Remember, While Making a Portrait Photograph of a Subject, You Have to Make Sure to Get the Eye in Tack Sharp Focus.”

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this eBook is based on author’s experience, knowledge and opin- ions. The author will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this eBook. This page is intentionally left blank Introduction

“Success does not everal years back, when I started photography, I committed so many mistakes. SNot that I was not knowledgeable enough in photography – I was indeed good consist in never at concepts before buying my first DSLR camera. making mistakes but What went wrong then? Most of the time we only concentrate on what is right than understanding why it in never making the is right. It is important to understand the mistakes so that we know the difference same one a second between the right and the wrong. Unless we know what our mistakes are, we wouldn’t be able to correct them. Isn’t time.” it? Whenever I found out my mistake, the hard way, I would be left disappointed be- ― George Bernard cause I would have lost some of the most precious photographs. Shaw This one is a classic example of a ruined photograph because of one seemingly simple mistake!

page 4 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 5 This is one of the best reflections that I ever saw. I still remember it so vividly. I took several photographs that evening but never checked even once if there is any exposure issue. Mostly because I was overwhelmed by the scene and was not care- ful enough! This image has got a lot of appreciation from many people around the world de- spite the issue of the blown-out sky! But I made a mistake that cannot be reversed now. The mistake is “Overexposed Highlights.” The reflected part of the sky is perfectly exposed due to less light re- flecting from the water as opposed to the actual sky. What a disaster! There are many other disasters that happened from the mistakes that I committed in my early years of photography. I learned the solutions the hard way. This eBook takes you through 10 mistakes that are sometimes dreadful and the solutions to overcome them. The solutions presented in this eBook are not the only ones, but are some of the useful ones which I personally use day-in-day-out. I hope you get the best use of this eBook and learn from my mistakes. Good Luck!

page 6 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Table Of Contents

1. Wrong White Balance 8 2. Overexposed Highlights 15 3. Subject In The Centre 25 4. Wrong Focus 31 5. Suffocated Subject 41 6. Cluttered Background 45 7. Skewed Horizon 50 8. Lack Of Depth 59 9. Too Much In A Photograph 67 10. Bad Light 73 1 Wrong White Balance “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” ― Karl Lagerfeld

o you know that we see white as Dwhite under all lighting conditions, but the Camera doesn’t? Each light source has a different color cast which needs to be compensated for by using the right white balance setting. Check the effects of color cast with different white balance setting on the same photograph.

www.121clicks.com | page 9 You have to guide the Camera about the light source of the current scene you are photographing in order to get the actual colors present in the scene. Instead of tun- ing for each color, if you tune for white then everything else automatically falls into place. Isn’t it? That’s the reason why it is called White Balance setting. Balance for the white so that you get to reproduce the actual colors present in the scene as they should be. Suppose you are shooting on a clear sunny day (nothing but Daylight), then setting the white balance to Direct Sunlight mode would yield the right colors. As you can see from the above photograph, the white plumage of this cattle egret looks right in case of Direct Sunlight. That is because it was photographed during the day. Setting the white balance as Cloudy or Shade (which have a higher temperature than the Direct Sunlight) results in an orange color cast making the photograph look warmer. On the other hand, if you set the white balance to Tungsten or Fluorescent (which have lower temperature than the Direct Sunlight), it would result in a blue color cast to the photograph making it look cooler. Here’s an easy way to remember this: WB Temperature setting = Actual Light Source Temperature = No Cast WB Temperature setting < Actual Light Source Temperature = Blue Cast WB Temperature setting > Actual Light Source Temperature = Orange Cast Note that the Auto White Balance setting has given considerably good result too, but it is not that accurate.

page 10 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com The Solution If you are shooting in JPEG mode, then choose the right white balance setting in the field based on the light source. If you forget to change the white balance between the scenes, you will end up ruining your subsequent shots, because you cannot change the white balance setting in the post-processing stage. Though you could ideally check the LCD monitor for any color cast, it might not be so apparent if scene is too bright or dark scene. Another way is to choose the auto white balance setting which generally yield good results. However, you might not get the perfect colors under all circumstances. The best way to mitigate the white balance issue is to shoot in RAW mode. Use the Auto White Balance setting and shoot in RAW mode. During the post-processing stage, you are free to choose any white balance setting until you get the actual colors without losing any data. This screenshot of a moth has a recorded white balance setting of 4755K.

