Highlight Tone Priority (Canon) / Active D-Lighting (Nikon)In high-contrast situations, digital cameras tend to burn out highlights and block shadow details. When set, this feature provides better details in both, highlights and shadows (but it does tend to lower some contrast). How? The camera automatically underexposes the scene (ever so slightly) so that highlights are … [Read more...]

One of the major complaints we receive relate to lack of sharpness in photos. Most users attribute the lack of sharpness to their lenses and in some cases, the camera body itself. (Very few accept that their technique or their lack of understanding of the technology has to do anything with it!). Whilst it is not impossible to have a lens (or a camera body) that is … [Read more...]

Photographers are not infallible. In spite of having advanced exposure metering systems, we sometimes do mess up the exposures. In some cases, the subject’s contrast and dynamic range may be greater than what the sensor was capable of recording. In other cases, it could be human error. Whatever be the reason, we often land up with images that are underexposed, overexposed, … [Read more...]

Photography is an art, plus science. Whilst everyone likes the art part, not all love the science behind it. Most beginners in photography use the Program exposure mode offered by their cameras. While there is nothing wrong in that, the question is, why do they use the Program mode? There could be two reasons:1. The Program mode lets the user concentrate on the picture … [Read more...]

There is a general feeling amongst some photographers that good pictures demand complex lighting arrangements. While this may be true in some cases, it is not necessarily a norm. Remember, we generally see the world illuminated by a single light source – the sun; and yet we see detail and modeling all around. Studio photography can also be done using a single light source, … [Read more...]