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Photos and images of Japan, and Japanese
culture
Images
for cards or prints
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How to take photos:
Travel Photography: Subjects |
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Also see
'How to use your SLR' articles.
Bookmark this with  del.icio.us
(more below). Visit our
forums to discuss and ask
questions. |
Basic gear you need:
- Whatever you've got (and
it doesn't have to be much)
- Suggested: A zoom lens,
tripod, polariser, Neutral Density filter
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The
Aim:
- To choose a single subject
and do it justice
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How:
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< Whilst
it's best to use iso100
where possible, and maximum iso400 to avoid
noise;
recently I've tried having my camera set on Manual at 1/125 (handheld to avoid
blur from pushing the shutter button), and f6.3 to f16 (usually f9).
From this, I'd then adjust the iso accordingly (or set to auto). This gives me good
control of composition, but little control on noise. For family holiday
photos, this is fine. For commercial use, it's not. |
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< Be sure
there's no distractions, or unnecessary junk in the background or
interrupting the foreground. Plan it, so everything that you see through
the lens is there, because it needs to be. |
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< ONE
SUBJECT! Most tourist photos are 'boring', as the photographer takes a
single photo of EVERYTHING. I look for details, smaller things, or I
take a few steps closer and photograph a single subject. Also see the
DOF article for more help
on isolating the subject. |
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< Don't be
afraid of the cliché shots, as these are also your memories of the
place. This is Todaiji Temple, Nara, Japan. It contains the largest
Buddha statue in Japan. This was taken with a polariser, to reduce glare
of the roof (leaving details in like showing roof tiles), and to bring
out the full effect of the sky. |
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< Always be
ready, and be fast. Taken at Nara Park. |
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< Look for details,
patterns, and contrasts.
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Examples: Click on
these to view them at a larger size
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< Taken
using Minolta 303si set on Portrait Mode. At Angkor Wat, 2005. Notice
there are no distractions. Refer to the
Composition article. |
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< F8, 1/160,
iso400; 75-300mm lens at 300mm. Little Flute. An overcast day (notice
soft shadows and no harsh bright spots). What I needed though, was a
monopod, as this collection was mostly blurred because of the distance
and the difficulty in holding a zoom steady enough. Also notice the
thirds rule being applied; refer to the
Composition article. |
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< F9, 1/125,
iso100; 18-70mm lens at 70mm. A park in Kuwana City, Japan. Notice there
is still a main subject, though a geisha walking across would have been
awesome! |
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< F5.6,
1/100, iso100; with 18-70mm lens at 18mm, with linear Cokin polariser
filter. Horyu-ji, Nara, Japan. A typical touristy photo. Though, notice
how the subject is not in the centre, nor was I facing square onto it
either. Compared the the 'Little Flute' (above), there are,
unfortunately, harsh shadows, but great clouds nonetheless. The harsh
shadows normally reduce the details in the darker areas, but these
details were picked up with a little Photoshopping. |
Also see
this gallery
for more examples |
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