Recorded value from the Auto White Balance setting is 4755K.

www.121clicks.com | page 11 It lacks the colors present in the actual scene. Read RAW vs JPEG Image format: 5 Reasons to Choose RAW or JPEG to understand the potential of RAW format. However, by setting the white balance to Direct Sunlight (5200K) brings back the actual colors that were present in the scene. You could get more creative by choos- ing a different white balance setting to give a warmer or a cooler look to the image! This is very useful in golden hour photography.

Setting the White Balance to Di- rect Sunlight, brings back the actual colors present in the scene.

page 12 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com A series of screen shots to the right hand side show the effects of different white balance settings to make an image warmer.

Recorded color temperature of 6329K has muted the amazing colours in the scene.

Setting the White Balance to Shade brings back the warmer glow to the clouds.

www.121clicks.com | page 13 Read 5 Easy Methods to Get Perfect White Balance under all circumstances. Increasing the colour temperature to 9090K made the scene even warmer! This is usually the case during golden hours.

page 14 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com 2 Overexposed Highlights “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” ― Henri Cartier-Bresson

The dynamic range of our eyes is far greater than the camera’s dynamic range. “Dynamic range is the ratio between the brightest elements to the darkest elements in the scene.”

Often you might see the details in both brighter as well as darker regions, but the camera wouldn’t be able to record those details. As a photographer, it is your re- sponsibility to make an exposure that results in a pleasing image. Our eyes are more sensitive to the highlights than the shadows. The overexposed highlights (detail-less white areas in a photograph) are unacceptable to our eyes compared to underexposed shadows (crushed blacks). The image on the next page shows how the overexposed highlights in the clouds take away the drama that was present in the scene.

page 16 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 17 The Solution The easiest way to avoid overexposed highlights is to expose to the highlights. This is because it is not always possible to capture the details in both brighter and darker regions. The dynamic range of the Camera doesn’t support it. But, almost every DSLR comes with an indicator that shows overexposed regions in your photograph on the Camera’s LCD monitor. If you have any overexposed highlights in your photograph, then you would see blinking indicators (simply called blinkies) in those areas. Note: The blinkies are by default enabled in most DSLRs and are accessible by pressing the Info button or the Disp button or the joystick while viewing your photograph. Please consult your respective manual for more information. In such cases, use the exposure compensation technique to underexpose the scene by the required number of f-stops. If you are not sure how much under-exposure is required, then you could start by underexposing in steps of 1/3rd stop until you see no blinkies in your LCD monitor. Check how the whole scene comes alive with the right exposure! Now with right exposure, the scene looks more dramatic with fantastic details on the sky complementing the lush green paddy field!

page 18 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 19 Another way to know if there are any overexposed highlights in the photograph is to use histograms. Here is a simple way to know if the image is overexposed, underexposed or properly exposed. Histogram Skewed Towards Left = Underexposed Image

The distribution is skewed towards the left hand side of the histogram. The darker regions are featureless and uninteresting.

Histogram Skewed Towards Right = Overexposed Image

The distribution is skewed towards the right hand side of the histogram. The darker regions have all the features but the clouds are featureless! page 20 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com At this point, analyse the underexposed and overexposed images for a while. If you have to choose between the two, which one do you choose? I bet…it’s the first one! Histogram has no clipping = Properly Ex- posed Image

The dynamic range of a scene is usually way too high during the dawn and the dusk hours making it impossible to capture the entire scene in one photo. In such scenarios, you can expose the same scene with different exposure settings as shown above. Later blend them all in post processing software to create an HDR (High Dy- The distribution is quite good with most of the distribution namic Range) image. in the middle and no clipping on the highlights but slight clipping on the shadow region. The slight clipping is fair for a high dynamic range scene like this. There are good enough features in both darker and brighter regions.

