No tripod? No problem.

It is dark in our living room for available light photography. My little Canon PowerShot S90 needs every bit of help it can get. One easy way to make pictures in these situations better is to use a tripod to steady the camera; This removes camera shake from the picture-taking equation.

To steady a camera, one may immediately think tripod or monopod. But often something a lot less official will not only do but do wonderfully. For shooting these photos of my granddaughter, Fiona, I steadied my point-and-shoot on the front of Fiona's yellow, toy bus.

This had the advantage of providing quick sideways movement to frame the picture. The little, toy bus has wheels, a tripod or monopod doesn't.

To show what is possible, I posted these pictures without any enhancement other than cropping plus sizing and sharpening for Web display.

The creativity involved in taking a picture doesn't stop with the camera.

A better camera would capture a better picture

I loved the look of my niece's dog taking a break from all the company. The light seemed right: Soft with a hint of direction resulting in nice highlights and there were subtle catchlights in both eyes. What could go wrong.

It is times like this that a DLSR looks good. The better quality lenses on DSLRs would make this picture snap in a way that my simple Fuji FinePix HS10 can't.

On the other hand, I can't afford a DLSR accompanied by a small case stuffed with interchangeable lenses. Also, with my failing health, carrying a bulky and weighty bundle of camera gear with me all the time is out of the question. The HS10 with its super zoom answers my needs.

So, I find myself grabbing my Fuji bridge camera, lying flat on the floor, bracing the camera and my hands against the carpet and squeezing off a couple of shots before the mutt decides he's not a model and stops posing.

When I was shooting pictures for my living, this quality would have been questionable but still acceptable; Hey, I worked for a newspaper. I'm no longer shooting pictures for money but for fun and simple cameras supply fun at a price I can afford.

When buying a camera buying one you can afford is always a good idea. Remember, if you shoot a lot, it is just a matter of time until you drop your photo buddy. I've dropped my HS10 a number of times. I'm getting old and clumsy. If I were to break my HS10, I would shed fewer tears than if I dropped an expensive lens or a pricey DSLR. Replacing my HS10 would hurt, but it wouldn't break me.

No matter what camera you use, always try and capture that that attracted your eye in the first place. If your lens isn't long enough to crop the image in the camera, crop the picture afterwards. The only caveat is to make sure the new, cropped shot is still a large enough file to make a good image when printed or displayed on the Web. (Images for making prints require from 150 dpi up, check with your printer; While images for Web display can get by with 72 dpi. And smaller files load quicker; Another reason for keeping Web files small.)

Colour, Shape and Moment

When I saw the circular slide I was hesitant to let Fiona use it. It's too long, too steep, I thought. But a young mother who was watching her child at play noticed and instructed me in a very firm tone, "Let her."

Hey, what does an old geezer know? I went with mom's expertise and told Fiona to go, and she did. "Whee!"

I didn't get a picture of her first time sliding down a tubular slide but I soon had a chance and I took it. Brightly coloured plastic, great shape, laughing child. Put all this together properly and you've got a picture.

This image can be made even stronger by cropping off the holes on the left side. This moves Fiona father away from the centre of the image. This crop also removes the distraction in the lower left corner, putting more emphasis on the child.

Note the quality: This is a resized and cropped image from a larger image saved as a jpeg.

Although I have had problems timing action when using my Fuji FinePix HS10, it all came together for this image. The long zoom lens makes framing images such as this very easy. The picture was shot as a RAW file and some minor changes were made in Photoshop before saving the shot as a jpeg.

Also notice how the line of the diagonal line made by the slope of the slide runs to the lower, left corner of the image. I'm partial to this style of crop and try to achieve this in the camera whenever possible.

You don't have to imitate this but you should try to crop in the camera as much as possible. With point and shoot cameras, the less after-shooting-cropping the better. Point and shoots do not have the ultimate quality of SLR cameras. The files from cameras like the HS10 suffer when cropped, especially if they must be enlarged to bring them back to their original size.

