8 Effects Every Photographer Should Know About

8 Effects Every
Photographer Should Know About


Photography students and enthusiasts must educate themselves with
many technical terms such as aperture, shutter speed, focus and
exposure. You’ve probably read enough about that elsewhere, so how about
a few photography effects? In this post I will share some photography
tips and effects. They can enhance the beauty of your photos and they
can be very fun to do, too.



1. Bokeh


Bokeh refers to the aesthetic quality of blur, the out of focus area
of the image. It’s how the light renders lighted areas that are out of
focus. The difference in lens aberrations and aperture shape causes the
area to blur, creating the look that’s aesthetically pleasing. Many
photographers deliberately use the shallow-focus technique to create
images with prominent bokeh areas. The term comes from Japanese ‘boke’,
which literally means haze or blur.
There’s good bokeh, but there’s also bad bokeh when the blur is so
distracting or harsh that it takes the focus away from the subject.
Thus, good bokeh can enhance an image while bad bokeh can ruin it.
Example
of bad bokeh.

Use of Creative Bokeh


by Jean
Fan

You can also create other shapes of bokeh, such as the heart and star
bokeh photos shown below. This can be done by using a filter with the
desired shape. You can even create your own. Tutorial can be found here.
by CT
Pham

Photo by
Astig

2. Panning


Panning refers to the horizontal, vertical or rotational movement of
an image still or video. It’s an age-old technique. To achieve panning,
you must have a moving subject that you must ‘stay with’ whilst framing
the shot before and after you press the shutter. This will create an
interesting effect, with your subject being sharp amid a blurred
background. Great for shooting moving subjects or racing and sports
events.
by Sofia
Duarte

Panning will take a lot of practice, but you’ll get used to it and
the effort is all worth it. Of course, it is easier to ‘follow’ a human
subject than faster subjects like a dog, a motorcycle or a car.
by
Statesman

3. Rule of Thirds


The rule of thirds is one of the most basic principles of
composition. It has been used for many centuries by artists, painters
and now, photographers.

With the Rule of Thirds, the photographer breaks down the photo into
thirds, horizontally & vertically so that you have nine equal parts.
The main subject is not placed in the middle of the frame, thus it
looks dynamic, moving and interesting.
When you are taking a picture you must mentally divide your
viewfinder or LCD display into three to frame your shot. With the grid
in mind, identify the important points of interest and frame. For some
photographers, this comes naturally but for others, it will require
practice.

by
Rachel Arandilla

Effective use of the rule of thirds create movement and interest in
any photograph.
Photo by
Majoy Chua

Keep in mind the rule of thirds for post production. If you find an
image’s composition boring, you can always post process it by using the
cropping and reframing tools of Photoshop. Experiment with the tools at
hand to improve your photos.
4. The Golden Hour


The Golden Hour, also referred to as the Magic Hour, refers to the
first hour the sun rises and the last hour the sun sets. It creates a
different quality of light; it adds interest and drama to the scene.
It’s the perfect time of the day for creating magnificent photos–but be
quick, because lighting quickly changes and fades away.
by
Torontoist

What really happens during the golden hour? During sunrise and
sunset, the sun is near the horizon so the daylight is of the indirect
light from the sky, reducing intensity of the sun’s bright light. There
is softer lighting, warmer hues and longer shadows. In other times of
the day, the sun’s light can be too bright and harsh. The sun’s harsh
light is particularly a problem in portrait photography, for the light
can create unwanted strong shadows around the face and body.
by David
Giral

With landscape photography, photographing landscape during the golden
hours enhances the colors of the scene.
by Karen
Bangcot

5. Golden Rectangle


The Golden Rectangle, (also the Golden Mean or the Golden Ratio) is
another guideline for composition and a variation of the Rule of Thirds,
but more intricate. The Golden Rectangle is the mean of the ratio of
numbers on the Fibonacci Sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 and so
on). The ratio creates a golden rectangle, which is comprised of a
square and half of the square in the same dimension.

Again, the concept goes back to several centuries. The Golden
Rectangle is even used to frame Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
Paintings, artworks and photos following the Golden Rectangle tend to be
stunning and pleasing to the eye. It’s because it’s an aesthetic
proportion that can be found naturally: flowers, shells, butterflies and
even the human body.
Photo by
Rachel Arandilla

It is very hard to frame the image to the Golden Rectangle means
directly from the LCD or viewfinder. Thankfully, there are now several
programs that you can use to crop your photos to the Golden Rectangle
dimensions during post-production.
by Chris
Ganes

6. Fill Flash


Fill Flash is a technique in photography where the photographer uses
flash to ‘fill in’ dark areas of the image. It’s perfect for backlit
environments. The background is usually a lot brighter than the subject.
To create fill flash, adjust the aperture and shutter speed correctly
to expose the background, use flash to lighten the foreground but still
retain the qualities of the background.
You can use flash when: the subject is in a shadow, when there is
more light on the background than on the foreground, and when you are
close enough to the subject for flash. Remember that your built-in flash
is only powerful enough to reach up to 9 feet only. Fill Flash can
brighten deeply shadowed areas, improving the image without overexposing
the other areas of the image.
by Mike
Baird

Fill Flash is great for illuminating the eyes, especially on bright
days and the subject is wearing a cap.

by Don
Giannatti




by
Adrian Biondi

by
Eduardo Muriedas



7. Long Exposure


Long exposure is another interesting photography effect which entails
a narrow aperture and long duration shutter speed. This is done in
order to create dreamy landscapes, capturing the stationary elements
while blurring the moving elements of the image.
Long exposure can be tricky. It should be taken in low light
situations, most often photos will be overexposed because having long
exposure on sunny days can be a problem, as too much light will enter
the lens.
It is often referred to as ‘night photography’. Interesting subjects
to shoot are stars, moving cars and lights.
by
Cretique

by
Matthew Fang

by Tyler
Westcott

However, there are many beautiful long exposure photographs taken
during low light daytime. Shooting fog and water on long exposure is
popular in photography.
by Dene
Miles

by Stan
Mason

8. Contre-jour


Contre-jour is a popular photography effect. It is French for
‘against daylight’, the camera is directly pointing towards the light
source. Countre-jour is, basically, is the fancy speak of ‘silhouette
photography’. The light source is located directly behind the subject.
The contre-jour effect produces high contrast photos between light
and dark. It hides details yet emphasizes contour of the subject and
shapes. Contre-jour is more popular in nature & landscape
photography. The effect is often used to add a more dramatic mood and
intense ambiance to the scene.
by
ArtBible.net

by
Karlos Portillo

Ironically though, contre-jour can enhance or reduce the quality of
detail in the photo. Some recommend using a lens hood to enhance the
effect of contre-jour in photographs, significantly reducing the glare
coming into the lens. If too much light enters the lens, it will cause
overexposure, causing the photo to lose definition.
Conclusion


You don’t need to follow these terms to the dot in order to create a
beautiful and interesting image. In fact, rules are made to be broken!
Art is about exploring yourself and your medium, after all. But to be an
artist of your own you have to learn the basics first before you break
them. That’s what Pablo Picasso and Van Gogh did.
Of course, these are not the only effects in photography. There are
dozens more, and you can even create a photography effect through your
own experimentation. Photography’s only limits is the photographer’s
creativity.

wow! awesome effects..
thanx