Don't ignore window light

Babies are beautiful, especially Seth, and granddad's are proud. A picture is a must. When grabbing such important photos, don't ignore the lighting. A window can be invaluable in such a situation.

I had granddad hold the newborn near the hospital room window. The soft light was perfect. Far better than using the on-camera flash. Remember to steady the camera by resting your hands on some sturdy. Hospital room offer lots of choices and most are on wheels. Ideal.

A picture of granddad with Seth was a little harder. Unless I moved the chair completely around, the little guy was going to be lit by room light. I made sure the glow was warm, green florescent tubes are not acceptable. Satisfied with the colour of the light, I went with the flow.

Once the colour temperature is acceptable, direct your attention to the pose and the background. Try to avoid an all too busy background. I put the background out-of-focus in Photoshop and not in my camera. My point-and-shoot simply cannot do it.

I don't mind folk looking at the camera. I find it an honest admission that a picture is being taken. It this bothers you, don't do it. Ask granddad, or whomever, to look down at the baby. This should have the extra benefit of resulting in a natural, pleasant expression on granddad's face. Again, keep that camera steady.

The picture isn't always where you think

Fiona's shot of a silhouetted gull soaring above The Falls.

I took my 5-year-old granddaughter, Fiona, to The Falls yesterday. She loved it and immediately asked for "her" camera. She has claimed my aging Canon S90 point-and-shoot as her own.

She shot this and that, and here and there, and she even shot almost straight up into the sky. I was puzzled. The Falls were immediately in front of her and yet she was swinging about excitedly shooting pictures.

But Fiona realized there were more pictures to be had than just falling water and a rainbow in the mist. There was blue sky and soaring gulls.  And Fiona shot pictures of these things too. See lead photo above.

I'm sure everyone at The Falls Saturday came away with a shot like the one on the right. The image that was missed  by many was the rainbow in the mist above the falls with soaring gulls adding extra interest.

Fiona didn't miss this picture. Now, open your eyes to all the picture possibilities around you and you, too, can shoot like a 5-year-old.

Fiona also shot The Falls proper. Nice pic but expected.

For reporters taking pictures: the Panasonic Lumix FZ200

I worked for more than three decades as a staff photographer at a couple of daily newspapers in Ontario, Canada. I hesitate to use the term photojournalist. I was a photographer. I was more concerned with image quality -- art and with craft -- than with raw reporting.

Over the years I came to understand that many shooters working in the news business were more photographer than photojournalist. Right from my very first day on the job, I learned newspaper shooters were not adverse to setting up pictures but did so on a daily basis.

The image of the two girls chatting, one topless, ran in a Canadian paper and was distributed by the wire services in both Canada and the United States. It was claimed the image documented the topless look many Canadian women had adopted when relaxing on a Canadian beach. It was a lie. The two girls were models. The photographer hired models when it proved impossible to find topless women on any beach in the area. The photographer illustrated the story and not reality.

Ann Coulter shot with Canon S90.

I am opening this post with this story because newspaper staff photographers use incredible photo equipment. They often have two or more camera bodies complete with lens hanging from their necks. They wear photo vests bulging with extra lenses, spare batteries and at least one flash and maybe two. If they don't wear a vest, they carry a camera bag.

News shooters carry all this equipment because they claim to be photojournalists. (I would put the accent on photo and go light on the journalist.) Reporters forced to take pictures are also photojournalists but with the accent this time on journalist. The demands of a photographer/photojournalist are usually different from than those of a reporter/photojournalist.

Photographers wants the best gear, period. No compromises. To accomplish this, they carry massive amounts of photo gear. Reporters wants simplicity and compromise is often the name of the game.

Since retiring, I have done some work for an online publication and shot some stuff for folk around town as a favour. My photo kit today is essentially two cameras: a fit-in-your-pocket point-and-shoot and a heavier, bulkier super zoom.

What to look for in the perfect camera for reporters:

A fast f/1.8 wide angle and small size makes this a keeper.

1. The lens should be fast -- at least f/2.8 but faster is better. The smaller the f-stop number the faster the lens. Fast lenses let in a lot of light. This allows the use of faster shutter speeds when shooting available light. Faster shutter speeds help stop subject movement. My choice here is the Canon S120. It offers f/1.8 when the zoom lens is set to 24mm (35mm film equivalent).

