What is Panning?

Panning is NOT panoramic photography, and the two are sometimes confused, especially by the novice camera user. Both techniques involve the ‘panning’ of the camera, but in very different procedures as far as the photo taking process goes. As far as still photography goes, panning is the technique of moving your camera angle on a horizontal plane, from a pivotal point. When we speak of the panning photo technique, we make use of this movement from a pivotal point, keeping a moving subject within the confines of the viewfinder, and firing the shutter one or multiple times as the camera moves in an arc like fashion on a horizontal (sometimes vertical) plane. This is an advanced technique and to start working on it you need to have a clear idea of how aperture and shutter speed work, and also the relation between them. With a little bit of practice and maybe a little bit of luck on your side, you could start making stunning panning images in a few shoots’ time.

Shooting with a digital camera is not really that different from film photography; at least as far as your thought process should go. Digital has many advantages over film, and the digital-film debate we can safely say is over, digital having found the edge. One of the clear advantages of the digital format is the preview feature, which allows you to see your photographs the minute after you shoot them, practically simultaneously. This has become a very useful learning tool for beginners, apart from its obvious advantages.

DPI stands for ‘dots per inch’ and you need to know a little about it when you are into digital photography, or design for that matter. As we know, digital images are made up of thousands of dots, and the more the number of these dots, the more is the resolution of the camera, of course. Also, the closer you are to the image, the better can are you able to make out these dots. There is a lot more that can be said about the relation of the human eye to the number of dots it can see at a given viewing distance; but it is sufficient to state here, that this relation is what makes it possible for a six mega pixel camera to make an acceptable giant size print.

In this digital age, you may wonder why we have an article on film photography. After all, you may wonder on how many people still use film...the answer is – quite a few! Film has a few advantages over digital, although digital we will not argue, has overrun film photography for a few years now.

We believe you must already be a photo enthusiast if you have come to this site. If you are looking to get a new camera for yourself, the choices are many, as you can see from our own review sections. The best method to select the right model for you is the filtering system, where you filter out what you DONT want first...

Shooting landscapes is a classic avenue of photography, popularized to its peak by the ‘father of landscape photography’ – Ansel Adams himself. No article or write-up on landscapes can be complete without the inclusion of this iconic name.  As we have discussed earlier about the fact that photography finds its roots from classic art, landscape photography is a fine example of how these two realms of art still remain well linked.

There are quite a few reasons why a beginner may want to try his hand at landscapes. For one thing, you don’t need ‘fast’ lenses and terribly expensive equipment to start shooting landscapes.

With any learning process, the effort followed by feedback on the effort is essential to cultivate encouragement and thereafter, success. In this sense it may be important to have a ‘guru’ to critique your work. At the same time, in these times of ‘everyone for himself’ there may be only so far that a guru may be willing to take you , and no more. Alternatively, you may progressive to such a level that you surpass the expertise of the instructor in question. If you are a true professional, you will achieve this level of minor success sooner than later. That is why it is critical to be able to critique your own work – after all, if you are a promising professional, your colleagues would love to see you fail!

It is strength to be able to see your own work objectively, while this statement may seem self contradictory to some. I strongly suggest you read upon subjectivity and objectivity to understand this better, or to confuse yourself enough into being a better photographer – take your pick. While this may seem like going off the subject of photography at first thought, it is important to realize that photography is in itself an art form, and any art form is a reflection of the psyche of the creator.

Lighting is one of course one of the two critical components of any visual art, the other being composition. It is untrue that every good lighting scenario needs to be a complex set-up. You can get a great image out of nothing but a little foresight and planning, with the simplest of lighting conditions present. Here’s a look at one such situation.