Shooting Food

Shooting good shots of plates and platters filled with of wonderfully prepared delicious cuisine is a lot easier than many food photographers would have you believe.

The first step is finding the proper subject. For this you may not have to look any further than your favourite diner. Go early in the evening while the sun is still shining, sit near a window and voila, you're ready to rock 'n' roll.

For creating a smashing food shot, I look for the same stuff that makes the food itself appealing. A nice mix of colours, textures and shapes plus an eye-catching composition. Like I said, all the very stuff that makes a meal memorable also makes a food photo worth taking.

By sitting next to a window you will have eliminated one of the big problems encountered while shooting food: Poor light. Unless you are trying for effect, warm incandescent or cool green fluorescent lighting can destroy what promised to be a fine food shot. Shoot under soft, clean daylight delivered through a non-tinted window and your whites will be white and all your colour vibrant and clean.

Next, try and keep the ISO setting low. You do not want coarse noise to detract from your image. By shooting at a low ISO and choosing a small f/stop - something that gives a lot of depth of field like f/11 - you will capture lots of that all important detail. You do not want to miss the texture on the mash potato patty or the the small specks of spice enhancing the colourful vegetables.

This means that you may need to contend with a slowish shutter speed - like 1/15th of a second. A simple, pocket tripod may be necessary for the best results.

And shoot fast. The food will be at its best the moment your server places it in front of you. And if you are shooting your partner's food as well as your own, your partner will be at his/her best at the moment the food arrives. Take too long getting your shot and both your partner and the food will grow stale.

For more about the food in today's post see: London Daily Photo.

Get those knees dirty

Getting down low, knees in the dirt, yielded this shot. Nice, eh?

I used to tell my students, "If your knees aren't dirty, you are not chasing all the picture angles. Get those knees dirty!"

Saturday was PhotoCamp London 2011. The last part of the morning was a PhotoWalk. I watched as a woman, Mary Lou Roberts, took pictures of some wild Queen Anne's Lace. At one point she was shooting the common, white, weed blooms from underneath and capturing quite the uncommon picture.

Later I talked with Ms. Roberts and learned she had taken some instruction from Dave Chidley. I once worked with Mr. Chidley when we were both on the photo staff of The London Free Press. She learned the get-your-knees-dirty rule from Mr. Chidley.

Today, I pass the rule onto you.

Bright Sunshine: Wait for passing clouds

Saturday was PhotoCamp London 2011 and one presentation was a live model photo shoot. The models, a man and a woman, were both professionals and it showed. They were very comfortable in front of the camera(s).

Unfortunately, the day was fiercely bright with a strong sun casting harsh shadows. Not the best light for fashion photography.

On the bright side, there were a lot of large, fluffy clouds dotting the Saturday sky. If possible, at times like this watch the sky, watch the clouds and shoot during those minutes when the day turns momentarily overcast.

Flowers: Metaphors for life

There was a time when I thought of flowers, I thought of full blooms. I wanted peak action. No buds and no wilted petals. Just gorgeous flowers in their prime.

And then I experienced Sheila's art. Sheila, at the time, was painting flowers. She didn't narrow her focus to just blooms, the climax of the story. No, she captured the whole tale from bud to bloom to fading away forever.

Now, I see flowers entirely differently.

Today's image was shot with my Canon PowerShot S90 set to automatic. The jpeg was taken into Photoshop CS5 and the endpoints set; I was careful not to blow out the highend values in the yellow petals.

The foliage was already quite dark in the original image but, approaching Photoshop like an electronic darkroom, I burned down the edges even more. I do not use the burn/dodge tool. I selected the area on which I wanted to work, feathered the edge and finally darkened the selection using Curves. I stay away from the burn/dodge tool, although a fellow I worked with at the paper used it all the time.

This image has also not been given a lot of saturation. The jpeg image looked good right from the camera.