www.121clicks.com | page 21 Most often the impact of a photograph is highest when there is a juxtaposi- tion of darker regions against the brighter regions. This is very true in case of golden hour photography done in dawn or dusk hours. I have increased the contrast a bit more and let the darker region go almost black to heighten the drama in the sky. page 22 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Sometimes it is not about capturing every bit of the scene as it is, but it is capturing the mood of the scene. As in the case of the above photograph, I primarily wanted to convey the emotion of excitement due to the gorgeous colors in the sky. I intentionally underexposed the background trees to get a silhouette effect so that the bright colours get more prominence in the photograph. There are exceptions to the concept that you should always expose to the highlights. A photograph with a completely overexposed Sun is very acceptable to us because our eyes would not be able to see any details. Also, we accept the silhouette photographs of a subject where the entire subject is generally rendered black without any details. The photograph on the next page is a perfect example illustrating both these concepts. Read Understanding Histogram: The Easiest Way to Achieve Proper Exposure for more details on how to properly expose under different conditions.

www.121clicks.com | page 23 Overexposed Sun is very acceptable because we understand that it is way too bright. The silhouette of the dragonfly adds to this drama.

page 24 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com 3 Subject In The Centre “To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.” ― Edward Weston

t is a common tendency for an amateur photographer to keep the subject in cen- Itre. This is probably because when you see someone you would frame them in the centre! It’s natural to turn our head and adjust it such a way that the person or object that we are interested in is at the centre. But is it good to do the same with the photograph? Not really! This is most often the biggest mistake while making photographs involving one main subject like a human, bird, mammal, flower, etc. The centred subjects make for a boring photograph. Why? Because, when the viewer looks at that photograph, they don’t have anything else to see! It’s all too straight forward. There is no eye movement necessary. Take a look at this photograph of a White-throated Kingfisher for example. It’s in the centre and the space is equally distributed around the bird making it a static image. page 26 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 27 The Solution You can easily solve this issue by using one of the most important photography composition techniques, The Rule of Thirds. The Rule of Thirds is a guideline which helps you to keep the subject off-centred in such a way that the photograph is dynamic and more compelling.

Keeping the subject on one of the 4 intersecting points, called power points, (circled in Red) would yield a more dynamic photograph because there is a visual tension created due to uneven negative space. Take a look at this photograph. By following the Rule of Thirds composition technique I have placed the bird off-centred and also placed the key element – the bird’s eye – on one of the 4 power points. The image is drastically improved with just a small change! The negative space around the bird is now uneven making the composition more interesting.

page 28 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 29 The Rule of Thirds also helps to give enough breathing space for the subject to look into. We discuss this in detail in Chapter 5.

Both of these photographs are composed keeping the Rule of Thirds guideline in mind. I have placed the face close to one of the power points to get a compelling composition.

Read The Rule of Thirds: Most Useful Photography Composition Technique.

page 30 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com 4 Wrong Focus “A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense and is thereby a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.” ― Ansel Adams

o matter how beautiful your subject is, if it is not in sharp focus then it doesn’t Nwork. The reason is simple. We see objects sharply in reality. Therefore, we expect the objects (at least the main subject) to be in sharp focus to make any sense. Take a look at the photograph of a Hoopoe. Do you see the bird in sharp focus? May be!

page 32 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 33 Zooming in on the LCD is one of How about it now? It is clearly out-of-focus, isn’t it? the best ways to make out if you got the perfect focus or not.

page 34 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Most often, photographers fail to recognize the focusing issues because of the tiny LCD monitors. If the light is harsh or poor, then it makes the matters worse. The cause of poor focusing could be: 1. The camera shake due to poor hand-holding technique 2. The camera shake due to slower shutter speed 3. Wrong focusing point 4. Lack of contrast between the bird and the background 5. Distracting element in the foreground

The Solution Easiest of the solutions is to check the sharpness in important areas by zooming in on your subject after you take a photograph. If there is any focusing issue, take precautionary measures to get a tack sharp image – either avoid camera shake, shift the focusing point, manually focus, or re-position yourself to get the right background. By shifting the autofocus point to the bird’s face, I was able to get a tack sharp image.

www.121clicks.com | page 35 page 36 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Isn’t the bird’s eye in sharp focus now?

www.121clicks.com | page 37 “Remember, while making a portrait photograph of a subject, you have to make sure to get the eye in tack sharp focus.”

