One such technique is called ‘panning’. This is the technique of moving the camera with the subject, taking the shot during the motion and then continuing the motion in one smooth action. This technique is useful for sports photography, wildlife photography, photography at air shows, basically anywhere the subject moves quickly.

It takes some practise though and geting the balance right between shutter speed and your movement is not easy. If you have the shutter speed too slow then no matter how well you pan the camera, you won’t get a sharp image. If you have the shutter speed too fast then you won’t get the creative results that panning can give you.

So let’s look at some examples. I’m lucky enough to live close to Oulton Park, which is a motor racing circuit in Cheshire in the UK, and there are lots of positions around the track where panning is a massive help to getting better images. So first of all we’ll look at the sort of picture that most people will get. They will be using a fast shutter speed which will freeze everything to get a sharp picture throughout.

In some cases, this is obviously a desirable effect, but if you look at the image you can see there are a lot of distractions in the background where the image is fairly sharp all the way through it and that, to me at least, detracts from the image. You’ll also see that the wheels of the racing car look like they are not moving so in effect, this car could have been parked on the track. The main issue to me is there is no sense of speed. Motorsport is a fast sport, so for the photographer capturing still images, getting a sense of speed into the image tells more of a story.

So let’s bring in panning. When you pan the camera, there are a few other things you need to bear in mind. You need to focus on the moving subject at all times. For manual focus this is a bit tricky, so let’s not make it hard for ourselves and use the auto focus of the camera. However, using the auto focus on the standard setting will also cause you problems because as soon as you push your finger half way down on the shutter release, the auto focus will set itself on that spot so when the subject moves, chances are it will be out of focus. What you need to make sure is that your camera is set to continuous focus. Now, different manufacturers might call this a variety of names, but what it means is that the camera will detect what it things is moving in the frame and will continuously adjust the focus to make sure that the subject that is moving stays in focus. Depending on what camera you have will depend how fast this happens, but most reasonable cameras will have this feature.

OK, so we’ve got our fast moving subject, we’ve got our camera set on continuous focus so let’s get the subject framed up ready to take the shot. But hold on, you think you are going to get the shot on the first attempt? I doubt it, so let’s make sure we have done a few practise pans first.

If you have got to move your body to pan the camera, make sure you are comfortable doing so. Make sure you don’t unbalance yourself by twisting your body. Also make sure that you aren’t going to bump into anything or anyone when you pan the camera. The last thing you want to do is pan quickly and whack your head, or your camera, on a tree or another spectator standing next to you. So have a few practise pans. You might look a bit of a wally doing it with nothing to take a shot of, but it will help you get a better shot.

OK, now we are ready to give it a try. However, if your camera is still set on a really fast shutter speed then you aren’t going to see much difference to the above shot, so let’s slow the shutter speed down. This is what takes a bit of practise so maybe start with something like 1/125 of a second. That’s fast enough to still get a sharp image, but hopefully slow enough to get a bit of blur in the background to give the image a sense of speed and the also the additional benefit of blurring out some of the distractions in the background.

So, pick out your subject well in advance. Frame the shot and press the shutter release half way down to set the camera up and get the camera focussing. Now keep your finger pressed half way down and follow the subject with your camera and when you think you are ready to take the shot, press the shutter all the way down to take the shot. But here is the important point, keep moving and panning the camera after you take the shot. This will mean you get a nice smooth motion and if you’ve got it right you’ll get the important bits of the subject sharp but you’ll also get motion blur in the right places too that will give the whole image a bit more of a dynamic look.

So that was the shot I got by using the panning technique. I left a little more in the frame than I would normally do just to illustrate the technique but you can see that the background has that motion blur, the wheels don’t look like they are stationary, the background is less distracting and the whole picture has, I think, a little more to it than a totally sharp image like the one at the top of the article.

This does take practise though, don’t expect to master it first time. Believe me, I’ve got lots of shots that get deleted because I’ve messed up the panning motion or haven’t got the balance right between shutter speed and moving the camera. So don’t be disheartened, put lots of practise in and you’ll get some great results.