2. A viewfinder and not just a large screen on the back of the camera is a plus. Unfortunately, the Canon S120 does not have a viewfinder, which brings us to the Panasonic FZ200 which does. This super zoom has an f/2.8 lens. This is one and a third stops slower than the Canon S120 but this lens has another trick up its sleeve. It offers this fast speed right across the zoom range. Set to wide angle or zoomed to the max, this lens offers a fast f/2.8 when set to wide open. When I was a working pro, my lens kit held a number of constant f/stop zooms. Not one of which was faster than f/2.8 at its fastest.

FZ200: f/2.8 offered at all lens settings

Sadly, with most amateur cameras zoom the lens from wide angle to telephoto and the maximum f/stop gets progressively slower. At the long lens settings many amateur cameras are just about unusable unless the pop-up flash is activated. If you didn't know, pop-up flashes pump out ugly light. I have always tried to stay clear of these built-in strobes.

The Panasonic FZ200 is heavier and a little slower than the Canon S120 but the f/2.8 setting available at all lens settings is a real plus. If the FZ200 weight is not a deal breaker, it tips the scales at little more than a pound (588 grams), then the FZ200 is the camera.

3. Note the pop up flash with the Canon S120. Not good. The Panasonic offers a hot shoe. This is another nice, pro-shooter touch. Panasonic offers three external flashes for this camera and these flashes are all TTL -- through the lens metering. I always looked for a flash with a rotating, tilting head. The more it can be adjusted the better. This makes bounce flash photography easy. A high guide number is also good. No one wants to get back to the newsroom without the picture. Lots of power is good insurance that your flash will be up to the job.

I've read some complaints about these Panasonic flashes. They can take too long to recharge between flashes. I assume that if one uses TTL and a wide aperture, like f/4.0 or wider, the recharge times will be shortened. With TTL the flash only pumps out the light needed to properly expose the image. Any energy not used to create the flash is recycled back into the battery.

External flashes are heavy and expensive. For these two reasons, amateurs tend to shy away from these flashes. I shake my head in disbelief. Buy a good flash, one with adequate power, and keep it handy. It does not have to be on the camera at all times. It just needs to be near by. A reporter can sling a small camera bag stuffed with a camera, a spare battery, a small charger and a flash and be set to tackle anything needed for the paper. (This assumes that the really tricky stuff requiring super fast response times and ultra-short shutter release times will still be handled by a staff photographer.)

A long lens and ability to fire a burst of shots makes this easy.

4. Any camera that has a fast lens, a good zoom range, a viewfinder and a hot-shoe for a TTL external flash will meet the needs of most reporters. The Panasonic FZ200 has a 25-600mm lens expressed as a 35mm SLR equivalent. This is a range that should never let a reporter down. In more than three decades working as a pro shooter, I almost never needed a lens longer than 600mm.

The ability to fire off a burst of five or six pictures is also a plus. But this feature should be offered by any camera that answers the first three demands. Check to make sure that I am not wrong but I'd be surprised to learn otherwise. The FZ200 can crank off up to 12 frames per second. If auto-focus tracking is needed, the maximum rate drops to 5.5 fps.

What I would carry if I were a reporter forced to take pictures.

• a small camera bag holding . . .
• a Panasonic Lumix FZ200
• an external rotating, tilting head TTL flash
• two extra Panasonic Li-ion Battery Packs plus a charger
• a cable to download photos (this will come packaged with camera)
• one extra SD card
• a small umbrella for those hard to light shots (I'd keep this in the trunk of my car most of the time. I'll post a link to instructions on hand holding a photo umbrella.)
• a small tripod. Must be strong enough to carry weight of camera. Keep in car trunk with umbrella.There are little wire-legged tripods that will do quite nicely in a pinch.

I no longer have an expensive DSLR from Canon or Nikon. I get by with a point and shoot and a super zoom. I have yet to fail to come back with a picture. I am no longer shooting hockey, a tough sport even using the best equipment, so I cannot say my replacement kit does all my previous $25,000 kit did. But, for under a thousand dollars, my present kit delivers.

A super zoom using a short burst of shots quickly delivered this image.

The small sensors in amateur cameras mean one must fill the frame for good reproduction.

Dancers shot with Fuji FinePix HS10. A Panasonic FZ200 would have done even better.

Shot of fireworks at a neighbourhood park taken with simple Canon SD10.

A zoom lens can almost do it all. A camera bag full of lenses is no longer necessary.

No selfie necessary; I had a 5-year-old handy

It was a great party and the perfect time to take a selfie but I didn't. I handed my camera to my five-year-old granddaughter and ask her to grab a quick shot. Somehow the fact that this is a moment captured by my granddaughter adds immensely to this photo.

