Nikonians Articles

When you see something, your eye responds to it. This is purely biological. The eye responds to dark and light, to red and green, and to blue and yellow. Without you thinking about it, your eye flicks around, building up an image of what you see. Read more...

If you want to learn to compose, review. This series of articles is not giving you rules for composition to use right now, but methods to learn how to be better at composition. Read more...

In a previous series, I shared 21 principles of composition. I thought of revisiting and expanding on them in this series, but I feel it’s been said. What I want to focus on in this series is about how to become the kind of photographer who composes perfectly, without having to think about it. Read more...

What we’re going to look at in this part goes against the grain of what most photographers think. Most Photoshop warriors believe that they can improve the shot in post-processing. Actually, this is impossible. Read more...

Remember our scale at the beginning? 0-64 points for concept, 0-32 for working with people, 0-16 for planning, 0-8 for composition, 0-4 for lighting, 0-2 for shooting, 0-1 for post-processing? Multiply them all together, and the result ranges from 0 to 2 million. The way you shoot the shot can make an otherwise perfect image $2 million, $1million or $0. Read more...

Let’s recap where we started. To achieve the maximum effect, give yourself from 0-1 points for post-processing, 0-2 for shooting, 0-4 for lighting, 0-8 for composition, 0-16 for planning, 0-32 for working with people, and 0-64 for concept. Multiply these together. You will get a result between 0 and about 2 million. Read more...

The human eye interprets images in the following order: movement, colour, shape, content. If you wish to create images that sell products, change social behaviour, win election campaigns or merely persuade people to invest their evenings in watching a particular TV show, then you need to construct the image with these in mind. Read more...

Most photographers are not natural planners. If you come from a landscape background, you expect to be inspired by what you find. Photojournalists look for the decisive moment. Press photographers were always told ‘f8 and be there’. But even the most spontaneous photographer needs at least the basic planning of having their equipment ready when the moment happens. Read more...

The factor which can disrupt whole shoots or, equally, turn dross into gold, is what we call in the trade ‘the human factor’. Read more...

Concept beats everything else in studio photography. I want to share with you an image shot outdoors, in the dark, with no lights, no photographic equipment apart from a camera and a tripod, but which epitomises the studio method. Read more...