Creative photography: 5 invaluable tips from the masters - part 2

Do you want to take unique photos? Learn from the best! We bring to your attention 5 priceless photo tips from the masters of photography.

1 Chasing the storm

Take advantage of bad weather and use light to bring the landscape to life.

Some of the best lighting conditions for photography come after heavy rainstorms, when dark clouds part and beautiful golden light spills over the landscape. Professional landscape photographer Adam Burton witnessed such a scene during his recent trip to the Isle of Skye. “Any landscape looks good with this kind of lighting, although I have often found that wild and rugged landscapes are the most spectacular in such weather conditions,” says Adam.

"I waited about 30 minutes for the sun to come out until my patience was rewarded with five minutes of probably the best light I've ever seen." Of course, moisture and a thunderous aura are not very favorable for the thin components hidden inside the chamber. So how did Adam protect his precious Nikon?

“Whenever you go looking for a thunderstorm, you run the risk of getting wet! In the event of a sudden downpour, I quickly pack my gear into my backpack and cover it with a raincoat to keep everything dry.” “In the event of light rain, I simply cover the camera and tripod with a plastic bag, which I can quickly remove at any time and return to shooting when the rain stops falling. I also carry a disposable shower cap with me at all times, which can protect filters or other elements attached to the front of the lens from raindrops while still allowing further framing».

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• Choose locations that best match the mood of the storm, such as rocky shores, peat bogs, or mountains.
• Be prepared for another trip to the same place in case of failure.
• Use a tripod you can leave at home and reach for the rain cover if necessary.
• Shoot in RAW format so you can do tone correction and change white balance settings later.

"Mysterious Lights in the Fog"

Mikko Lagerstedt

2 Great photos in any weather

Leave the house on a gloomy March afternoon in search of romantic themes.

To create a unique mood in your photos, go out into the field when the forecasters promise fog and mist - but don't forget to bring a tripod! “The biggest problem with fog photography is the lack of light,” says Finnish photographer Mikko Lagerstedt, whose atmospheric photographs of foggy night scenes have become an internet sensation. “You often have to use slow shutter speeds to get particularly interesting effects. If you want to photograph a moving subject, you may also need a higher sensitivity to maintain sharpness.”

Images shot in fog often lack depth and usually need a little more expression when working in Photoshop. However, you don't have to mess around with your photos too much. “Editing is pretty easy for me,” says Mikko. "Usually I add a bit of contrast and try to adjust the color temperature to a cooler tone than what the camera is shooting."

"My brother stood for 60 seconds"

“At the end of a rainy day, I noticed a few rays of sun on the horizon and this boat drifting in the fog.”

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• Put your camera on a tripod, you can choose low ISOs and avoid noise.
• Use the self-timer and frame yourself.
• Try breathing into the lens before shooting to accentuate the fog.

3 Look for spring!

 Pull out the lens and take a picture of the first snowdrops

Blooming snowdrops for many of us are one of the first signs of the arrival of spring. You can search for them from February. For getting for a more personal photo, set the camera low, at the level of the buds. Working in Av mode and wide-open aperture blurs background distractions. However, use the depth of field preview feature so you don't lose important flower details when adjusting the settings.

For precise focusing, mount your camera on a sturdy tripod and activate Live View. Magnify the preview image with the zoom button, then sharpen the image with the focus ring and take the picture.

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• Snowdrops can be confusing to the exposure meter - be prepared to use exposure compensation.
• Adjust the white balance according to the lighting conditions to avoid bleaching whites.
• Use manual focus as the lack of sharp detail on the petals can prevent autofocus from working properly.

4 Seasons

Find a theme you can photograph all year round

Type "four seasons" into a Google Image search engine and you'll find tons of photos of trees taken in the same location in spring, summer, fall, and winter. It's a popular idea that doesn't require as much responsibility as Project 365, which involves photographing a chosen object every day for a year. Looking for a topic be sure to select a camera angle that provides good visibility when the trees are in leaf.

Don't frame too tightly so you don't have to worry about tree growth. Also remember about a tripod so that subsequent photos are taken at the same level (pay attention to the height of the tripod). When you return to this place in the next seasons of the year, have a memory card with you on which you saved the previous version of the photo. Use the image preview and look through the viewfinder to frame the scene the same way. For consistency across the series, use the same aperture settings.

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• To keep the angle of view the same, use a fixed focal length lens or use the same zoom setting.
• Try shooting in live view with the framing grid turned on, it will help you frame your shot.
• Apply a polarizing filter to reduce glare and improve color saturation.
• Place all four photos side by side, as James Osmond did here, or combine them into one photo.

 5 Album from A to Z

Create an alphabet, use the objects that surround you

Another creative idea is to create with photograph of own alphabet. It is enough to take a picture of individual letters, whether on a road sign, a license plate, in a newspaper or on a grocery bag. Finally, you can combine them into one photo and print or use individual letters to create your own unique fridge magnets. To make things more difficult, you can come up with a specific theme, like photographing letters against a certain color, or looking for a letter on an object whose name starts with the same letter.

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• Shoot handheld and use a wide aperture or higher ISO to take advantage of fast shutter speeds.
• Use a larger frame - this will help you present the letters along with the environment.
• Use wide zoom so that one glass gives you multiple framing options.