To tackle the camera shake, you need to use either a good enough shutter speed or a VR/IS lens or a sturdy tripod. Good hand-holding techniques would also lead to better photographs. Here is the rule of thumb for setting the shutter speed to avoid camera shake: Min. Shutter Speed to Avoid Camera Shake = 1 / Effective Focal Length Read Photography Basics – Shutter Speed for more details. The auto-focusing system works on contrast and phase detection concepts. If there is enough contrast between the subject and the background, then it is easier for the autofocus system to lock the focus. Phase detection comes into play during action photography where autofocus system tries to track a moving subject based on the contrast, direction of the movement, and the angle of movement. You have to make sure that there is enough light or color contrast between the subject and the background so that autofocus is able to lock the focus properly. If you are making a portrait photograph, then focus on the eyes of the person/ bird/ mammal, because the viewer needs to make an eye connection.

page 38 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 39 In a close-up portrait like this, it becomes much more critical to get the eyes in tack sharp focus. Even a slight out-of-focus eye would ruin the photograph. page 40 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com 5 Suffocated Subject “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” ― Ansel Adams

t is quite common to fill the frame with your favourite subject so that it is clearly Ivisible in the frame. Also, it is the easiest way to focus a viewer’s attention on just the main subject. But if you take it to the extreme by filling it in a way that there is no room for the subject to breathe, then you have ruined it. If you browse through your photographs, you might get many such photographs where the subject has very little or no room around it. It basically looks suffocated. Take a look at this photograph of a White-tailed Hawk taking off. Do you recognize the mistake here? There is no place for the bird to fly! Isn’t it?

page 42 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com What is the reason for making such mistakes? Most often the reason is that we are too concerned about the subject but not the space around the subject. Though it is natural to do that, it makes the subject in the photograph look suffocated. Because the edges of the frame are as important as the rest of the frame, it is always necessary to make a conscious attempt to take care of the space surrounding your main subject of interest. The subject looks suffocated because there is no place to move and worse, when there is no place to even breathe! Sometimes there will be enough space around the subject, but in the wrong direction – which is no good either. For instance, if there is too much space behind the bird but not in front, then it makes no sense at all.

Naturally, our eyes follow the direction of the flight. But there’s hardly any space in the front for the white-tailed hawk to fly!

www.121clicks.com | page 43 The Solution Just follow the Rule of Thirds composition technique and you will never make this mistake again. Think about the image frame as a concealed box where there is no ventilation, you don’t want your favourite subject to suffocate! Isn’t it?

Now the bird gets some breathing space to fly in the required direction. Notice that space behind the bird should not be too much. Otherwise, it looks awkward. page 44 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com 6 Cluttered Background “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.” ― Ansel Adams

his is probably the most common mistake of all. As described earlier, it’s a com- Tmon tendency to take a photograph the moment you see something beautiful or interesting. In fact, there’s nothing wrong in photographing something that made you stop. That’s the very reason you took out your camera. But often, you are so overwhelmed with the subject that you hardly notice anything around it. Isn’t it? A cluttered or distracting background plays the major role in ruining the very best photographs. Remember that the background makes the picture. Notice how a small distraction in the background is making this photograph of a Bay-backed Shrike look less appealing.

page 46 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 47 The Solution The real photography starts after you choose your subject. Once you choose what your subject is, you have to forget about it! Yes…you have to forget about the subject. Otherwise, how would you see what’s around it? Study the surrounding. Ask these simple questions to yourself: • Is the background complementing the subject or distracting it? • Is it clean? • Is it quite far enough from the subject so that you could throw it out of focus? • Does it have the contrasting colour with the subject or not? As you answer each of these questions, you would already see that your composition is improving. Considering that your subject is interesting or beautiful, you have to get a better photograph - Every single time! A cleaner background makes the subject standout making it the primary focus for a viewer. This is the very reason you would see the most beautiful portrait photographs are the ones that have beautiful bokeh (out-of-focus area) in the background, making the person standout.

page 48 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com With slight changes in my position and with patience I was able to get a clean background that makes the bird standout.

