Macro Photography Tips
There are more than one million known species of insects inhabiting our world, and many of these tiny creatures are right outside your door. Incidentally, an insect is an arthropod. To be classified as an insect, it must have a segmented body, six legs, two antennae, compound eyes, and most likely, wings. Other creatures, like spiders and scorpions are arthropods, but they are not considered insects. Photographing insects and other small creatures can be a lot of fun, and you need venture only as far as your backyard to find a whole new world in close-up or macro photography. A few quick tips on macro photography: The first basic rule of close-up photography is to get close to the subject. Insect photography requires a macro lens that will allow you to focus very close to the subject. A Macro lens, (Nikon calls these lenses Micro-NIKKOR lenses) lets you photograph your subjects at near life size. You’re also going to want to use a tripod to steady the camera, especially when you’re using a telephoto lens or long shutter speed. When shooting with your camera on a tripod, using a cable release to trip the shutter is the ideal shooting method. Some photographers […]
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Tips for Taking Better Photos of Easter Baskets, Bunnies and Egg Hunts
A favourite—and photogenic holiday is Easter, bringing with it colourful Easter eggs to decorate along with exciting egg hunts to participate in and visits with the Easter bunny. It’s easy to make great Easter pictures when you follow a few tips. Take Lots of Candids! Whether you’re photographing your kids decorating Easter eggs, running around the house or yard on the hunt for hidden treasures or chomping on the ear of a chocolate bunny, candid photographs are often the favourite captures you can make. They’re natural, with no posing or fake grins filling the frame. On the Hunt Do you hide Easter eggs around the house or garden or do you take your kids to a local park or community event? No matter which it is, these are all great backdrops for making fun photos as your children romp around, basket in hand. Because your little ones will be in motion much of the time, you’ll want to use a fast shutter speed to capture the action. To do so, you can set the camera on shutter priority which will let you choose the shutter speed and the camera will choose the corresponding f/stop. Pick a shutter speed of at […]
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How to Shoot the Perfect Self Portrait
Selfies – self-portraits in old money – are more popular than ever. The Oxford English Dictionary added “selfie” back in 2013 because of its popularity in everyday language. Today’s cameras make it easy to take and share selfies, and many photographers and artists are creating entire careers out of self-portrait photography. There are a bunch of ways you can take a selfie with your Nikon camera: 1. The easiest and quickest way to shoot a self portrait is to hold the camera at arm’s length with the lens pointing at you. Depending upon the lens’s focal length (and how long your arms are!), you may or may not end up with a distorted view of yourself (noses in particular can suffer…). 2. Another solution is to point the camera into a mirror to take a photo of yourself. Just keep in mind that any writing on your clothing or the background will come out backwards. If you use this technique, remember to have the camera’s autofocus lock onto the reflection and not the mirror itself, otherwise your selfie will be out of focus. 3. Select Nikon cameras make taking selfies super-easy, particularly those with back screens that flip up or angle so you’re able […]
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NIKON ASSIGNMENT: APRIL 2019
Would you like to have your image displayed in Nikon Centurion? Participate in our monthly Nikon Assignments and you could be one of seven lucky photographers who will get the opportunity to have their image displayed. Each Nikon Assignment will have a unique theme to challenge photographers to get creative and use their photographic skills. THEME: EYES How do you capture the mysterious look of eyes? Show us people or animals in different settings, places and locations. From your cat in your backyard to studio portraits of models, capture eyes and share your best shots with us. Photos can be in colour or in B&W. Photos must be submitted in portrait format. Not landscape. The brief Submit an image showcasing EYES. To participate in the assignment, you must: SNAP – Take a CREATIVE photograph of EYES. GRAM – Post your image on Instagram TAG – Add the hashtag #MyNikonAssignment and #Eyes and tag @IamNikonSA in the Instagram caption FOLLOW – Follow @IamNikonSA on Instagram Your entry must be published on Instagram during the assignment dates (1 – 30 April 2019). The award Seven lucky photographers will get the opportunity to have their images on display at Nikon House in Centurion in the […]
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How Stack Focus Reveals What the Eye Often Misses
There’s focus, and then there’s stack focus. Stack focus, which is also often referred to as focus stacking, is a technique that produces close-up images of depth and detail beyond that seen in conventional close-ups. What stack focus does is extend depth-of-field in macro photography, and if you’re not familiar with the technique, you might wonder why you’d want to do that. You could set f/11, f/16 or f/22 and get a great deal of depth-of-field. Stack focus, though, is a totally different approach and a means to an end beyond familiar close-up images. Stack focus results in the kind of striking photographs you see here. To create them, award-winning fine-art photographer David Leaser took multiple images of his floral subjects at different focus points. Then, using software, he layered the separate photographs to create a revealing, stunningly sharp, detailed composite image. About ten years ago, while shooting landscapes in the Amazon, David found himself captivated by “the tiniest of living things on the rainforest floor,” including the smallest of flowers. Realizing that even the best close-up lenses couldn’t get the depth-of-field he could see in these flowers, not to mention the details even the eye often misses, he started experimenting […]
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FREE SENSOR CLEANING: 29 & 30 MARCH 2019
Every time you change a lens on your camera, you are exposing the inside to potential dust and dirt contaminants. Sensor dust will show up in your images as blurry spots. That is why we are offering you Free Sensor Cleaning in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth on 29 & 30 March! Bookings are essential for Durban, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth, please email alishao@premiumgroup.co.za to book your slot.
