AnuragBhateja.com Blog

Multiple Exposure And Long Exposure

Many of you must be aware of the fact that I am in love with expermental photography and challenging myself for a task in photography is the way of learning for me. I worked a lot on long exposure but when I came to know about multiple exposure, I was stunned to see the amazing results. Being a multimedia graduate, it was not hard to understand the work and plan behind the “scene” but to do is really time consuming and needs skills which some people will never understand as they think, “Its the software which work”! Anyway, I am not in mood to discuss all this. Here I shall explain the difference between two amazing techniques in which one requires software and one do not.

Let us first define them. A long exposure refers to a single, protracted shutter cycle to capture enough low-intensity light, whereas a multiple exposure involves a series of relatively brief shutter cycles; effectively layering a series of photographs in one image.

To be more precise , in long exposure, I will set the shutter speed to higher number i.e. vary from 4 seconds to 15 seconds or to the limit to which I can set it on my camera. This will allow the shutter to remain open for that particular time giving me tremendously good results. You can have a look on my “Ghosty images tutorial” to learn how to make a ghost out of yourself or of your friend/family member.

In multiple exposure, I shall set the camera on a tripod and will ask my subject to be in different position in every shot. I do not require a long exposure or shutter speed (if its night you can go for it ). Now I shall click shots, one after another keeping my subject in different positions according to my wish. After clicking, with the help of image editing software, I will superimpose all the shots in single image. (The tutorial will come after Sunday as I have a huge plan ). Have a look on the images, you will understand what I mean

Macro Photography – Spotting and Shooting Bugs

After practicing macro photography, especially clicking bugs around my place, I came to understand a few things which one can get only with experimenting. I do not know if the tips are going to be good enough to make you a good bug photographer or insect photographer, but they may be helpful in making your bug spotting a bit easy in start. It is not only to spot them but also to identify them. Though for non-Entomology experts like me it is very hard to identify a bug which you have clicked, but if you try a bit you can get the scientific name of the particular insect.

Now lets start with spotting the insect when you are in search. You have to keep in mind that while looking for insects, you should not begin later than early morning say just before the sunrise. Reach the place you want to search for the bugs before sunrise as look for them. By before sunrise, I mean when there is light but Sun is not visible. The best place to look for bugs is gardens and open farms.

Now when you are trying to spot the bugs, look for moving leaves of grass or other small plants. If one particular stem or leaf is moving faster than others, that means there is something which can be good for your frame. Go near it with full attention as there may be some snake also. If you spot the bug (it may be a spider, beetle or even a fly) you need to bend down and get close to it. In starting you may make the bug to fly or run away as you can get too excited to spot it but on later stages you will understand how to control yourself and get closer to them without scaring them.

DSLR cameras need Macro lens but those who are using Point and Shoot cameras as I do, there is an option for super macro which will work for you. If you have a look on the gallery below, you can see the results of Point And Shoot camera, Canon Powershot S5IS which I am using.

What things you should take care of:
1. Wear good quality shoes as you are going to places where snakes may be found.
2. Be equipped with extra cards and batteries.
3. Carry a LED torch which costs hardly 80 INR but is very useful for clicking an insect in low light conditions.
4. Do not bang your head finding bugs if the sun is on top. They usually go in shades where you can not reach especially in hot areas like India. If you are in Jungle, only then you can find them almost everywhere every time.
5. Do not move the leaf or step towards sky as this will give you harsh light in background.
6. You should be very careful while approaching them. It is not that they will bite you (though some can) but you can scare hell out of them. So be humble to them and go near them and please do not scare them as once they fly or run away, you miss a lifetime chance.

Now about identifying them. If you are not a Entomologist, you still have a way to identify the bugs.
1. Ask experts. You can find them on flickr. They are really helpful!
2. Look for special marks on their bodies and search with it. Like if the have black strips and have white body, you can look for “white insect black strips”. Look for images and try to match them with your photograph.

You can have a look on my Flickr Bug Set also.

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How To Add Embedded Copyright To An Image

All photographers are aware of getting their images used over the internet. One of the recent case I saw is this http://flickr.com/photos/twilightfairy/2720464496/ . Now getting a copyright written on image will make it a bit safer. The easiest way is to write the name somewhere on the picture but to get it embedded you need to know a bit of photo editting softwares like Photoshop. Now after giving final touch to your image in photoshop follow the following steps to give a good � to your image.

1. From toolbox under text “Horizontal Type Mask Tool” or “Vertical Type Mask Tool”.

2. Click on the Image to write text. The screen will get red and you can the blinking cursor on the screen. Now write the phrase like “� Anurag Bhateja” (To get � press Alt+0169 (Numeric pad in normal keyboard and Alt+fn+mjo9 on laptop keyboard. mjo9 makes 0169 from numeric pad.)

3. Now click on move tool from tool box.You will see space selected in shape of text.

4. Now press ctrl+c or copy from edit menu. The press ctrl+v or paste from edit menu.

5. You will see a new layer there. Now to that layer click on “Add a layer style” >> “Bevel and emboss”. Settings to Style: emboss, Technique:smooth, depth:1000%, Size:0, soften:0. Press OK. If you want to give outer glow its a good choice also with bevel and emboss.

6. Upload to your favorite photo sharing site like flickr and enjoy.