Master the art of modern photography

This month: Creative camera skills

It’s time to think outside the box and get funky with your photography

Three multiple exposures, with the camera moved slightly for each, has produced an unusual interpretation of Venice in Italy.

Will Cheung

Will Cheung

An imaging journalist and freelance photographer based in London, Cheung has a wealth of experience over several decades. www.williamcheung.co.uk

Digital cameras are packed with technology that makes shooting great photographs a breeze. Advanced exposure meters can tackle tricky lighting, colours come out looking natural whether you are shooting indoors or outdoors, thanks to sensitive white balance systems, and autofocus is capable enough to capture even the fastest action perfectly sharp. In that sense, photographers, movie makers and content creators have never had it so good.

To get creative, you don’t need in-camera ‘trick’ features. Just exploring a camera’s range of shutter speeds will keep you busy. With the slower speeds of a few seconds, you can enjoy intentional camera movement (ICM) or subject blur, such as flowing water, and every camera has a B (bulb) setting that brings in the potential of light painting, wire wool spinning, night shooting, astro and much more.

If your creative aims are more ambitious, you need to check what your camera offers. Many models offer multiple exposures, pixel shift shooting, art filters, HDR and focus bracketing in their menus. If you regularly call on the multiple exposure function, it’s worth dedicating it to a function button or quick menu to make life a little easier.

Of course, there are lenses, filters and lighting options to consider. There is massive potential in lens choice when it comes to producing a unique look. You may have an old lens you can press into service on your mirrorless camera – all sorts of adapters are available to enable you to fit almost any legacy lens to a modern camera and they are often affordable. Older lenses tend to be less sharp, vignette significantly and suffer from flare and those characteristics can give your shots an individual look. You’re only limited by your imagination, so what are you waiting for?

Get the knowledge

Your camera is blessed with so many creative options

Even the most basic of digital cameras has plenty of potential for creative expression and you don’t need any special ‘trick’ features. Take the camera’s shutter speed range, for example, where even a budget model will have a range that starts at 1/2000 sec and extends to 30 secs or more. Then there’s the B (bulb) function, which means the shutter can be held open for as long as you want.

That said, trick features open up many more avenues to venture down and explore and some camera brands have worked hard on their creative offerings. Here, OM System deserves a special mention with its computational features that include Live Composite, in-camera focus stacking and High-Res shot mode, which is available for handheld and tripod shooting.

Optical options

Give your pictures character by fitting something different to your camera

LENSBABY VELVET

Lensbaby offers many unique solutions to get creative results so just buy the lens or accessories to achieve the look you want – this could be swirly background bokeh or a small spot of sharp focus accompanied by surrounding blur. The lens pictured here is the Velvet 85mm f/1.8, costing £499/$500. This is used at wider apertures for a soft, creamy look with smooth background blur or stopped down for greater sharpness.