Candles are a unique light source. Using candlelight to light a scene can result in breathtaking photos. Candlelight temperature is different than flash, daylight or regular bulb light. Using candlelight is hard and requires experience. This article will provide you some basic ideas to start experimenting with.
Candles can be used in a few ways: they can be a light source that lights an object in the photo but not appear in the photo themselves. They can be used as a light source and also participate as an object in the final photo or they can participate as the solo object in the photo (or in other words simply a candles photo).

Remember to eliminate other light sources: The goal of candlelight photos is to achieve an effect that is based on the unique characteristics that candlelight provides such as its warmth. In order to maximize this effect you should make sure that there are no other light sources that contaminate the scene. A simple test for that is to blow off all the candles and make sure that the scene is completely dark. It goes without saying that you should make sure that your digital camera’s flash is set to the off position. In some cases a small amount of additional light source can be used. After experimenting and gaining experience with candlelight photography you will get a sense of when allowing some other light to penetrate the scene makes sense and in which angles and intensities.
Candlelight is not as strong as other light sources. It is much weaker than your digital camera’s flash. For that reason candlelight photography will almost always result in low light slow shutter speed photography. Although it is recommended that you use a setup in which you maximize the aperture width and minimize the shutter speed it is likely that you will end up having to use slow shutter speeds. There are a few things you need to consider: Camera shakings – these can be eliminated by using a tripod or by placing the camera on a stable surface and using timer photography. Objects movements: if objects move during the period in which the shutter is open the photo will appear smudged. Make sure that the objects you are photographing do not move and that people do not blink. Another movement source is the movement of the light source itself. Candles tend to flicker – although it is hard to completely eliminate this phenomenon and some flicker is actually welcome in order to get a good candlelight effect – it is recommended that you prevent extreme flicker. This can be done for example by making sure that there is no wind blowing in the scene, that the candles are on stable surfaces and that they were lit for a while and burn consistently. Determining the right shutter speed is also hard. Since the candles light is bright on one and but on the other hand is concentrated in a small area and weak once farther from the candle most cameras ambient light measurements and automatic shutter speed settings will be wrong. Using the camera automatic setting is a good start. Try to take a few photos with slower and faster shutter speeds and explore the results.
The amount of light in the scene depends on the number of candles that are used. Since candles are not a strong light source you would usually need to use a few candles. Sometimes you would only like to have a small number of candles appear in the photo itself but you would still need to have more candlelight in the scene. In such cases you can use extra candles to light up the scene but keep those candles out of the composed photo. When you do that – make sure that the additional candles are placed in a way that make sense – for example – that they do not create shades that do not appear not normal in relation to the candles in the photo.
Lighting is an art. Using candlelight as a light source is an art by itself and requires experience. There are some basic rules for candle positioning. For example it is clear that the candles should be closer to the camera than the objects. Otherwise the result will be a silhouette of the objects. Different lighting angles create different shades and different effects. For example if you are photographing a person and the candles are placed in a low position relative to the person’s face – you will get a more scary effect. On the other hand – if the candles are placed at the same height as the person’s face you will get a warmer and softer effect. It is hard to provide candle positioning rules and such positioning greatly depends on the effect that you are looking for. More than one candle can be used with each at a different position to create more complicated effects and to eliminate unwanted shades. The best advice is to take many photos and experiment with different candle positions and angles.
Last but not least is white balancing. Digital cameras can be set to compensate for the specific light source that is used. Although most cameras can automatically detect and set their white balancing offset – it is better to manually set the white balance – most cameras include a candlelight source as an white balance option. It is also worth experimenting with setting the white balance to the wrong source on purpose. Set the white balance to different temperatures to achieve different effects, more reddish photos for example.
To conclude, candlelight photography is hard – it requires a lot of experience and understanding of lighting, shutter speeds and other photography issues. On the other hand such experience pays off with breathtaking photos and effects that sometimes appear more like artist paintings than photographs.

More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about Sony and digital printing Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. This article can be published as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues.

By: Tyler Ellison

The difference between professional and amateur video work is obvious to audiences but is not always so obvious behind the camera. With so many things to consider, it’s easy to overlook something while shooting that may be irreparable later. Your audience will know if the shoot was handled well or not by how they react to the images you present. Professionals have often
learned by hard experience the consequences of failing to plan against the following five mistakes:

1. Bad framing. Nobody likes to see an actor whose head is cut off by the top of the video frame, but even fewer people like to see an actor with his chin cut off at the bottom. It’s important to maintain good balance in the composition of the shot, but the somewhat experienced amateur tends to go to the other extreme by putting all the subjects smack in the center of the frame. That gets boring and the audience will see everything objectively. The professional follows the rule of thirds, keeping the subjects on the lines that divide the frame into thirds, keeping eyes on the top third and movement on the third opposite of the direction in which the subject is moving in order to keep open space in front. While this may seem simple, it is not as easy as it appears once the action begins. Practice following the rule of thirds and you will be able to keep your subjects interesting to watch.