So here is the shot I ended up with:

As you can see, it’s a pretty basic photo and I’ll own up to the fact that it’s actually really easy to get this effect which is why I’m writing about it on my Photography Basics site.

Gear List

Here is what I used for this shot:

• Sony Alpha A700
• Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 Lens
• Manfrotto 190XPro B Tripod
• Manfrotto 322RC2 Head
• Sony HVL-F42AM Flash
• 3 Sheets of white A4 paper
• Gaffatape
• 1 Robot Minifigure

Ok, some of my gear isn’t what every beginner might have, but you don’t really need a tripod, you can hand hold the camera or rest it on a table or a bean bag. You don’t need an expensive flash gun, the on board flash will work almost as well with the method I used.

Lighting

The lighting setup for this is very simple, the technique is to use bounced light and reflected light and this is where the sheets of A4 paper come in. You only actually need 2 sheets of A4 paper, but the weight of the paper I used was quite thin so I just used two sheets to form a curve of paper to act as a background for the shot.

The other sheet of paper is used to attach to the flash. This high tech piece of equipment is very easy to make, just fold one A4 piece of paper along the dark lines and then softly fold (so as not to score the edge) along the lighter line along the centre, like this:

Then just attach it to your flash. If you are using just the camera’s pop up flash you might have to get a bit more creative with the gaffer tape, but the end effect should look similar to the photo above.

What this will do is create a softer pool of light around the subject from the flash which will help reduce any shadows and create an even lighting effect. Couple this with the reflected light from the curved paper and you will get the even white background with minimal shadows on the subject.

Camera Settings

When I am doing this type of photography where I want ultimate control over the image and lighting, I use the fully manual setting (M) to allow me to control both the aperture and shutter speed independently. I also use the manual settings on the flash so I can control the level of lighting.

Now, as we are using the manual settings, we aren’t going to get things right with the first shot. My approach is to set some ball park settings on the camera and the flash and then adjust one at a time to achieve the results I want. So lets take one setting at a time, first aperture. I know I need to get all of the LEGO minifigure in focus and as I am taking fairly close up photography I know that the depth of field is a lot less the closer you get to the subject. So, to get a decent depth of field, I started with f11. For a shutter speed, I set the camera up with 200th of a second. The flash I then set on half power. This is all guess work for me, but the settings I used gave me the flexibility to move them either way.

The first shot was a disaster, everything was way too bright and you could hardly see the minifigure in the shot. So what options do I have to darken the image. Well, my first thought was that as the image was way too bright, reducing the flash level was my first route so I turned the flash down to 1/8th power. Now we are getting somewhere, but things were still a bit bright, so now I decided to tweak the aperture. Remember that the aperture controls how much light reaches the sensor while the shutter is open. If the image is too bright, reduce the aperture size by making the F number larger. I ended up using F16 to get the final shot.

Summary

So, if you break this down into the techniques actually used, you using the basic principles of working in a studio just on a much smaller scale. You are controlling all the lighting yourself. You are using manual settings on the camera and adjusting the settings based on the fundamentals of photography, aperture and shutter speed (in this case, I didn’t adjust the ISO settings at all). Using the results of your test shots you can adjust one setting at a time and get closer to the result you want.

So now you have a mini studio, why not practise using it. The weather is pretty rubbish at the moment (or it is where I live) so you have no excuse not to. It can all be done on your coffee table in front of the TV. What could be better?

Lowepro have been one of the market leaders for camera bags for years, they have a huge range of camera bags and pouches suitable for basic digital compacts through to high end DSLRs with a collection of lenses.

I have owned several Lowepro bags in my time, but the Lowepro Fastpack 350 Quick Access Backpack is one that has caught my eye and is on my Christmas list (yes, I know I mentioned Christmas in August… I’m sorry).

