We’ve all been there: a family occasion such as a wedding where you gather all the family together to get a great family photo, only to be ruined by the glare off of Great Uncle Geoff’s glasses in the background!

It can be difficult to take great photos when the subjects are wearing glasses, but short of asking them to remove them and walk around helpless for the umpteen retakes it takes you to get the photo right, what can you do?

Here is my guide to getting the perfect photo when your subject is wearing glasses.

Tilting glasses away from the camera

Great for: Staged photos
Not so great for: Catching a natural moment

One way to eliminate glare is to ask the glasses wearer to ever so slightly tilt their glasses forward. This allows the flash to bounce off the glasses at an angle, usually then resulting in the beam of light hitting the floor as opposed to re-entering the camera and ruining the photo.

However, this method is usually only possible when the photo is staged – i.e. a wedding. For a more casual photo, for example when you are simply catching a precious moment whilst your children are playing with their grandparents, it can be difficult to stop the activity and ask the person in question to title their glasses!

Remember that the glasses wearer won’t have to tilt their head, only their glasses. However, if the subject is straight-on to the camera make sure you don’t tilt the spectacles too much or the photo will look like it has caught a moment before glasses fall off and onto the floor! If you’re unsure, play about with differences between tilting the head and tilitng the glasses; you may find a great look.

Removing flash

Great for: Outdoors use
Not so great for: Photos inside or in dark conditions

A simple way to remove glare on glasses in photos is to remove the flash option on your camera. That way, the light won’t beam out towards the glasses and cause the unwanted glare effect when you load your photos onto your computer (or get them printed). The downside of this method is that it can only be used if there is enough natural light in the first place; for example an outside shot will allow you to do his whereas a shot inside on an overcast day won’t process properly without an additional source of light (i.e. the camera’s flash).

In order for this method to work, you also need quite a good camera that won’t be affected by taking a picture without the flash option. Some older cameras and more simple models won’t produce high quality photos without the flash, so test it out before you take your photos.

Add another source of light

Great for: If you have another source of light available
Not so great for: Photos that are caught off guard and have a restricted amount of light available

This tip takes us back to the flash issue: if you have other sources of light available your best option is to turn off your flash and instea rely on other sources of light in order to provide sufficient light for your photos. Think of a well-lit room with lots of lights both on the wall and the ceiling: the best way to shoot light off of the subject is to angle the lights so that they catch the subject in a flattering way but so the glasses wearer doesn’t have light directly in their face. So long as you have enough light – and it isn’t pointing at their eyes directly – you should be able to take a great photo.

Each of the aforementioned ideas should be able to help you create great photos when you are shooting glasses wearers.

Amy is a keen writer for Direct Sight, who provide high-quality cheap glasses online.

It’s always difficult when buying a first or new piece of technology to actually assess what is meant by the variety of technical terms, and if you don’t know exactly what people mean when they start talking in camera reviews about the various specifications of a camera then you may end up making the wrong decision.

Below is a jargon buster to help when it comes to searching through the camera reviews for the ideal camera and specifications for you.

Aperture priority

Aperture priority is a feature which lets you control the background of your picture and decide if it is to be in focus or not. For example, you may want a clear picture of St Paul’s Cathedral but to have the rest of the background having a “blurry” or shadowed appeal. By choosing a camera that has AP as a feature, you can have the instant ability to do this, among many other effects.

Burst mode

Burst mode is a function which lets you take pictures of fast moving action. It allows you to take pictures in quick succession when you take a finger off the shutter button.

Digital single-lens reflex

Digital single-lens reflex cameras (or DSLRs as they are more commonly known) are the pinnacle or digital cameras and are often considered to be the most professional cameras because of their large sensors and variety of settings. In addition, these are the cameras which tend to have the most number of accessories because their users tend to use them for professional or frequent purposes.

High Definition

High Definition or HD is a big buzzword now and although people understand that it gives them the benefit of sharper and more accurate pictures or quality, many don’t know exactly what it means. For example, you may hear the words HD said alongside 1080p and this means that the camera takes a picture in 1,080 horizontal lines and then scans them progressively making for a detailed and realistic looking picture. 720 refers to a similar situation but less horizontal lines (720 obviously).

720p – though this is still HD, 720p footage has a lower resolution. You won’t capture quite as much detail, though motion tends to be smooth.

Image stabilisation

This is a small mechanism which allows the camera and the picture to compensate for jittery hand movements during photography and is a bonus for anyone who has tremors or is likely to be taking photographs for long periods of time.

ISO

ISO is a function which allows for less blurring photos without using a flash. It basically means that the higher the ISO is then the more sensitive the camera is to light.

Macro mode

The Macro mode of a camera is the feature which allows for a detailed close up. It can also be disabled if this is preferred.

Megapixels (Mp)

These are the tiny dots of colour which make up an image. The higher the number of pixels, the more detail the picture will contain.

PictBridge

This allows you to print pictures directly from your camera at home with your own printer. All you need is to connect the camera to a PictBridge enabled printer and you can print without first uploading the pictures.