www.121clicks.com | page 49 7 Skewed Horizon “The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.” ― Elliott Erwitt

nother mistake that I see quite often is that the horizon is not perfect. This Ais such a simple thing to notice but still a whole load of photographs have skewed horizons. The horizon is often overlooked by many photographers. The problem with a skewed horizon is that it tilts our world. Imagine that you are photographing a row of houses, trees, etc., and when you don’t keep the horizon straight, doesn’t it give you an uneasy feeling? It does feel uneasy because it gives a feeling to the viewer that houses or trees are falling.

www.121clicks.com | page 51 Titled horizon makes all the objects present in the scene unstable thereby giving an uneasy feeling to the viewer. In turn, the viewer moves on to the next photograph without paying attention. page 52 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com You would get the same feeling when the vertical subjects are not perpendicular to the ground. A person, building, bird, tree tilted to one side makes them vulnerable to fall (unless of course they are tilted in reality like Leaning Tower of Piza).

The Solution Most of the cameras come with a grid overlay option in live view mode. It will serve two purposes: 1. Helps to compose your photograph because it is a rule of thirds grid. 2. Helps you to get the horizon straight. If you are using live view mode on a DSLR, then you would most likely use a tripod in order to avoid camera shake. A tripod has a level indicator that makes it much easier to keep the horizon straight. Another easy solution is to use Crop & Straighten Tool in the post processing stage. However, it is better to get the horizon straight during the shoot to avoid the risk of losing some important data due to straightening in the post-processing. Otherwise, make a conscious decision during the shoot to give enough space around the actual composition to allow for cropping and straightening. This technique comes in handy when you do not have a tripod. While straightening, find a line that you think should be parallel to the ground like edge of the Sea, base of the house, tree, building, etc. and draw a line horizontally along that object to straighten the image. Otherwise, find a line that you think should be perpendicular to the ground like a building wall, house wall, pole, etc. and draw a vertical line along that object to straighten the image.

www.121clicks.com | page 53 page 54 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Straighten the horizon by using Crop & Straighten tool in Photo- shop. While drawing a line to straighten the horizon, choose a subject that you think should be straight in reality and draw a line over it.

www.121clicks.com | page 55 After straightening, I have lost quite a bit of information in the lower part of the image. The image looks imbalanced because of the crippled foreground.

page 56 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 57 The issue with straightening the horizon in the post-processing stage is that you would have to throw away a lot of pixels at the edges of the frame. If you have a tight composition, then you might end up losing important information. In order to avoid such issues, it is always better to include a bit more space towards the edges, just in case you have to straighten it later in the post-processing stage.

page 58 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com 8 Lack Of Depth “Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment.” ― Ansel Adams

ne of the most frustrating experiences that you face is the fact that the photo- Ograph does not match what you experienced at that moment. I bet you would have been frustrated countless times. Haven’t you? You might wonder what went wrong. You just don’t get the same feeling or emotion that you experienced when you were taking the photograph. Does this sound familiar? The reason is very simple. Photography is a 2-dimensional medium but we see everything in 3-dimensions. Most often the depth is missing in your photographs making them look flat and unappealing. The amateur photographers often forget to create the depth that is critical to the success of a photograph. This is especially true in the case of landscape photographs. In the initial years of photography, it is not easy to recognize the critical fact that the camera doesn’t see the way your eyes see. With experience and practice you would understand and tune your composition accordingly.

page 60 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Consider this example of a reflection of a bunch of trees. It might not be the best example of a flat or a 2-D image, but it is very close.

The Solution There are multiple ways to create depth in your photographs. Here are few exam- ples. • Include a visually compelling foreground object while placing the main subject in the middle-ground or the background • Use leading lines like shorelines, board-walks, roads, etc. • Use the perspective distortion using ultra-wide angle lens • User overlapping or framing technique. Overlap the main subject with something in the foreground to create depth.

www.121clicks.com | page 61 By using an ultra-wide angle lens I was able to include a rock in the foreground which changed the whole dynamics of this scene. The depth is very evident now and the overall image is livelier than the previous one. page 62 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com The leading lines formed by the wooden board walk helps to create an illusion of depth. Your eye would follow the lines from lower end of the frame all the way up to the centre of the frame while engaging your senses with visually compelling autumn leaves.

www.121clicks.com | page 63 Getting very close to the foreground elements with an ultra-wide angle lens gives us a percep- tion of greater distance between various elements in z-direction. The colourful pebbles and the jagged rocks were quite close in reality, but the ultra-wide angle lens gives a feeling of greater separation between the two! This gives us an illusion of depth.