This has enough space to carry a decent amount of kit, plus enough room for some food or a lightweight jacket. One big advantage is that you can store the camera with a decent sized lens attached. This means you don’t have to fumble around connecting your lens if you need your camera in a hurry.

The other plus point for me is that my macbook will also fit into it which means if I go away for a day or two I don’t have to lug about two bags as I like to review my photos on a larger screen while I’m away.

It’s not the funkiest looking of bags, like Crumpler for instance, but it serves its purpose and doesn’t cost the earth. All in all, a great bag to go with your shiny new camera gear.

One of the tricky things for photographers is to take a photo where the animal looks like it’s in it’s natural environment and with all the railings, fences, feeders and other zoo visitors that can get in the shot, it takes a bit of thought and some luck to get a shot where you wouldn’t know the animal is in a zoo.

Take this shot for example:

At first glance it looks like a good photo, even if I do say so myself, but when you get past the main subject of the two elephants you see all the man made structures in the background which make it obvious that this wasn’t taken in a natural environment.

So how do you go about getting a more natural shot?

1. Picking your view point is the first step. Look at the enclosure and find a background that looks the most natural. Take a test shot to see how best to frame the shot.

2. Now this is where it takes a bit of patience. You need to watch the animal and see where it’s likely to go and if it’s likely to wander to the location you’ve picked out with a natural background. If after a few minutes there is no chance that the animal is going to move to the chosen area, then you need to pick another location. Watch where the animal is going and see what options you might have. For example, the Jaguar at Chester Zoo has a route that it uses to get round it’s enclosure and there are several places where you can take a photo that doesn’t have the fencing in the background.

3. Use a wide aperture to blur out the background. This will also help blur out man made objects and fences so the person looking at your shot won’t notice them as much. This shot of one of the giraffes keeps the giraffe as the main focal point with nothing to distract the eye in the background.

4. Crop in tight on the animals to again reduce the chance of seeing anything man made in the background. Fill the frame with your subject, even to the point of cropping part of the animal out of the shot. Use the composition techniques to follow guides like the rule of thirds to produce a pleasing shot.

5. Be lucky. Ok, so this isn’t something you can be sure of but make sure you are ready to take a shot if the opportunity comes around. Have your camera set up and close to our eye so if a funny or unusual situation occurs then you’ll have a better chance to get the shot. I hardly ever turn my camera off when I’m at a zoo, you can rely on the camera’s built in power saving to turn itself off but come back to life as soon as you need it. Always make sure you know what your camera is set too. If you’ve just been inside in one of the indoor areas then your camera is likely to be set up wrong for using back outdoors. Who knows, you might just get a shot that you could easily have missed.

At the end of the day, going to the zoo should be an enjoyable day out and I try and make sure I don’t spend the whole time with my face behind the camera. Just being able to see some of these animals, quite often endangered species, is reward enough and getting a decent photo is a bonus.

That’s the way I look at it anyway.

Now I don’t confess to being a real photography gear geek and know all there is to know about each and every model of camera out there. To be honest, I don’t want to know. I read the odd article in magazines and on the internet, but I prefer to get recommendations from people who have actually used the equipment and give it good reviews.

I do have a few guidelines though when recommending a camera. So here they are. I hope they prove to be useful.

1. Stick with the following brands: Canon, Nikon or Sony. These are the big three brands, well, Sony is catching up and in my opinion is ahead of any of the other brands other than Canon and Nikon, and yes, I use Sony, so I can recommend them based on experience.

So why only choose those three. Well, they are the most popular brands and if you look at any pro photographer whether it’s a wedding photographer or a National Geographic photographer, nine out of ten of them will be using either Nikon and Canon and the other one will probably use Sony. Well, ok, forty nine out of fifty will use Canon or Nikon and the other one will use Sony. So that’s got to prove something hasn’t it?

The other reason is that as more people are using those brands, there will be more second hand equipment available which is always well worth looking at when choosing a digital SLR. Photographers will generally look after their equipment, so the second hand market is always something to consider.

