In the interview Bruce was asked about the how he seems to have a real instinctual energy in his images. Bruce answered:

“Something either affects me or it doesn’t. It’s not a thinking process. It’s like in sports: when you go onto the field you don’t have time to think, you have to react. This is how I work: If I see something, I take a picture. If I don’t see anything, I don’t.”

Now Bruce’s style of photography is confronting and controversial (not only his subject matter but the way he goes about it when on the street – see this video to see that) but whether you’re into it or not I thought his quote was worth pondering.

Often what sets a great image apart from a good one is the feeling it conveys – something that almost always starts with the photographer and what they are feeling when they take a photograph.

While I’m not sure I completely agree with Bruce that ‘it’s not a thinking process’ – thinking about your images can also add a lot – I do believe that learning to ‘feel’ and convey that feeling in your images is something that many photographers could do well to focus more upon.

What do you think about this Bruce Gilden quote? Do you bring feeling to your images or are you more a ‘thinking photographer’?

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Thinking vs Feeling Photography: Discuss

While not everyone will have an atmospheric abandoned factory to race out and photograph – hopefully it’s a theme that with a little imagination everyone can participate in.

• Perhaps there’s an old abandoned building in your area?
• Perhaps you’ve got something around the house that has been lacking attention (some old gym equipment in our garage springs to mind)
• Or perhaps there’s something more symbolic that springs to mind that you could photograph?

It’s totally up to you – and we’re not going to judge you for what you photograph. The main thing is to get out and use that camera and show us what you end up doing!

Once you’ve selected the ‘Abandoned’ image that you’d like to share – upload it to your favourite photo sharing site or blog and either share a link to it or – embed them in the comments using the our new tool to do so.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag them as #DPSABANDONED to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

Also – don’t forget to check out some of the great shots posted in last weeks challenge – Street Photography challenge where there were some interesting shots submitted.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Abandoned: Weekly Photography Challenge

Today I found myself surfing through flickr admiring a growing number of images on the theme of abandonment and urban decay. While perhaps not an every day kind of subject for most of us – there’s a growing number of photographers exploring a theme that can produce striking images. Here’s a few that caught my eye today. Click these images to be taken to their home where they can be viewed larger and where you can learn more about the stories and the wonderful photographers behind them.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

25 Evokative Images of Abandonment and Urban Decay

Image by Doug Brown

So how do you minimise the impact of the fence in your shots? Here’s a few quick tips:

1. Switch to Manual Focusing – one challenge you may face shooting through any kind of fence is that your camera may not know what to focus on – the fence or the object behind it. Switch to manual focus mode and you’ll be in complete control of what is in and out of focus.
2. Get close the the Fence – ideally your best bet is to try to make the fence so out of focus that it can be barely seen in your shot. To do this one strategy is to get up very close to the fence – so close your lens has no chance of focusing on it. It may not be possible to be right up against a fence (shooting a lion at the zoom may mean you have other barriers in place for your own safety) but the closer the better.
3. Use a Large Aperture – choose a large aperture (making the number of your aperture as small as possible) will help to narrow the depth of focus and will hopefully through the lens even further out of focus.
4. Wait Until your Subject is away from the fence – if your subject is moving around behind the fence – wait until they are a little further back from the fence to take the shot. The closer they are to the fence the more the fence will be in focus.
5. Position Your Lens to Shoot Through Larger Gaps – This one isn’t rocket science – but if the fence has largish openings you’ll do better to position these gaps in the middle of your frame.
6. Avoid Reflections – if shooting through a part of a fence where there are reflections from the sun or other lights coming off the fence you’ll find the fence will become even more noticeable. As a result try to find a part of the fence that is shaded – or get someone to stand in a way that casts a shadow on the fence.
7. Incorporate the fence into your composition – it may be that the fence can become an important part of your composition – so consider breaking all the above rules to try that out!

Image by J. Paxon Reyes

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

How to Shoot Through a Wire Fence

The main updates included:

• More durable body
• Smaller Size (only slightly)
• Redesigned Optics
• New Zoom Lock lever to prevent damage in transit

Unfortunately the update didn’t bring any Image Stabilisation to this lens – something that will disappoint many.

The new Canon EF 24-70 F/2.8L II USM will retail when it becomes available in April for $2,299.

There is some speculation around that this update is a precursor to a full frame DSLR announcement from Canon shortly. Time will tell.

Also of interest is Canon releasing two wide angle primes with Image Stabilization.

They are the EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM and EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM. These updates to older prime lenses are said to add up to four stops to shooting with them. They both have Ultra Silent Motors and new aspherical lens elements.

