Tag: how to

How To: 3 Ideas for Capturing the Beauty of Spring

Spring is a wonderful time of year for photography, as nature comes back to life and offers us a wealth of colors and subjects. Here are three ideas for perfect spring photos and the right camera settings for the Fujifilm X-T4.

Capture blossoms

In spring, many trees and shrubs are in full bloom, providing a great opportunity for colorful and beautiful photos. To capture the beauty of the blossoms, it is recommended to use a large aperture to achieve a shallow depth of field and highlight the main subject. The Fujifilm X-T4 offers a maximum aperture of f/1.2, which is ideal for this type of photo.

Camera settings for flower photography:

  • Aperture: f/1.2 – f/2.8
  • ISO: 100 – 400
  • Shutter speed: Depending on the brightness of the day and movement of the subject, between 1/60 – 1/200 seconds.
  • Focus: Set the focus on the main subject to bring it into sharp focus, and use the bokeh effect for an attractive background blur.
Capture landscapes in full bloom

Spring is also a great time to take landscape photos to capture the beauty of nature. When photographing a wide landscape with flowering trees or fields, it is recommended to use a small aperture to achieve a greater depth of field and capture more details in the landscape.

The Fujifilm X-T4 offers a maximum aperture of f/16, which is ideal for these types of photos.Spring is also a great time to take landscape photos to capture the beauty of nature. When photographing a wide landscape with flowering trees or fields, it is recommended to use a small aperture to achieve a greater depth of field and capture more details in the landscape. The Fujifilm X-T4 offers a maximum aperture of f/16, which is ideal for these types of photos.

Camera settings for landscape photography:

  • Aperture: f/11 – f/16
  • ISO: 100 – 400
  • Shutter speed: Depending on the brightness of the day, between 1/125 – 1/500 seconds
  • Focus: Use manual focus to focus on the main subject, or autofocus to focus on the landscape. Also use hyperfocal distance to achieve a greater depth of field.

Macro shots of flowers and insects

In spring, there are many insects and flowers that provide an excellent opportunity for macro shots. For such shots, it is advisable to use a high depth of field to bring the subject into focus and capture details. The Fujifilm X-T4 offers a maximum magnification of 0.5x, which is ideal for these types of photos.

Camera settings for macrophotography:

  • Aperture: f/8 – f/16
  • ISO: 200 – 800
  • Shutter speed: Depending on the brightness of the day, between 1/125 – 1/500 seconds
  • Focus: Use manual focus or autofocus with spot metering to focus on the main subject. Also use focus peaking mode to check the focus point and make sure the subject is in focus.

Additional tips for perfect spring photos:

  • Use the natural light of the day for natural and soft lighting in your photos. Avoid direct sunlight or strong shadows, which can affect colors or overexpose the subject.
  • Experiment with different perspectives to capture the subject from different angles and create interesting compositions.
  • Use RAW mode to have more flexibility in post-processing your photos.
  • Also use the Fujifilm X-T4’s Film Simulation mode to create different color effects and moods in your photos.

With these tips and camera settings, you can take beautiful and perfect photos with your Fujifilm X-T4 this spring. Have fun with your photography!

How to: Make Better Images Indoors

Here in Europe, you can already feel it… Winter season is here. The days are getting shorter, it is getting colder outside, and in some parts it is already starting to snow. Of course, such conditions create perfect outdoor sceneries to capture in your photos, but shooting portraits and other pictures involving people or pets might be challenging due to the unpredictable weather. Therefore, it is time to move back inside and make use of the cozy vibes of our homes. Especially, since Christmas is around the corner, and we are about to take the perfect cheesy family pictures. For beautiful indoor images with perfect color, you need to know how to respond to available light.

Remember, what you see is what you get!

Utilizing your camera’s electronic viewfinder, or the main LCD screen, gives you an accurate view of how the picture will be when you hit the shutter, eliminating any kind of guesswork. Even if you make adjustments to exposure or other settings, you are able to see these in your viewfinder. Thus, you get the picture exactly the way you want to.

Did you know if you add a live histogram to the display, it shows how bright or dark the image you will make is? In your camera’s settings, simply go to ‘screen set-up > display custom setting > activate histogram’.

Make use of auto ISO

As always, available light is inconsistent and therefore, it is important to be adjustable. ISO is every photographer’s secret for that! For everyone who is lazy or as we like to call it ‘smart’, simply set the ISO to Auto, so it adjusts automatically, ensuring you get a good exposure every time. If you prefer adjusting the ISO to your specific requirements, you can as well do so manually by altering the ISO handle.

