Six ways to shoot...
Travel portraits
1
Keep it simple
This sounds obvious,
but it’s the most
important aspect.
Don’t over-complicate
your composition: opt
for a simple head and
shoulders or a three-
quarter-length portrait
rather than worrying
about getting the whole
person in the frame.2
Be quick
Don’t rush your
approach, but do
work efficiently once
someone has agreed
to let you take their
picture. The longer
you take, the more
uncomfortable they’llbecome, and you will
lose the spontaneity
of the portrait.3
Shoot wide open
As a rule, wide
apertures such as
f/2.8 and f/4 are the
way to go: they will
help diffuse any
messy backgrounds
and push attention
onto the subject first.
Make sure you focus
on the eyes, though:
they must be sharp.4
Include the
environment
A conventional portrait
focal length is anythingfrom 50mm to 200mm.
Shooting a wider focal
length such as 35mm,
though, will allow you
to include the subject
and their environment.
This is great for travel
portraits of people
working, such as in
a marketplace or
a craft centre.5
Go off-piste
For more natural-
looking images, avoid
the tourist hotspots
where everyone else
goes. These places
will either have the
‘professional’ local
posers, or simply be
full of people fed up
with being asked tohave their photo taken.
The places off the
beaten track will allow
you to search out more
interesting characters,
unjaded by a stream of
camera-toting tourists.6
Avoid the cheesy grin
While some people
have a natural smile,
most don’t. A cheesy
grin can look clichéd.
Just allow the personyou are photographing
to be themselves,
whether it’s a smile or
a grimace that you get.
If it’s their choice, it will
look less forced and the
shot will work better.http://www.digitalcameraworld.com AUGUST 2019 DIGITAL CAMERA^95
Flower power
Q
I want to shoot
flowers. I don’t have
a macro lens – onlya Sigma 24-105mm f/4 lens.
Is a macro lens worth the
financial investment?
Susan Hall
A
You can certainly photograph
flowers with your existing lens,
but you’ll need to think carefully
about the best way to shoot
some successful images. Often the biggest
issue is trying to isolate an individual flower
or a small group from a messy background.
I’d suggest you work at the 105mm end
of your zoom and look for angles where
there is a good distance between the
flower you’ve chosen and the background.
Positioning the camera at the same height
as the flower is often all you need to do if
there is clear space behind the subject.
Also, shooting at apertures of f/4 or f/5.6
will further help to create that important
separation between the flowers and
background so your composition is
simplified. If you are able to find angles
where the colours of the subject and
backdrop contrast, this can also help to
make the flower really pop out of the frame.
Of course, a macro lens is brilliant for
getting even more creative, so I wouldalways recommend owning one if your
budget allows. It will enable you to
concentrate on interesting flower details
and abstracts that your zoom lens simply
can’t achieve because you can’t focus
closely enough with it. Shooting with
a macro lens brings new challenges,
though, as the depth of field is very limited.Standard xƏƬȸȒ