Charles Reybreck is a freelance writer with an interest in consumer issues, such as laptop and camera reviews.

Photoshop can be great for creating fantastic, colorful images. Sometimes these filters can be used to manipulate the photo beyond recognition. But what if you just want to take a good photo, and make it better? With the right, subtle moves, you can use Photoshop to produce polished, natural looking photographs that look like they weren’t tailored at all!

This process is perfect for websites that don’t necessarily require artisitc photos but still expect a high level of professionalism, such as a realtor, home remodeling contractors, wedding photographers, etc.

1. Before -

At first glance, there may not appear to be anything wrong with the photo. But upon closer inspection, you’ll notice the photograph probably wasn’t taken with a tripod and seems to be slanted. Some of the lighting is dull and the level of details in the cabinet doors and tile could be better.

2. Straighten Those Lines -

Using the hotkey CTRL + ‘ will enable the grid. You can use these lines as a reference to see where the image could use some straightening up. Luckily, the cabinet doors have nice vertical lines. CTRL + T will allow you to e dit the positioning of the photo. Select “Distort” and grab the corners to make adjustments until your photo starts to line up with the grid. Try not to move the image around too much and don’t get too up on making it perfect, it might end up looking unnatural. On a zoomed out level, the naked eye probably won’t catch it anyways.

3. Crop -

Use the crop tool by pressing C to bring a little more focus to your image. I like to use the straight lines of the cabinet doors as terminating points. Get rid of the fat and keep the meat!

4. Subtle HDR -

You might be thinking, “HDR, isn’t that used for surreal photography?” The answer is yes, but it doesn’t have to be. HDR is a powerful technique used to bring greater contrast to photos. Greater contrast can be effective for all types of photography. This can be done using HDR lenses as well, but if you don’t have a high end camera, you can create similar effects in PS.

Go to Image > Adjustments > HDR Toning. An alert will display “HDR Toning will flatten the document. Do you want to proceed?” Click yes. This isn’t an issue because we have not been using layers.

Under Preset, select “Photorealistic”. This is a nice starting point because the settings are not over the top. Here are the settings I’ve chosen for this particular image. Every image is going to be different. However, there are some important guidelines that will help keep your photo from becoming getting out of hand.

I’ve chosen to leave the Radius and Strength alone and nudged up the Detail from the default. This helps bring out the cabinet and tile lines. Generally keeping it under 100% will keep your photo on the safe side. Messing around with the Gamma too much can give you some unusual colors. Mines slightly to the left to add some vibrancy to the colors. For Vibrance and Saturation, I’ve turned it down from the default settings. I like to keep it between 0 and 10 percent for natural tones. Too much, and you can really start to put those artistic liberties to work.

5. Add Warmth-

Go to Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter. A Photo filter will add a nice color overlay to the photo. This doesn’t always have to be applied, but can be a nice way to tie the photo together. The warming filter works for this image, but may not for yours. I used this to tone down the natural lighting in the kitchen, particularly noticeable on the ceiling.

6. Final Touches -

One last reduction in saturation gives me the look that I’m after. You’re photo may not need as much reduction, so this is optional. You can also mess around with Curves and Color Balance to make minor adjustments to your photo to capture a particular look.

Pankow Construction is a leading home remodeler and window replacement specialist based out of Phoenix, Arizona.

Anyone can learn the art of underwater photography. All you need is a camera that you can take into the water, although being able to swim also helps! This article won’t help you perfect your backstroke but it will help you decide what kind of underwater camera would suit you best. Let’s start at the bottom end of the market.

The disposable waterproof camera

Single-use waterproof cameras can be bought very cheaply from drugstores and souvenir shops almost anywhere in the world. Unfortunately you usually get what you pay for and it’s very difficult to get decent quality shots with these. The focus usually doesn’t work as well as it might and almost all disposable cameras use film rather than a digital format. That means you may be limited to 24 or 27 shots (which won’t nearly be enough if you’re diving or snorkelling on a tropical reef, for example) and you won’t be able to look at the results until you take them in to be developed.

Quality concerns aside, there are situations when a single-use camera is a good choice. They are great for keeping kids occupied on beach vacations and if you don’t want to risk taking an expensive camera surfing or kayaking you might still be able to get a few snaps with a disposable model.

The digital compact and housing solution

If you already have a compact point-and-shoot camera, you might not have to buy a whole new setup for underwater photography at all. Instead, you can get a waterproof housing for the everyday camera you use on the surface.

The right housing will completely seal your digital compact away from the water but still let you access all the basic functions. You should be able to zoom and change most of the settings as normal. Handling a camera inside a housing might feel a little awkward at first but a little practice on the surface and you’ll soon be shooting just as effectively as you would without the plastic casing.

A good quality underwater housing can be re-used over a long period. As long as you keep the seals clean and use it as directed in the instructions there is no need to fear for your camera.

If you don’t have a camera that will fit inside a housing (or you don’t have a digital compact at all), housing and camera sets are available. The camera can be used either inside the housing or outside, so buying one of these will get you a camera that can be used on the surface or fitted out for underwater use.