The 24mm F/2.8 IS USM will retail for $849 USD and the 28mm F/2.8 IS USM will cost $799. Both will be available in June.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Canon Update 3 Lenses including EF 24-70 F/2.8L II USM

The film showcases the D800′s ability to shoot in some tricky lighting conditions and situations (fast moving motorbikes, low light etc). Here it is:

Also released by Sandro today was a behind the scenes video. It doesn’t contain a heap of technical info by will give you a feel for how it was shot.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

View a Short Film Shot on the New Nikon D800 DSLR

Win a DSLR, iMac or Photoshop and iPad

Today I’m super excited to announce that anyone who buys our new Guide to Post Processing eBook during it’s launch will go in the draw to win one of three amazing prizes to help them improve their photography.

3 prizes? Why 3 prizes I hear you ask?

The reason is simple – dPS readers are all at different stages of learning and come with varied needs, gear and challenges. As a result – we’ve chosen 3 prizes that will hopefully meet a range of reader needs. The winner gets a choice of one of the following:

• a Canon 60D DSLR with 18-135mm lens – worth $1180 USD
• a 21.5 inch Apple iMac (2.5 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 with 500GB Hard Drive) – worth $1199 USD
• Adobe Photoshop CS5 and an iPad 2 – worth $1200 USD

So whether you need a new camera, computer or post processing software and iPad – we’ve got you covered.

The Competition

Anyone – anywhere in the world – who purchases a copy of our Photo Nuts and Post eBook before midnight on 21 February goes into the draw to win one of the iMac, DSLR, Photoshop/iPad prizes. This includes anyone who bought the eBook in the last two weeks. The price will also go back to its non discounted price on 21 February.

FAQs

Based on past competitions – I know there will be two questions asked again and again – so here’s the answers spelt out:

• what if I already purchased Photo Nuts and POST? – you’re in the draw and don’t need to do anything else
• is this open to all international readers – yes, everyone. We’ll ship the computer to you anywhere at our cost

So Here is the Deal in a Nutshell

Buy Photo Nuts and POST before 21 February and you get:

• 33% off the eBook – worth $29.99 but for a limited time just $19.99
• An Entry into the DSLR, iMac, Photoshopt/iPad giveaway
• Plus (and most importantly) you’ll come away from reading the eBook with some great knowledge and skills to help you improve your post production of images.

As this post goes up you have 2 weeks to take advantage of this offer – so don’t hesitate and pick up your copy of Photo Nuts and POST here today!

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Buy our New Post Processing eBook and Go in the Draw to Win an iMac, DSLR or Photoshop!

Here are the results (with over 72,000 readers participating).

Last time we did this poll (back in 2009) the results were similar – the only notable shift being that ‘manual’ back then was 25% and is now 30%. It took a few % from ‘Aperture Priority’ and ‘Program Mode’. Everything else was pretty steady.

Thanks to those who voted in this poll – don’t forget to vote in our most recent one too – Do You Have a Photoblog?

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

What Shooting Modes do Our Readers Shooting in Most? [POLL RESULTS]

I’d love to hear about your favourite landscape photography destinations – particularly I’d like to hear any the following:

1. where is it (give us a country/state etc – remember our audience is global so don’t assume everyone will know exactly where it is)
2. why you like it
3. any tips you’d give to anyone planning a trip there (time of day, places to shoot from, challenges unique to the location)
4. share a photo you’ve taken there (share a link to your photoblog, flickr account or embed the photo if you’d like)

I’m looking forward to hearing about (and perhaps seeing) your favourite landscape locations!

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Do You Have a Favorite Landscape Photography Destination?

I know that those two words send some people into a state of panic as they’re often associated with taking pictures of complete strangers on the street (like we wrote about yesterday when we interviewed Street Photographer Eric Kim) but you may interpret the theme any way that you wish.

You may choose to photograph people on the street – but you might also take a gentler approach – photographing wider street scenes, asking people to pose for you on the street, photographing elements on your local street (signs, buildings etc), capturing the movement of a street scene… anything you like – as long as its shot out on the street somewhere!

Once you’ve selected the ‘Street Photography’ image/s you’d like to share – upload them to your favourite photo sharing site or blog and either share a link to it or – embed them in the comments using the our new tool to do so.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag them as #DPSSTREET to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

Also – don’t forget to check out some of the great shots posted in the last challenge – Rule of Thirds challenge where there were some great shots submitted.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Street Photography: Weekly Photography Challenge