2. Too much zooming. Most consumer grade camcorders have few effects built in but all of them have zooms so many amateurs tend to overuse it. If you pay attention to most of the stuff you see in films or television, the actual zooming is not commonly displayed. Home videos, however, are deeply infected with over zealous zooming and it weakens the production. Picture quality and audience interest remains when you track the camera in for a closer view instead of constantly zooming. The wide shot keeps the highest picture quality so try to use that whenever you can.

3. Backlighting. The amateur videographer is 99% ignorant of how light affects the appearance of the subject on the screen. So much amateur video is so fraught with black figures with dark faces by windows or in front of the sunlight. A word to the wise: keep the strongest light source in front of your actor or subject for the best video quality. Photographers have a flash so they can mix it up but video isn’t served by having backgrounds that are brighter than the subject. When forced to video a backlit subject, increase the exposure to totally blow out the background. Better to have a clear face and nothing in the background than a beautiful background with a dark subject.

4. Background noise. Camcorders com with omnidirectional microphones built in but many videographers continue to shoot as if the sound from the front is the only audio that the camera will pick up. What they fail to consider is the fact that the microphone is picking up the planes overhead, the trucks on the nearby highway, the children playing nearby, and the wind. Cut out all the background noise you can before you start rolling tape because once that audio is recorded, you may not be able to clean it up in post production.

5. No tripod. Please, just use it. Get one with quick release plates so it doesn’t slow you down much when you need to hold the camera but no human arm or shoulder will ever be able to compete with the steady, dependable, and strong shots that come from using a tripod. Videographers are cocky and think they can handle it with their hands. They obviously have never participated in the production of a major motion picture. The cinematographer never holds the camera himself, he’s not so incompetent as to think he can get consistent quality shots with his own arm.

Avoid these mistakes and your audiences will love you for it.

Tyler Ellison is affiliated with utah wedding videographers through Ellison Video Productions.

by Dan Murray
Candid Photography is probably the most effective form of photography there is. Candid photography is the art of catching people unawares in a photo. It doesn’t have to mean capturing them during a slapstick moment of falling over in the snow or something like that, it just means capturing people at their most natural. There is always a place for a well composed photograph with time taken over how the subject poses and smiles for the camera. For me that can never beat the capture of people falling around laughing at a joke or marveling at a sporting event. Here are six tips to taking good candid photographs.

Plan For Spontaneity

This may sound like a contradiction but it is a good idea to plan for spontaneity. What I mean is, think about the event that you are photographing. If you are at a friends birthday party, think about where most of the guests will be during the party and think about where you as the photographer can stand to take photos without being noticed. A lot of people stand in kitchens at parties to get away from the music so they can talk and tell jokes. Think about where you could stand and capture moments of spontaneity from the guests without drawing the dreadful posed “say cheese” kind of photographs.

Take Lots Of Photographs

Digital cameras with big memory mean that you have the ability to take a large quantity of photographs at no real cost to you. This is perfect for taking candid shots. Take as many photos as you can from many different angles and from many different zoom settings. From this you greatly increase your chances of getting some real gems.

Human Interaction

Some of the best candid shots I have taken have been when people are interacting with each other. It might be an animated conversation about politics or discussion of a book they have read. It could be a couple of children laying with a toy. The point is, human interactions result in some of the most incredible photographs.

Never Leave Your Camera At Home

This is a simple tip but probably the most important one. How many times in the past have you been out and about and seen something where you suddenly say to yourself, “I wish I had my camera with me”. I know this has happened to me so many times. You don’t have to carry a big Canon Eos SLR with you all the time, just a good quality point and shoot digital camera will suffice for some good spontaneous shots. Don’t forget to take some spare batteries with you though!

Stealth Mode With a Long Zoom

For the ultimate in stealthy candid photography, use a camera with a long lens and hide behind some nearby trees or bushes. Paparazzi photographers use this technique a lot to take photos of celebrities in candid moments. You can use this technique to capture candid shots of friends and family also though.

If you truly want a rewarding experience then I urge you to try candid photography.

Dan Murray is a regular contributor at Photography Blog. For more great tips and free information, please take a look.

 About the Author

Dan Murray writes article about all aspects of photography, offering great advice to photography students.