Almost everyone enjoys sunny, warm days outside. Some will even take a sunny cool day if they enjoy winter sports, but almost everyone can agree that rainy, miserable days outside can be the worst for comfort and photography.  Lying right in between are overcast days, those days when the sky is neither blue or black, clouds don't form nice, beautiful pillow like objects and the sun doesn't really shine anywhere specific.  These overcast days can be a photographers best friend if you know what to shoot.Photo by Symic Commonly referred to as nature's softbox because of the lack of actual direct sunlight, rather it's filtered and diffused through layers of thick clouds.  The direct result of this is a near shadowless day, absolutely perfect for moody and fun portraits.  The lack of shadows means utilizing on or off camera flash on location, reflectors or light modifiers to help compensate for the normally appearing shadows that come out.  The end result is a soft, feathered light that seems to near perfectly illuminate people.Photo by Oslo In The Summertime Shooting portraits on overcast days does require some attention to detail though, slightly differently then shooting on sunny days.  Because there is less light, and ...

Anyone who's ever been a Boyscout will tell you their motto is Always be prepared. Their motto isn't just for them, it's applicable to everyone, in just about every aspect of your life.  Planning ahead of time helps reduce problems during an event and when mishaps, accidents and problems arise, you'll have everything you need ready to deal with them.Take note here, we don't want problems to happen, but there is no way to avoid unforeseen issues which are bound to happen.  Photo shoots, especially involving people, can be very strenuous and when the photographer is stressed out, it tends to bring the whole mood down.  This is true from your hometown baby portrait photographer to a high end wedding photographer to a commercial photographer and even weekend warriors who like to go out and take landscape pictures.So, always be prepared, what does that mean exactly?  How should you be planning on what to bring?  The better question to ask yourself is, how do you envision the shoot going and what mishaps could potentially happen? For the sake of this article, let's examine an on-location portrait shoot in someone's home.You've met with the client, they like your work and they ...

There are a few key subjects that draw both the eye of photographers and people who enjoy the art form.  They include, among many others, train tracks, running water, sunsets / sunrises and old, desolate buildings.  It's the later of the bunch that we'll focus on now, especially since we've shown you 21 stunning shots of urban decay.  This article focuses on giving tips for urban decay photography for your next outing that will surely get you memorable photos.Photo by Bob Jagendorf Dress for the occasion. Most all of the places you are going to haven't been occupied in a long time and are far from safe.  Broken glass, loose boards with nails sticking out, snakes, thorn bushes and all kinds of other nasty stuff is bound to be around.  Wear thick soled boots with long pants, regardless of how hot it might be.  There is a reason the military has bloused their pants for decades, it works.  Tuck your pants into your boots to prevent them from getting hung up or caught on anything loose, or from something crawling up your leg.  Wear gloves and take insect spray with you.Light the way. Since you'll be exploring in and around structures, ...

Negative space, by definition, is the empty space around the subject or focus of the photograph.  If the edges of the photo frame the contents within, and the subject is the focal point, it's possible that just about every photo, even macro's and tight portrait shots can have negative space.Photo by joiseyshowa To really illustrate how powerful negative space can be though, the photo above shows how powerful nothing in the frame can be.  Don't read too deeply into that though, sometimes the negative space in a photo's composition is just as powerful and visually appealing as the focused subject.  Take this photo for example.Photo by swimparallel Here, the focus could actually be the vertically striped wall that is the negative space.Since I shared recently how I improved my photography in one night by cropping  photos in post production, it's worth nothing that to achieve a nice negative space in  your composition doesn't mean shooting super wide angle lenses or stuffing the subject into the bottom or lower corner of the frame.  Perhaps one of the more fundamental aspects of photography I learned early on was to fill the frame.  Here's a great example of filling the frame on a tightly ...

Black and white photography is often seen as some of the most pure forms of the art.  Removing the color and only dealing with the composition and contrast and how it relates to brightness in the shades of gray, black and white can often show an image in a whole new way.  Since digital photography has allowed us the luxury of shooting in color and converting to black and white we as photographers can always choose how we want to convert them.  A few digital cameras offer a black and white mode but the results are mediocre at best, and converting yourself can be the more rewarding while yielding the highest results.  There are however a few mistakes you can make while doing the conversion.Photo by gualtiero Don't use the Convert to greyscale option in Photoshop. This conversion strips so much data from your photos and yields some of the worst conversions available.  Avoid this at all costs.Poorly exposed photographs make poor looking black and whites.  Don't assume that because you over or under exposed your image that converting to black and white will fix the problem.Black is needed to make an attractive photograph, it says it right in ...