2. Don’t spend all your hard earned cash on the best camera body. The camera lens is very important and can have a big effect on the quality of the image. In some camera plus lens bundles, the lens can be of lower quality with a high quality body. This isn’t always the case but it’s worth doing your homework on both the lens and the body. Don’t just assume the lens is going to be a good one.

3. Do your homework. OK, you’ve seen a few options within your budget, you’ve checked that the lens and body package is a good one, but now you need to check what other people think so it’s time to hit the internet. There are lots of places to find out what other people think about a product. Forums can be good but you have to take a lot of what people say with a pinch of salt. People like to talk about bad experiences a lot more than good experiences so you might see two people say something bad but there could be a hundred people who think the equipment is great.

Reviews are something that you should pay attention to. If a product has had 20 reviews and they are all good reviews, there is a good chance the product is actually pretty good but if they are all bad reviews, then I’d probably steer clear of that product. One handy site I’ve seen is TestFreaks.co.uk as it gathers camera reviews from several web sites into one place. I often use amazon as a source for reviews even though I might not actually buy from them, but it has served me well so far.

So, do your homework and narrow down your choices.

4. Test your options out. OK, so now you narrowed your choice down to maybe three or four options, but so far you’ve not actually held them in your hand. An important factor is confort and ease of use. If you can’t figure out easily where the menu options are, or the dials aren’t easy to turn then you aren’t going to enjoy using the camera. So, unless you know other photographers with those cameras, it’s time to go along to your high street store and try the cameras out. It’s here you have to be strong and not get persuaded by the salesman to buy there and then. If you find the perfect camera though, don’t be afraid to haggle. High street shops are desperate for business so it never hurts to ask. Most shops will price match too so don’t forget to ask.

You’ll notice I haven’t been mentioning any specific camera models in this article and to be honest, I don’t need to. If you set yourself a budget of say £500 and choose a camera from canon, nikon or sony they are, ready for this, all going to be very similar. To a beginner or someone just starting out with a digital SLR you aren’t going to really notice the differences between them and each one will give you all the tools you need to learn photography and achieve some great images.

So, work out your budget. Work out all the bits you will need like memory cards, a bag etc etc then look at what cameras are available with the cash you have available. Do your homework, read what other people think and test them out if you can and you will pick a camera that will serve you well and let you get out an enjoy photography.

Here are are my favourite shots from the walk that I took. I have tweaked them in Adobe Lightroom, which is my software of choice for photo editing, and due to the flat lighting we had, black and white enabled me to push settings around a bit and make some slightly more dynamic looking images. Nothing award winning, but at least I got something out of the day.

Overall it was a good afternoon. I met some good people, enthusiastic about photography. I got out with my camera, which is something I don’t get a lot of time to do at the moment. I had a nice pint of Guinness which is always a bonus.
As I only moved to Northwich in February this year, I am still finding out about what photographic opportunities there are in the area, but I’m hoping to organise some more photo walks through out the year so keep an eye on this web site for more info.

For those coming along to the Northwich walk, the weather is looking promising and I’m looking forward to it. At the moment it’s only events like this that I get to go out with my camera so hopefully I can bring back some decent pictures. The question is though, what lens to bring?

When I do these types of events I like to challenge myself and stick to one lens only. Yes, I might miss some opportunities for a good picture, but it does help you get more creative, look around you more for the shot and makes you concentrate a bit more on taking the shot. All good ways to learn. I’m currently leaning towards the wide angle 11-18mm for some interesting perspectives, but I’ll make the final decision just before I leave the flat.

I’ll be tweeting during the walk too, so follow @photobasics if you want to see what’s going on, look out for the #WWPW tag on twitter to see what other walks are going on too. I’ll try and take a few shots from my iPhone along the way too. I’ll do a full report after the event too.