The sunburst is caused due to the use of a circu- lar polarizer filter (CPL) that serves as a leading line creating depth and tying the elements from the foreground to the background. page 64 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Here I have made use of the framing technique to emphasize the Antelope in its environment and also to create an illusion of depth. There is an outer framing due to the darker leaves, then there is a framing from the middle-ground leaves, and finally there is a framing from the trunks of the tree Technically it may be a complicated composition, but visually it is a coherent and compelling image.

www.121clicks.com | page 65 Above all, the most important thing is to remember that a photograph is a 2-Dimension- al medium but the world is a 3-dimensional medium. Read the following articles to get a complete list of composition techniques to create depth in your photographs. 1. How to Create Visual Interest & Depth Using Foreground Objects 2. Leading Lines Composition Technique 3. 5 Photography Composition Techniques to Improve Your Photography

page 66 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com 9 Too Much In A Photograph “What’s really important is to simplify. The work of most photographers would be improved immensely if they could do one thing: get rid of the extraneous. If you strive for simplicity, you are more likely to reach the viewer. ” ― William Albert Allard

oo much is too bad in everything that we do. Isn’t it? T It applies in photography too. Including too much in a photograph makes it fuzzy and leaves the viewer confused. When you look at a beautiful scenery you will glance over a lot of things at once. It is common tendency to photograph everything you see. But often, you would end up getting a photograph full of chaos. It would have too much information for a viewer to digest. Remember that your eyes are not really going through every bit of detail present in the scene. It jumps from one object to the other picking the most interesting ones, based on your emotions, and neglecting everything else. But the camera is not emo- tional. It would record everything present in the scene – as it is. Consider this photograph of a bunch of rose-ringed parakeets. There too much information in it. There is no obvious main subject or focus point for the viewer to read the story. page 68 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com www.121clicks.com | page 69 The Solution When you look at a scene, slow down and understand how you are consuming the scene. Are you really looking at the whole scene at once? Not really! You would look at only the things that matter to you. Your eye & brain combination gives you only the information that is important to you (based on your previous experiences) and obscure all the other unnecessary information. Take a look at this photograph I made few minutes after the previous one, by isolating only one parakeet with a distinct pose. Isn’t it beautiful? You can enjoy the mind-blowing plumage of the parakeet as well as its beautiful tail feathers.

“The more you understand the way your mind works, the better photographer you would become.”

Instead of photographing everything at once, why not photograph the most important thing? By just isolating to one rose-ringed parakeet with a distinct pose, I was able to make a compelling composition of one of the most beautiful creatures of nature. page 70 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com The best way to make your photograph stand out is to find a focal point or main subject of interest and make a simple composition emphasizing it. Alternately, make your main subject of interest as the only compositional element!

Instead of making one photograph of the entire scene, ask yourself these questions

• Why were you drawn to this scene? • What interests you the most? • What do you want to emphasize? • What do you want your viewer to notice? Then pick that subject and make a photograph that emphasizes only that subject. You would never be disappointed with the results you get!

“What is in a photograph is as important as what is not in there”

Once you master these simpler compositions, you would be able to make compelling photographs in a complex scene. Negative space is as important as the positive space. Filling the frame with something important might be too tempting, but consider if it is necessary. Read the 5 Photography Composition Techniques to Improve Your Photography and the Elements of Visual Design to improve your photography by leaps and bounds.

www.121clicks.com | page 71 This is a very simple composition of an In- dian peafowl silhouette. I was able to show the power of graphical lines and shapes in nature against the beautiful subtle hues in the clouds during sunrise.

