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behind the shot

shooting the moon

The first time thing to remember when shooting the moon is that despite appearances it is travelling very fast above us in the sky. In fact if your shutter speed is anything less than 1/125th of second you will get motion blur.

Set your camera on a tripod and zoom in as close as your lens will get you. Your ISO should be as low as possible and aperture at f11 if possible.

Get your focus set and fire away. I tend to use a cable release to minimise any shake and if you are shooting with a DSLR then turn your mirror lockup on.

For even more detail consider focus stacking a series of shots, say 10+, through Photoshop which will ensure more of the moon comes into sharp focus

iso 200 / f11 / 1/125th Sec

Pink Moon.png

light trails

iso 100 / f22 / 2 sec

Looking to create some wow in your photos, then why not try light trails. Ideally you will need a tripod to keep your camera steady as you are going to keep the shutter open for a longer period of time... 2 seconds in this example.

Light trails can look great at night when you will have limited light to worry about coming into the camera but if you are planning on taking the photo in the day as the image opposite then you will need a ND filter on your lens to remove some of the light coming in.

Get yourself set up, focus on the key feature in the image, then switch to manual focus. If you fail to do this the auto focus will kick in during the exposure.

Timing is key here as you want to press the cable release just at the point when the bus, tram or train is coming into view and flows across the frame.

Tram Stop.jpg

seeing double

iso 100 / f3.2 / 1/250th sec

The double exposure shot is another photography trick that provides you with endless opportunities and is essentially where you put at least two images together to create one shot.

Many DSLR and Mirrorless cameras will have the function to let you do this in camera dropping simultaneous shots on top of each other.

For even more control you can opt to merge the two photographs together in Photoshop like I have done here.

The key to this shot is to use a tripod in order that the camera does not move during the shoot. Set your focus on the model's face with the hands down in order that you get the sharp focus on the eyes and then switch the focus to manual and take the shot.

The model then brings her hands onto her face and take the second shot with the focus still on manual.

Bring both images into Photoshop and blend them together adjusting the opacity of the shot with the hands to a level that looks right.

Phoebe Test 3.jpg
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