Photo Tips from Spain #5 – Camera at the ready

Having you camera around your neck creates photo opportunities that otherwise would be there.  I try to leave it switched off, but with the lens cap in my pocket.  As you move it to your eye, you can switch the camera on.  Keeping it in your backpack means you miss most spontaneous opportunities.  I never would have caught this busy little girl if my camera was tucked away.

Photo Tips from Spain #4 – Look for an unusual perspective

After a while you can see enough beautiful churches to become blasé about them.  Therefore I like to look for unusual angles, to see something differently, to take a shot most wouldn’t.  In this shot I put the camera under a small table, tilted it up and took the shot.  The D50 didn’t have Live View, so I had to par particular attention to ensure that the legs where equidistant apart in the photo, but I still didn't get it level.

Photo Tips from Spain #3 – Shoot wide inside

Having an ultra wide angle lens on hand is perfect for shooting the cathedrals and other amazing buildings in Europe.  Shooting up exaggerates the height of the ceilings, and makes them look more spacious than they actually are.  A trick Real Estate agents commonly use to create interest in cramped houses....

Photo Tips from Spain #2 – Stained Glass Windows

Stained Glass Windows are one of the most amazing sites in churches in Spain.  They are often truly beautiful, but hard to photograph as it is too easy to over expose the window.  To fix this, set the camera to spot meter, and ensure the spot metering point on the centre of the frame is inside the window, and your shot should come out perfectly.  If you want to recompose, take a reading from the window, switch to M (Manual) exposure and set the shutter speed and aperture.  Then recompose and shoot.  Perfect results every time.

Photo Tips from Spain #1 – Equipment

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Two years ago I went to Spain with my wife for a week over the summer.  There’s so much to see and observe that it become quite the photographic experience.  However, to make the most of your vacation, good knowledge of your camera, and thinking about what you observe in a photographic mindset is really important.  So, for the month of January I am doing a series called “Photo Tips from Spain”, which will offer some hints about what to look out for when travelling.

For me, when I travel, I want to take as little gear as possible.  I HATE lugging equipment around, so I suggest a light body, a “do everything” zoom and a wide angle zoom.  You might want to add a fast and compact wide angle, if you have room.  It’s even better if the gear is not worth a lot in case it gets stolen.  For the trip to Spain, I took a Nikon D50, a Nikon 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 zoom and a Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 wide angle zoom.  The total value was about $800, of which the Sigma wide angle was worth more than half the total value.