page 72 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com 10 Bad Light “Don’t pack up your camera until you’ve left the location.” ― Joe McNally

lot of photographers do not seem to care about the light, let alone the direction A and the quality of light. All that they care is whether there is enough light to get the required shutter speed or not. This is probably the top reason for bad photographs. You see…at the end of the day photography is all about light! If you don’t care about the light, then you won’t improve as a photographer. The most dreadful mistake many beginner photographers make is to shoot in harsh light. Harsh light casts dense shadows ruining the entire photograph no matter how beautiful the subject is. For instance, a person’s face lit in harsh light with their eyes in deep shadow looks awkward. In fact, this kind of lighting is used in cinematography to show a person as a villain or someone whose intentions are bad. The reason is simple. We connect with other living beings through eyes. If the eyes are in deep shadow, then that connection is lost making us feel uncomfortable. Between 10am and 4pm the sunlight is usually very harsh and might cast deep shadows on the subject creating patches of dark and bright areas. This results in useless photographs. page 74 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com The eye of this beautiful common kingfisher is in shade making it hard for you to connect, thereby ruining the photograph.

www.121clicks.com | page 75 The patches of light and shadow ruin a photograph especially when it is a portrait. The deep shadow on the body of this kingfisher ruins the photograph.

page 76 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com The Solution Photography is all about Light. No matter how technically perfect your photograph is, the light can make or break a photograph. “If there is no light, then there is no photography” Light has the quality and the direction. The direction of light gives you an ability to portray a subject in the best possible way. It can be classified into 3 categories: 1. Front Light – In this case, the Sun is behind you and illuminating your subject from the front. This light is very often used to portray a person or an animal. 2. Side Light – In this case, the Sun is from either side illuminating the subject. This light is very useful to define shape and creating depth. This is often used in landscapes. 3. Back Light – In this case, the Sun is in front of you and behind the subject. This light gives a halo effect around the subject leading to creative photographs. This light is also used to create silhouettes, where the subject is completely dark against a colorful sky. One more kind of light is called diffused light which is essentially directionless. This light is best to photograph waterfalls, rainforest scenes, autumn scenes, etc. where you need saturated colors to dominate the scene. On cloudy days, you get the best diffused light.

www.121clicks.com | page 77 Diffused light that is equally distributed across the frame makes it very soothing to the eyes and helps to bring out the saturated colors. The brilliant plumage of the common kingfisher comes alive against the creamy green background.

page 78 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com The quality of light affects the mood of a photograph. The quality of light is broad- ly classified as: • Soft light – Light is soft during the early morning and the early evening hours. • Hard light – Light is hard during rest of the day. Most of the photography happens in soft light. Light is at its best just a few hours after the Sunrise and few hours before Sunset. If you want to get the best photographs, always try to photograph during these hours. The magical photographs are normally taken during the golden hours of Sunrise and Sunset. During the dawn and the dusk, you would get golden light transform- ing the entire scene into something magical. Quality of light during golden hours is unbeatable. There are endless possibilities for a photographer during this period when the sky gets painted over with amazing colours Take a look at this photograph of an Indian Peafowl during golden hours.

www.121clicks.com | page 79 page 80 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Remember that photography is all about Light. The more you learn to see the light better photographer you will become. The best way to appreciate how light and its amazing qualities transform a scene is to go to the scene before Sunrise and stay beyond the Sunset. Here’s a photograph of an Indian Peafowl just after the dawn. These colors don’t repeat themselves in nature and you should be prepared to make the best use of the situ- ation. This was the last day of the light and also the last photograph before the sky was left bland.

I can say I am blessed to capture moments in nature as profound as this. Go to the location before Sunrise and stay beyond Sunset and you would be able to make wonders!

www.121clicks.com | page 81 CONCLUSION

“Anyone who has istakes are part of life. One who has a fear of making a mistake, would never Machieve anything worthwhile in life. never made a mis- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but remember not to repeat them. Now that you are aware of these 10 most committed mistakes and the solutions, you would be take has never tried able to see a major improvement in your photography. anything new.” ― Albert Einstein

page 82 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com quick reference

ere is a quick reference sheet about 10 mistakes and the solutions. You could Hprint it and carry it along to as a quick reference in the field.

Mistake #1: Wrong White Balance Solution: Use the RAW mode + the Auto White Balance (AWB) setting. Correct the white balance in the post-processing stage. Or, set the proper white balance using the standard settings before shooting.

Mistake #2: Overexposed Highlights Solution: Check the blinkies indicator in the LCD monitor. If there are blinkies, then use the exposure compensation of -0.3 to -2 steps until you see no blinkies. Or, check histogram to see if there is any clipping to the right-hand side of the graph. If there is clipping, then use the exposure compensation of -0.3 to -2 steps until you see no clipping.

