PC_Advisor_Issue_264_July_2017

Feature: Best photography techniques
Image taken using
a long exposure
To avoid movement of the camera,
you’ll also need a sturdy tripod and a
release cable to operate the shutter.
It’s worth noting that some traditional
long exposure effects, like star trails, are
often easier to achieve by taking multiple
short exposure sequential shots and
combining them in post-production.
4. The Thirds rule
This notion might seem highly unscientific,
but humans like the composition of things
where objects and transitions happen at
approximately one third from the sides of
the image, vertically and horizontally.
Known as the ‘rule of thirds’, photography
students are taught to place those things
they’d like the viewer to focus on along
these lines and the intersections between
the horizontal and vertical lines.
To help in this most cameras will provide a
grid, though oddly most DSLR cameras have
a grid with quarters or ‘fourths’, not thirds.
(Most smartphone camera apps also have
a grid overlay which can be enabled.)
The answer for DSLRs is to buy an
extra screen protector and mark it with
your own ‘thirds’ lines, solving the problem
for minimal outlay.
On some cameras, it is possible to
replace the focusing screen element with
one marked with thirds. But that isn’t an
exercise for the faint-hearted, and these
replacements cost much more than a
plastic screen protector. Many images have
symmetry where important elements seem
to align with the rule of thirds, even if some
people don’t accept it’s a thing.
5. Thirds on Photoshop
If you want to see a ‘thirds’ grid overlaying
any image in Photoshop (see below),
here’s the procedure:
The rule of thirds
• Open Photoshop
• Press Ctrl-K (Alt-K on the Mac)
• Select ‘Guides, Grid & Slices’
• Set Gridline Every to ‘100’ and ‘Percent’
• Set subdivisions to 3
Make sure that Grid is ‘shown’, and you’ll
see where the thirds are on any image.
6. How to shoot sunsets
Great sunset shots are about preparation,
and not just being there when the sun goes
down. But first, be safe. Always use ‘live
view’ on the camera display and not direct
or optical viewing, as you can damage your
eyesight should the clouds suddenly part.
Those wanting to shoot the setting sun
in detail will need at least a 200mm lens,
and a tripod to avoid camera shake or
high grain (ISO 800 or higher) images.
Those who want to capture a landscape
at sunset have two basic options; accept
a silhouette or use multiple combined
exposures. In a silhouetted sky that region
becomes the critical exposure concern.
Unless you’ve got lots of water to reflect
it. Alternatively, you can shoot bracketed
exposures to bring out the detail and
colour in the landscape lost on those
frames where the sun and sky look amazing.
The best modes for sunset shots are
either with an aperture or shutter priority.
Pick one of these and then keep adjusting
82 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features July 2017