Utilizing flash in photography allows you to create unique photographs in ways that would otherwise be impossible.  There are a few downsides to utilizing flash photography though.Harsh shadows Over-exposed subject matter Inability to illuminate larger subjects or groups of people properlyUsing reflectors and other light modifiers with your flash photography will create more pleasing and fun photos.  Here are 6 tips on using a flash reflector to take your flash photography to the next level. Note that all of these tips are intended for use in conjunction with a hotshoe mounted flash, not a pop-up on camera flash or built in point & shoot camera flash.Reflectors can be bought or made.  One of the oldest methods is to utilize a simple note card and rubber band on your flash.Angle your flash at 45 degrees when using it with a reflector aimed at a specific subject.  This is needed to help project the light onto the subjectPoint your flash straight up when you need to illuminate a large space without harsh shadows and keep a reflector on the back of the flash unit to help throw the light forward.  Especially effective for the soft, near shadowless look.Use the wall next to you as ...

The ISO setting in your camera effects how sensitive the sensor is to light.  There is a lot of technical math that is well explained for those wanting the absolute answer to what it is on Wikipedia, but this article will focus more on choosing the right ISO setting for your specific shot.  The right ISO can make your photo, the wrong ISO can ruin it.ISO on most cameras starts at 100, some cameras start at 50, but the lower the number, the less sensitive to light, the higher the number, the more sensitive.  While that seems pretty straight forward, there is a price to pay as you go higher in the ISO settings, digital noise.  High ISO film had grain that was visible, somewhat desirable for photographers.  On a whole, digital noise, the equivalent to grain for digital photographers is not a welcomed addition to photographs.Unlike most settings in your camera, like shutter speed and aperture, changing the ISO probably won't be totally noticeable when you review images in the LCD.  The digital noise will show up when you view and edit your photos on a computer though.  Ideally you want the lowest ISO setting possible for the least ...

Indoor photography is perhaps one of the most challenging places to shoot for new and experienced photographers.  Natural and artificial light combined with natural light reflecting and refracting through windows and off walls can lead to some funky photographs.  Mastering indoor photography can be one of the most frustrating things to learn.  These seven deadly sins of indoor photography should be avoided, doing so will result in far better photographs.Lack of Custom White Balance. I've already shown you how and why you need to manually set your white balance, why not take the time to do it?  Because almost all indoor photography has some sort of mixed lighting situation, it's almost positive that auto or one the presets available on your camera won't give you great results.On Camera Flash. Utilizing the on camera flash for indoor photography will surely give you a washed out, unflattering photograph.  Avoid it at all costs if you can, even if you need to raise the ISO, avoid on camera flash whenever possible.Photo by Mathieu Struck Composition is Everything.  Because indoor photography consists of so many architectural lines, keeping good composition is of the utmost importance.  Really pay attention to how you frame images, especially in ...

Music evokes many emotions and seeing music preformed live is a passion for many of us.  It also happens that we are passionate about photography.  Combining the two can be incredibly fun, but often frustrating if you aren't sure how to capture magazine quality photographs.  This primer will cover what you need to know before you shoot at a concert, the gear you'll need and how to capture the moments best.Before The ConcertBefore you go to a concert, what is your purpose?  Are you a fan who wants to take photos? If so, then you should check with the venue prior to going, many venues today don't allow photography of any sort and will refuse entry to those with cameras, although most all will let you in with a cell phone.  If you are interested in getting press entry, usually you'll need to prove you are working for or will be submitting the photos to some form of media.  You'll want to contact the venue and possibly the tour manager at least two full weeks in advance, more if you have time.GearConcert photography is one of the toughest subjects to shoot, at least from my experience.  Stage lighting shifts rapidly, ...

Backlighting in photography is just what it sounds like, lighting a subject from the back.  It can be used for a variety of different ways, such as a hair light for people, showing transparency with fabrics or glass or creating stunning silhouettes.  Backlighting is a great way to showcase your subjects, but can lead to some rather poor results if you don't execute it properly.PortraitsUsing backlighting for portraits is a great way to show some separation between subject and background and lighting the hair from behind always adds a nice touch.  Done improperly though, you end up with the subject being dark and under exposed, like this:Photo by tourist_on_earth This mistake is easily fixed by using a flash for fill light.  It will properly expose the face of your subject but still give the rim-light around the head.  A great example of natural window light from behind a subject, which is then illuminated by an on-camera flash is:Photo by Ernst Vikne TransparentBacklighting can be used to showcase the transparent nature of certain objects.  In this case, you want to expose for the exact item you are shooting and not utilize the flash.  If you use the flash as a fill here, ...