Nikonians Articles

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...

Whether you will be photographing a single person or group or many, you will benefit from this article where Mike Hagen tells us the seven most important things he has learned, after doing it more than a few times. Read more...

Many photographers use costly lighting equipment to create a pleasing look of their images. In this article our Nikonians author, Jan Stimel, explores the power of the window light and how it can be creatively used. Read more...

There are some things in our world, unseen, small, unnoticed and unique, all waiting to be explored, captured and shared. We would like to invite you to a journey to discover such things, surprisingly - in your own home. Read more...

Quite often the correct exposure for a background in a scene is not the best one for the foreground or viceversa. The most common problem is that the bright sky is reproduced perfectly while the landscape is underexposed; in fact pitch black most of the times. These are the occasions where the color and neutral density (ND) graduated (grad) filters can make the difference between a bad image, a good image and a better one. Read more...