Adding lighting options

You should be able to turn the flash on and off through a housing, but photographic lighting presents all kinds of difficulties underwater. The most common problem is ‘backscatter’, where flash light bounces off tiny particles in the water and comes back to hit the camera lens. The result is an image peppered with tiny white dots.

Shooting without a flash will mean no backscatter. Sometimes daylight is enough to capture vivid colors, especially in macro mode, but when it’s not, the solution is to use an external flash or strobe. Some housings will allow you to connect one or two external strobes and it’s well worth allowing for this option if you can.

Placing the light source above the camera or off to one side will reduce backscatter problems and it will also let you experiment with shadow- side lighting can be a very effective way to bring out the textures in corals.

The full underwater DSLR

Again, you can either buy a fully-equipped underwater photography system or fit your existing DLSR into a housing designed specifically for that make and model. There are specialist housings for the Sony NEX-5 series, for example, and for the Nikon D7000 and Olympus E520.

If you’re just buying the housing, look for external lighting options and maybe even a moisture alarm that will make you aware of any leaks. At this standard most underwater housings are rated to considerable depths (often 40 or 60 meters) and will go almost anywhere a human diver can safely go. They’re not cheap but will let you take underwater photos like a pro.

Jess Spate writes for Mozaik Underwater Cameras, a leading supplier of underwater photography equipment, housings, and underwater strobes.

Moments… they appear for an instant and then they are gone. It is those moments that make the most memorable pictures, unposed, real and not self-conscious. Unlike carefully set up shots, candid photography can capture rare instances of life being lived naturally. Little miracles and special moments you can share with others.

Photography, like speech, is a form of communication. We remember ideas and communications that square with our impressions, emotions and understanding of the world and life. It’s all about speaking honestly and candid photography is like speaking honestly through images. It is simple, immediate picture taking and all you need is a camera and the ability to see and capture those spontaneous moments. Think about all those powerful photographs by great American photographers from Life magazine from the 20th century. There’s an authenticity and an immediacy in those photographs that leaves a lasting impression.

Now it can be demanding, but overall candid photograph is fun and relatively easy and you never know when you are going to capture those magical moments. So there a few things you need to do to capture good candid photographs:

1) Turn off the flash. Always bring your camera with you and be prepared to take the picture without the flash. And don’t worry about composing the shot because you can always crop that later. The trick is you just want to be fast on the draw so you don’t miss any of those spontaneous moments.

2) Be patient and observe. Most newcomers to photography feel an incredible amount of self consciousness about the act of taking a photograph of people. You feel like everyone is watching you and you are some intrusive force in their lives. Relax. People just aren’t as focused on you as you think they are, especially when they are doing something that makes for excellent candid photographs.

3) Get in the habit of taking your camera with you. It’s the only way to catch those magical moments that spontaneously occur everyday. Now this also means you will need to make sure your batteries are charged or fresh, or better yet, pick up a spare battery. That way you will always have a back up ready to go. Memory cards with significant amounts of space are important too.

4) Stay relatively sill and when you do move, do it slowly. You don’t have to do it so slow you look like you are doing tai chi while holding a camera but eliminate jerky movements. Find a place that will allow you to make the best possible photograph of the scene or pope that interest you. Stay there. The less you move, the less noticeable you are to those around you. If you see something you think would make a great candid photograph move gradually to bring your camera to your eye to make the image. Quick movements will catch your subject’s attention and draw their eyes to the camera and away from what they are doing.

5) Anticipate. use your ears, when two people are interacting, laughing or listening intently to someone else, there’s probably a pretty good photograph to be made showing expressions and interaction. This is the heart of great candid photography. Don’t worry if you missed the first set of reactions, there will usually be more if you give it a few moments.

6) Learn your camera. The models of cameras out there these days are so powerful and easy to learn but they still require some effort to take advantage of their full potential. This is another reason carrying your camera with you most everywhere is a big plus. Eventually you learn the finer features of the thing but this can only happen through the doing, trial and error, not the reading.

7) Use a zoom lens. We all have a strong sense of personal space. When someone is close to us we are much more likely to be aware of them and what they are doing. It makes us feel a little defensive. The farther away they are, the more we relax and be ourselves. As candid photographers, positioning ourselves some distance away from our subjects is an easy way to capture genuine, real moments. This is why a zoom lens is so important. With this kind of lens, we can stand back, unnoticed and record moments without making our subjects self conscious.

Smile and have fun. People like it when others genuinely express the good vibes of being in their company. Be enthusiastic and take an interest in others. If they seem very focused on your camera take some time to talk with them and just hang out. This helps others bring their guard down and let the real moments flow!

Stealth is important. Follow these tips and you will be hearing the ultimate compliment of a candid photographer: “I didn’t even know you were there taking pictures!”

About the Author:

Chris Cummins is a Kansas City photographer and owner of Glow Imagery. His passion is creating images that reveal the personalities, expressions and character of his subjects in beautiful images that become family heirlooms for his clients.