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The importance of Picture Controls
Many people pick up their camera and only worry about the shutter speed, aperture and ISO when it comes to creating a photo. But getting a properly exposed photo is just part of the equation, there’s a whole other aspect that needs to be addressed as well; how the photo will be edited. If you’re shooting RAW (Nikon NEF) then you plan on editing the file afterwards on the computer, but videographers and still photographers who shoot in JPEG often expect the file coming out of the camera to be pretty much finished. For these types of shooters, the Picture Control that’s selected can have a major impact on the final image. Even if you shoot RAW and plan on processing your image afterwards, don’t think that there aren’t benefits to using Picture Controls directly in-camera. Picture Controls can benefit even RAW shooters. First off, Picture Controls are preset profiles that are designed to optimize things like contrast, clarity, brightness and saturation for different scenes. For JPEG or video shooters in particular, picking the right Picture Control can be critical, as these options will be “baked” into the file once you take the shot. The built-in preset Picture Controls in […]
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Meet the game-changer: Nikon Z series
With mirrorless, compact and lighter bodies, big new mounts and super-bright lenses, the new Nikon Z series is a real eye-opener. At the system’s heart is the new, larger 55mm inner diameter lens mount which, at 55mm, is 17% bigger than the 46mm F mount, and the widest in the world for full frame cameras, enabling maximum apertures up to f/0.95. As for the Z 7 and Z 6 cameras themselves – well, what can we say? We love them both, obviously, but you don’t have to take our word for how good they are. Amateur Photographer magazine says “the Nikon Z 7 is one of the best stills cameras ever made… on balance, the best camera on the market right now, either mirrorless or DSLR.” Here’s the lowdown on what this ground-breaking new series offers: 1. Cameras: The flagship Z 7 offers 45.7MP resolution, ISO 64-25,600 and 9fps – ideal for landscape and commercial photography. The Z 6 has 24.5MP, ISO 100-51,200 and 12fps, making it great for sports, action and general photography. Both are weather-sealed and built from tough magnesium alloy, and both inherit Nikon’s design DNA, so controls and menus are intuitively easy to use, guaranteeing a […]
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How to Photograph the Milky Way
Featuring TONY KRUP & DIANA ROBINSON ne of the most impressive sights in the night sky for those who view it for the first time is the Milky Way. If you’re in a location with little to no light pollution, a sky filled with stars as far as the eye can see and the Milky Way, well it’s a sight that just has to be seen to be appreciated. We spoke with Diana Robinson, a nature and wildlife photographer who frequently spends her evenings photographing celestial objects in the night sky. She has taken photographs of the Milky Way throughout the year, and from locations across the country. For night sky and Milky Way photography, Diana’s go-to cameras are the D850 and D5 with the 14-24mm lens zoomed out to 14mm. Because exposures are going to be made at around 20 – 25 seconds in length, the camera needs to be on a steady tripod. To keep the camera steady and not induce any shake, Diana uses a wireless remote shutter release to trigger the shutter. She also uses a red headlamp to keep her night vision while shooting. Exposures Diana suggests using a basic starting exposure and experimenting from there for the […]
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Is Shooting RAW or JPEG better for you?
If you ask a photographer, “do you shoot RAW or JPEG?” be prepared for a very passionate answer, as the different file formats provide a very polarizing split between photographers. Just because people get very passionate about their choice doesn’t mean that there’s only one right answer, because just like most other topics in photography, each person has their own circumstances that influence choices. Whether you should shoot RAW or JPEG (or both) can depend on several factors. Let’s take a look at what JPEG and RAW files are before we talk about why each one should be used. JPEGs are a standardized format that are designed to be a smaller file size that can be read by all computers, smartphones, tablets and other devices without the need for specialized software. This makes it very easy to share but it also comes with some downsides: Much of the information encoded in a JPEG is baked-in, meaning that any edits done to the file are destructive and there will be a slight loss in quality. Image quality options with a star next to them use compression intended to ensure maximum quality; the size of the files varies with the scene. Options […]
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