Photo Answers
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Composing with a wide-angle lens, plus more tips from our resident expert
Wide-angle shooting Q
I bought a wideangle lens for landscapes, but I feel my images are suffering, as I can’t seem to get to grips with composition with it. Any tips?
Michael O’Hare A
I love wide-angles. I use them for everything from travel portraits to landscape shots. But you’re right, Michael: they can give you a compositional challenge because of the broad field of view.
The key to shooting good wide-angle landscapes is the foreground. As soon as you pop the wide-angle lens on the camera and start exploring a location, you have to be thinking foreground, foreground, foreground. I’ll use anything from puddles or patches of grass to rocks to act as a base to the image. It’s inevitably going to take up quite a lot of your frame, so you need to make sure that it’s visually interesting and also that it starts to lead you into the middle distance. It’s funny how relatively insignificant objects can make really good foregrounds with a wide-angle lens: you just need to move around them, looking through the camera to see how things change from different angles and shooting heights.
It’s only after I’ve picked my shooting position that I’ll set-up a tripod and fine-tune the composition and take a shot. Even then, I may well move a bit just to perfect the framing. Remember too that shooting vertically is very effective with a wide-angle. I often find that a foreground that doesn’t really work that well in a ‘landscape’ format image is much better when you turn the camera to upright, so explore both options.
Dial P for Program Q
I’ve been shooting in Program Mode (P) now for a couple of years. I get along fine with it, as it allows me some control over exposure. I stepped up to P from the fully auto modes and I’m now wondering whether I should step up to full Manual, even though it scares me a little?
Stephen Harkness A
To be honest, Stephen, Program Mode is a pretty good way of shooting. As you say, it allows you a lot of control over exposure in a way the fully automated Scene Modes available on some enthusiast DSLRs don’t. In P Mode you can change shutter speed and aperture (although it adjusts them in unison); independently select the ISO; use exposure compensation; and choose from any of the your camera’s AF points. That’s quite a lot of control.
In some high-pressure shooting situations where you want to be quick but need to be able to tweak the exposure slightly as required, I’d say P Mode is the way to go. I think this is probably why you are comfortable with it: it’s taking away the hassle of balancing shutter speed and aperture but allowing you to manipulate results by changing ISO or exposure compensation.
Why change to Manual when you’ve got it so good in P Mode? Simply because you can get even more creative with your exposure. I’d suggest for everyday shooting then you could happily stick with P Mode; but if you want to start to push the boundaries of what your camera is capable of, perhaps with long exposures, start experimenting in Manual or one of the two semi-automatic modes of Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority.
Handheld pano Q
Can I shoot images for a panoramic photo handheld, or do I have to use a tripod?
Keith Hazelwood A
If you use a tripod to shoot your panoramic, it is going to make it a lot easier for your software to stitch the images together in a seamless way. That said, while it’s best practice to do it this way, the honest answer to your question is yes, you can, and it’s relatively easy.
Take a look at my elephant panoramic (right). It’s a combination of 10 different photos, all taken in portrait format. I simply selected a focus point in the middle, locked off that focus and fired off each shot one after the other, while turning my body in an arc quickly and smoothly, trying to keep everything as steady as possible. I overlapped about one third of the frame on each shot.
The images were loaded into Lightroom, and the software has done a great job of stitching them together. This panoramic is probably going to end up on the wall of my office. Of course, this shot was made slightly trickier because the elephants were moving about, but because I took each shot in a rapid-fire sequence,
I avoided any potential issues with this.
Get a grip Q
I find it awkward to shoot an image in portrait mode – is there anything I can do to make it easier?
Bonnie Reid A
Get yourself a battery grip! I know it’s an added expense but using a grip does have a couple of major advantages. It increases battery life by allowing you to double-up on batteries and the fact the grip has a side shutter button and command dial means that it will be much more natural to hold and use when you shoot with the camera held vertically, and should address your problem. No more twisted wrist!
Maxed out Q
My zoom lens has a minimum and a maximum aperture – but what does this actually mean?
Stig Vensson A
One of the things that newcomers to DSLR photography get puzzled by is the f/number written on a lens. In most cases, a lens’ name will only quote its maximum aperture – that’s the widest the aperture will open. In some instances this will be consistent throughout the zoom range.
For example, if you buy a Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8, you can shoot at f/2.8 whether you are at 70mm or 200mm. If you buy a Nikkor 70-300mm, you will see two apertures quoted in its name – f/4 and f/6.3. This is because the widest aperture the lens is able to set varies depending on where you are zoomed to within its range.
What’s less obvious is what the minimum aperture of a lens is. Typically it is f/22 or higher. Some longer focal lengths will offer minimum apertures over this.
To my way of thinking, maximum aperture is the most important factor – and the main reason faster lenses are more expensive. Whether that expense is justified is a personal choice. With a fast zoom lens you get that wide f/2.8 aperture throughout its focal range, but how often you will use it at f/2.8 depends on your photographic style. I use my 70-200mm lens at f/2.8 a lot for portraiture, but would be less likely to use it regularly with a 70-300mm.
Keep it dry Q
I am going to be shooting in potentially very wet conditions. Will my standard camera bag be able to keep my cameras dry?
Jonathan Maxtead A
Most good camera bags have some water resistance, or at least come with a waterproof cover that can be wrapped over – but in extreme circumstances, they can’t be 100% guaranteed to keep water out. You can buy relatively cheap and large dry bags from outdoor stores, but they can’t really be carried easily with heavy camera gear inside and offer no padded protection.
For a more specialist solution, Lowepro does a good but expensive waterproof
backpack called the Dryzone 200. If it is something you are likely to use a lot, then perhaps this would be the most effective option.
Delete or format? Q
I delete old images from my memory cards, but recently I had an issue with corrupted files. Someone told me I should be formatting the card, not deleting files. Is this true?
Suzi Lennon A
Yes, you’ve been advised correctly. I always format the card in the camera to make sure the contents are completely wiped. If you just delete the images, some data may still be on the card so the card’s capacity diminishes, and you risk corrupted files. But download all your photos before formatting!