Mistake #3: Subject In The Centre Solution: Use the Rule of Thirds guideline to keep your main subject off-centre.

www.121clicks.com | page 83 Place the main subject on one of the four intersections or power points. Keep the horizon on either the top or the bottom third line to create compelling landscape photograph. Keep the vertical subjects like people, trees, posts, etc. on either the left or the right third line to create a compelling photograph.

Mistake #4: Wrong Focus Solution: After taking the photograph, make sure to zoom in on the LCD screen to check if the focus is tack sharp on the main subject of interest. In case of portraits, focus on the eye. Shift the focal point in case the focus is not locking on the required part of the image or use single-point autofocus. Use manual focus in case of distractions in the foreground. Make sure to set the shutter speed based on the following formula to avoid camera shake. Min. Shutter Speed to Avoid Camera Shake = 1 / Effective Focal Length If you have cropped sensors then calculate the effective focal length using: page 84 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Effective Focal Length = Crop factor of your sensor * Focal length of the lens Ex: If you have 50mm lens on a Nikon DX camera, then Effective Focal Length = 75 mm (1.5 * 50) This means, you would need a minimum of 1/125th (nearest shutter speed) of a second to avoid camera shake.

Mistake #5. Suffocated Subject Solution: Make sure that there is enough breathing space around the main subject. Use the Rule of Thirds to keep the subject on one of the 4 power points which will take care of the spacing.

Mistake #6. Cluttered Background Solution: Always pay attention to the background. A cleaner background gives emphasis to the main subject whereas a cluttered background distracts. Remember – Background Makes the Picture

Mistake #7. Skewed Horizon Solution: If you are using a tripod, make sure that level indicators in the ball head are properly aligned (i.e., water bubble in the level indicator should be at the centre). The latest DSLRs have the level indicator built-in to the camera. It is accessible only in the live-view mode. Use it with the tripod. Or, correct the horizon in the post processing stage using Crop & Straighten tool. But

www.121clicks.com | page 85 make sure to give enough room so that you don’t lose critical composition elements during the process of straightening.

Mistake #8. Lack Of Depth Solution: Include a visually interesting foreground element to create the depth in the scene. Or, use the leading lines like roads, seashores, series of trees, poles, rocks, etc. to lead the viewer to the focal point. Or, use an ultra-wide angle lens to create a perspective distortion. Or, try to frame or overlap the main subject with a foreground object that yields a coherent composition.

Mistake #9. Too Much In A Photograph Solution: Too much is too bad. Try only simple compositions to begin with. Identify your main subject and isolate it by removing all those elements that distracts or do not make the photograph any better. Remember that the simple compositions lead to stronger and visually compelling photographs.

Mistake #10. Bad Light Solution: Photography is all about light. Pay closer attention to the light direction and its quality before making any photograph. Study the light on the subject. The light is at its best, two hours after the Sunrise and one and a half hour before page 86 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com Sunset. Sun is at a lower position at this time with soft and directional light. The quality of the light is soft with the orange hues that will make for some fantastic photographs. Learn to make some creative photographs during the golden hours (during Sun- rise/Sunset), and predawn and post-dusk times as they offer the magical light.

www.121clicks.com | page 87 about the author

“At the end of the rathap is a passionate Nature Pho- Ptographer who specializes in Bird day your ability to Photography and Landscape Photog- raphy. He is always in pursuit of some connect with your of the unique photographs in nature. He believes strongly in simplicity readers comes down whether it is in life, photography, or to how you make any other thing. Prathap owns a blog Nature Photog- them feel.” raphy Simplified with over 5000 sub- scribers as on date of writing. His phi- losophy of simplifying all the concepts ― Benjamin J. Carey of photography has got him great support and appreciation from the readers. He is also a regular contributor to most noted photography blogs 121Clicks and Digital Photography School. Visit Prathap’s portfolio website to see his latest work. Get in touch with him via Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. Subscribe to his blog and download his most popular eBook “Bird Photogra- phy: 10 Mistakes & Solution” for FREE. Thank you for taking your valuable time to read my eBook. I hope you enjoyed reading it. I would appreciate if you share this eBook on your favorite social media by clicking any of the following buttons.

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