In addition, you can set a minimum shutter speed with the Auto ISO. Now, it will not drop below that setting – as you can see, all you need to do is tell the camera to do what you want it to do! By choosing one of the auto ISO modes you will be able to change the three settings ‘Default Sensitivity, Max Sensitivity and Min. Shutter Speed’.

Significant to note is that control over Auto ISO is only available in the Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual modes. In other options, the camera uses Auto ISO automatically.

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How to: Creating Light Painting

You might have seen it a few times already, but probably not under its correct name… We are talking about light painting, or also called light drawing. Most of us are familiar with the term and photo technique ‘long exposure’ (longer exposure time). Light painting is a form of long exposure, but brings it to the next level whilst creating an art piece that looks like it has been drawn even though it was taken with a camera.

Terry Hall with FUJIFILM X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR – F18, ISO 200, 10.0 sec

Light Painting

We all have seen those stunning images of streets where streetlights or headlights on cars become trails and melt together, creating something special without seeing the actual vehicle. This unique effect in cityscape images can be created while shooting at night or in low light with longer exposure times. Of course, this is nothing new, but creating and sketching scenes and photographs specifically to use the unique effect of long exposure to create something similar to a painting is referred to as “light painting”. Photographers are specifically looking for a moving light source such as a candle, flashlight, LED lights or another light source, aiming to alter an image while using long exposure. Thus, light-painters not only take the picture as-is instead add another element by highlighting a subject, creating trails of light, flashes, and other special elements like these.

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How to: The Perfect Winter Photo

The skiing trip is just around the corner, the winter clothes are already packed, and the camera cannot be missing either to capture the beautiful moments and the winter wonderland we all dream about. The Winter season always comes with its magical moods that can become unique shots if you stage them correctly. Here are three important tips we want to share with you to make your winter photography experience even better.

1. Outsmarting the pitfalls of photographing in winter sceneries

Underexposure

Larger white spaces in a motive can irritate the exposure meter because the system records too much light, which causes the aperture to close. Consequently, this will cause the picture to be underexposed. to prevent something like this from happening, use the function “exposure corrections” and try to experiment a little to find the perfect settings suiting your wishes. It is also possible to adjust the value of the ISO. If you reduce it by half, the amount of exposure should double. Perhaps, your camera even offers a preset “snow” programme, which definitely will spare you some time and nerves.

White Balance

Do not despair if the colour scheme is not optimal when having a look at your final results. Nowadays, there are many good photo editing software programmes out there that will help you to adjust the colour scheme accordingly. Simply use a filter that helps to correct colours or selectively choose the colours you want to adjust.

2. Perfect winter motives

The Winter season is perfect for macro shots. Look for details in your motives, like flowers covered in a unique layer of ice. Thereby, it is important to pay attention to a steady camera position, which is essential because the exposure time is longer and the depth of field is only a few millimetres compared to usual shots. Most of the time, digital compact cameras already offer you a preset macro programme. If you can set the aperture, then you should use a small aperture to get the sharpest possible pictures (e.g., f11 to f22).

3. The best equipment

No winter wonderland without some pitfalls. Cold and humid weather are two dangerous characteristics that, eventually, will harm your equipment. The cold weather will decrease battery performance and might cause other damage as well. Subsequently, be prepared and bring additional batteries and keep them close to your body to keep them warm at all times. Additionally, when changing from cold to warm temperatures, be careful not to expose the camera to a sudden change in temperature. This might cause condensation to settle in the camera’s body and harm internal technology. Having a look at the camera’s manual can help to prevent damages too.

Now that we provided you with some useful and important tips, we hope you are even more prepared to shoot some amazing pictures in awesome winter scenery.

Top tips on becoming a wedding photographer who stands out from the crowd

Wedding photography is becoming an increasingly competitive market, and it can be tough making sure you stand out from the crowd. Wedding photographer and ‘funtojournalist’, Marianne Chua’s has some excellent advice on how to become a unique photographer.

Wedding photography is becoming an increasingly competitive market, and it can be tough making sure you stand out from the crowd. Wedding photographer and ‘funtojournalist’, Marianne Chua’s has some excellent advice on how to become a unique photographer. Continue reading “Top tips on becoming a wedding photographer who stands out from the crowd”

Quick Techniques – Beginners: Get white balance right with every shot

Want to get the most out of your Fujifilm X Series cameras? Our Quick Techniques will provide you with lots of handy hints and tips to help you understand the features our range offers. This week we look at white balance.

Want to get the most out of your Fujifilm X Series cameras? Our Quick Techniques will provide you with lots of handy hints and tips to help you understand the features our range offers. This week we look at white balance. Continue reading “Quick Techniques – Beginners: Get white balance right with every shot”