If you can’t make it to any of the photo walks, why not just take half an hour to wander round your garden with your camera and take a few shots, or take your camera with you when you take the dog for a walk. Either way, get out there and take some photos.

http://worldwidephotowalk.com/walk/northwich-england-united-kingdom/

The benefits of registering are that you will be able to enter the photo competition for images taken during the walk plus I will be able to easily contact you with updates about the walk and any other important information.

I am looking forward to the walk and meeting photographers from the area, or further afield. It should be an enjoyable afternoon.

I am still working out the route, but it will be close to, or in, Northwich this year instead of near Oldham like last year. I am thinking that this time we’ll keep closer to civilisation and make it a bit more of a social event as well as taking pictures. The canals around Northwich are my likely choice but I’ll be announcing the route very soon and will be giving you a link where you can register your participation.

I’m looking forward to it already!

Well, here are ten items that I think are well worth taking into account when you buy your camera. You never know, you may get one or two of these thrown into the deal if you ask nicely.

1. At least one spare memory card is an essential. If you are lucky enough to get one with the camera, it’s not likely to be a very big one. Memory cards are now pretty cheap, and a decent Sandisk Extreme III 4GB Compact Flash Card can be had from around £18. So why not get two!

2. If you have a DSLR with detachable lenses then from time to time you are going to get some dust in your camera. Dust is evil and will create lovely spots on your images so you will need to clean the lens or sensor. An easy way is to get a Giottos Rocket Air Blower which will blast any dust out of the camera. Plus they look pretty funky too and are under £10.

3. So you  are now collecting a few extra bits so you’ll need somewhere to keep them all. So a bag will be a handy thing to get. Now, the bag you get will largely depend on the type of camera you get. You aren’t going to get a big back pack for a small compact camera. There are hundreds of cases and bags available though, just bear in mind that it’s always better to get a bag than can hold more than you own right now. It won’t be long before you buy more equipment, and you don’t want to have to buy a new bag each time too.

4. A lens cloth is an important accessory. You really shouldn’t be using your fingers or shirt sleeves to clean your lens. Any small particle of dust on your sleeve or finger could scratch the lens, even a very fine scratch can effect the image as light will react differently as it passes through that area of the lens. So get a decent lens cloth and keep it in a clean pocket of your bag. Only use it for cleaning your lens and definitely don’t use it to clean anything else on your camera.

5. A very useful accessory for bridge or DSLR cameras is a UV filter for the front of your lens. This is actually more of a protection accessory than a functional accessory as this filter will protect the glass on the lens. Filters are a lot cheaper to replace than lenses. I would advise not to go cheap here. The filter will be another  layer of glass and can effect your image, so paying for good quality filters is well worth it.

6. This next one isn’t one you are going to keep in your camera bag, but it’s a very useful accessory to have. A card reader for your computer will make transferring your images from your camera to your computer a lot simpler. Getting a multi card reader, one that accepts more than one type of memory card, will make it a lot more usable and means you will still be able to use it if you ever change your camera and it uses a different type of memory card.

7. A tripod is a very useful accessory to have, but they can be very expensive. If you are using a compact camera or a DSLR with a small lens, then a great accessory to have is a GorillaPod tripod. These have flexible legs which can be wrapped round fences, trees, chairs, anything really and hold your camera still for longer exposures or photos that you want to be in too.

8. Now you have taken lots of pictures, you should share them. Sharing your pictures online is a great way to get feedback on them and also show your friends and relatives how good you are. I use Flickr.com and pay for extra space and uploads. It’s a great site too, very easy to use.

9. Depending on the sort of pictures you are taking, having good reference material can help you a much better shot. For instance, if you are into wildlife then you need to learn about the wildlife you are taking pictures of. If landscapes are your thing, then learning about the location will help you find a better viewpoint or a better time of the year to go.

10. Pretty soon you are going to fill up your computer’s hard drive with all your shots so an external hard drive is a useful addition to have. If you are going to get serious then you’ll want to set up a proper backup routine which is where multiple hard drives are very useful.