But, the above wasn't the only picture she captured that day. Earlier she grabbed what was easily one of my favourite pictures from the event -- a celebration of an upcoming marriage -- she got a fine picture of the young bride, overcome with emotion, being hugged by her oh-so-camera-shy husband to be.

I wish I'd taken that picture but I couldn't. Fiona had gotten her hands on my little point and shoot and wasn't relinquishing ownership. There were pictures to be taken and she wanted to take 'em.

"Gugga, you can use your big camera," she told me. Then she knelt down on one knee and fired away with my little Canon PowerShot S90 which she had claimed for her own.

Cameras: buy 'em good and keep 'em forever

My Canon S90 is aging. It has been dropped, its lens has been touched and cleaned numerous times, its batteries no longer keep a good charge, but it still takes good pictures.

I believe the direct descendent of my old workhorse is the present Canon S120. The lens now opens up to f/1.8 when set to wide angle (24mm -- 35mm equivalent). The processor is now a DIGIC 6. The autofocus is faster, although I never found it all that difficult to live with before, and the frames per second rate is hitting 9.4. Warning: The S200 is a lesser camera and not an upgrade from the S120.

Before buying a camera, ask yourself what you will be shooting. Do you like to shoot available and steer clear of the on-camera flash? If so, make sure the camera you buy has a fast lens; The faster the better. And don't forget to check the lens speed when the camera is zoomed out to a longer lens setting. The only point and shoot I know of that doesn't lose lens speed as the lens is zoomed out is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 with its constant f/2.8 throughout the zoom range.

I was careful when I retired from The London Free Press. As a photographer put out to pasture, I found myself without a camera for the first time in my life. As a retired fellow forced to accept a reduced pension, buying a kit similar to the one I had at the paper was financially impossible. I looked over the point and shoots and committed myself to working within the limitations of the decidedly amateur equipment.

I can't do all I once could but I'm still shooting pictures and that keeps me happy.

If I were buying a camera tomorrow, I'd get two cameras: A Canon S120 and Lumix FZ200. The Canon with its f/1.8 wide angle is great for shooting available light. Take it to birthday parties and the like. It is a wonderful piece of equipment.

The Lumix with its constant f/2.8 all the way from 25-600mm is damn close to my old constant f/stop professional lenses.

Both cameras will fit into one very small camera bag. Add a spare battery for each and you're ready to rock an' roll.

Capturing the minimum for maximum impact

I love my lilies. I planted this one for the lovely ruffles, the gentle creases running the length of the pedals and for the burst of bright yellow hidden in the centre of the white bloom.

If I could capture those three elements in one image, I would have my picture. As you can see, I did and I do.

This was shot with my aging Canon S90. It was a pretty sophisticated point and shoot for its time and today it is still delivering the goods.

Finding routes to a good picture

I like faces. For the most part, faces full of expression add real zing to a picture. I am always asking myself, "Can I find a shooting position that will get capture the subject's face and reveal the emotions of the moment?"

Almost always the answer is yes. But Saturday at the Junction Climbing Centre open house the answer was "No." The place was busy, filled with visitors eager to test themselves by tackling one of the many colour-codes routes up the climbing wall. To include my granddaughter's face in a picture I had to be right against the wall and that was impossible. The wall was truly crawling with climbers.

But one does have others visual tools to give a little oomph to a photo. There's form, colour, action and more. Wall climbing offers a photographer a myriad of routes that all lead to a good picture. And note that I said good. The pictures I grabbed at the open house are only good. Not a one is great.

The story, as I see it, at the climbing facility is the soaring height kids can attain if they tackle a wall correctly. I saw some young climbers making it right to the top of the easiest of the 30-foot high climbs. The safety of the sport is also an important factor to include. And if one can find a way to make the small size of some of the participants obvious, one's found another good route to a fine photo.

I now think a better angle for shooting this is a low angle showing the incredible height of the climb ahead of my adventurous granddaughter. Including the instructor would add the contrast and make her small size immediately clear. With a little luck, the great picture would also show some of the action taking place further down along the wall. Context is often good and here it would be a great plus.

Unfortunately, getting Fiona's expression-filled face in the picture will not be easy no matter what approach the photographer takes. Unless the photographer straps on a harness and tackles the climb immediately beside the fearless little climber. If the photographer shoots from above, all the ingredients for a great picture fall immediately into place.

The problem for me is I'm 67 and an old 67. Climbing the wall, holding on with one hand while twisted around shooting pictures with a camera gripped tightly in the other hand, may be one route to great picture that is out of my reach today.