mental hiccup blocks out that one technical step that gets you the shot you want. Today’s DSLRs and speedlights have so many features that it’s no longer manly (or smart) to ignore the manual.