The equipment you need
In photo #1 my trusty Pentax is filthy from a twelve hour day crawling around in pineapple fields. So, it’s shrunken down in the background. The rest of the gear is what you need for the care of your baby (camera) whether it’s a Point and Shoot or DSLR. All that equipment fits nicely in my shoulder holster camera bag you see under the pile, all but the large black bulb (turkey baster-looking thing); that’s only required when you change lenses on a DSLR.

So, for any camera, here’s what you need to clean:
1. A lens brush for removing dust and the bulb forces air to blow it away. The brush is removable, allowing you to use a blast of air for drying your lens.
2. Lens Cleaning Paper is probably no different than eyeglass tissues but, I always buy mine at the camera store. You wouldn’t buy baby wipes from an auto supply shop, would you?
3. Lens Cleaning Solvent, not Windex, or any substitute is what you want to use. Camera lenses have a protective coating on them which you’ll want to last forever.

A kit, with all three items listed above costs less than US $10.00 so, there’s really no reason to be caught without one. Yet, I have people all the time asking me how to clean a camera lens and they’re surprised such equipment even exists. Makes you wonder if they are allowed to have babies, doesn’t it?

How it’s done:
1. Use the brush and bulb to remove dust from the lens. If you have a lens shade on, remove it and dust it off as well.
2. Your fingers contain oil that you don’t want to get on your lens. Tear a piece of lens paper from the pack by one corner, at the edge, being careful not to touch the paper anywhere else.
3. Lightly, spray the opposite end of the paper with lens cleaner. This little bottle of spray should last the average camera-shooter about a year. It doesn’t take much spray at all to clean a lens.
4. Place the moistened portion of the paper on your lens and crumple the dry portion over it. Gently swirl the paper in a circular motion being careful not to touch the lens with your fingers.
Pretend it’s a baby with diaper rash but, be gentler. Cameras cost money.
5. Next, you pull out one more lens tissue and dry, if you need to. I’ve found that I can clean and dry a small Point and Shoot with just one lens paper, if I’m careful.
6. If there’s any remaining haze on the lens after you’ve done all that, use the bulb to air-dry with a few blasts and your lens should be ready to go.

Backside of your camera:
A closer look at the backside of my baby shows you why I wanted to hide it from public view; it’s filthy. When I’m out shooting in the hot sun, sweat, dirt, grime, pollen and whatever else can collect on a camera get all over me and my baby. This particular day, it got so bad I couldn’t even read my light meter through the viewfinder. I composed my shots through the viewfinder but had to use the external light meter (on top of the camera) for exposure settings). I had cleaned it twice, earlier in the day, but was facing a busload of tourists coming my way at the end of a twelve hour shoot and just wanted to finish, pack up and run. So, the camera and I came home filthy. It’s easy to remedy.

Here’s what you do:
1. Grab the brush and bulb and clean the dust off everything. On DSLRs you can even peel away the rubber molding around the viewfinder for better access to the glass.
2. The viewfinder glass and LCD screen aren’t as sensitive as a lens. Many LCD screens even have a plastic coating you can peel off and replace with a new one. I still use the same method, spraying the lens paper first and repeat the process as above but, it isn’t really that critical.
3. The rest of the camera body, an old toothbrush is safe to use for dust and grime removal, just make sure your lens cover is protecting the lens you’ve cleaned before grinding away dust and dirt from the body of the camera.
4. Any soft cloth and some lens cleaner should remove any stubborn spots from the backside of your baby. Until next time; Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, CNN GO, Go Backpacking, Go Nomad, Matador Travel Network, Pocket Cultures, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , and Wend Magazine Blog. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

The photo resembling a mob scene was taken at an annual parade on the International Avenue, Kokusai Street in Naha Okinawa, Japan. The design is something that rests atop a 30-foot bamboo pole called a Hatagashira. It displays the banner of the village where the young men hoisting it reside. I have thousands of pictures of them dancing in the streets trying to balance the pole in an upright position but had never before thought of taking a shot while they were carrying it to their assembly area. Not so blue skies that day and the distracting telephone wires, I knew I’d be dealing with when the banner was raised, gave me the idea for this composition.

The bright yellow circular pattern is something on the ceiling of a Chinese Pagoda. I had probably spent 20 minutes under it one day, trying to shade myself from the hot summer sun and not even noticed it until someone pointed it out to me. This was a little tricky, getting this shot. I had to lay flat on my back on the cool cement floor. There was no way to compose the shot using a tripod and camera I was equipped with and get directly beneath the design. I had to improvise but it was only for 1/6 of a second.

Both of these photos turned out to be favorites of mine for the particular days they were taken. It’s not so much that they were some kind of award winning photos; it’s because they were different from my normal compositions and probably a whole lot different from the photos everyone else walked away with that day. Look for patterns and designs when you’re out and about and catch some one of a kind travel photos, too. Until next time, Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

The subject should be something with a distinct shape, easily recognizable. Horses, people, even a palm tree on the beach, can make interesting subjects when silhouetted against a sunset. Normally I cringe when I see some travel photos where the poor subject, usually the photographer’s better-half shows up in the picture underexposed, yet the background is crystal-clear. It may be a bright and sunny day on the beach or posed at some easily recognizable attraction but, the poor human subject has their face shrouded in dark shadows. I tactfully remind the photographer it would have looked a lot better had they used their flash.

So, what I mean by breaking the rules is deliberately setting your camera exposure for the bright light. That’s exactly the opposite of what I’d normally do. You will not adjust your settings for the best exposure on your subject, you will be underexposing and creating even more shadows on your subject.

Just how much to underexpose is entirely up to you so, it may take some experimentation. This is one time you may want to let the camera decide, just by putting it in AUTO MODE. Then, review the shot on your LCD screen and decide if you’d like to darken the silhouettes, even more. A faster shutter speed or stopping down on the aperture will make the shadows more dramatic, totally blacken the subject, if you like.
A few points to consider are the position of the subject in relation to the bright and dark spots in the background and the profile of the subject. If the subject is a person leaning on a tree, rock or building and it is in the shadows, as well, underexposing will blend them together and you’ll loose the shape of the subject. You want the subject, as a silhouette, to stand out.

The profile of the subject will be more dramatic if your composition is from their side, not head on; this will make their nose, eyes and lips stand out more than if you were to attempt a frontal portrait shot.

After shooting at festivals, after a long day of shooting in the bright sun, I take silhouette shots. When there are bright lights in the background and I don’t want to be bothered chasing subjects down to get their permission. Just hide in the dark and shoot. After all, that’s what silhouettes are for, breaking all the rules. Until next time, Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

Some wedding photographers actually smear Vaseline Petroleum Jelly around the outer edges of their lens to achieve a dreamlike effect in their compositions. You can bet they make enough profit to pay an assistant to clean the greasy mess up for the rest of the shoot. Myself, I look for the freebies outdoors.

The bird munching on a caterpillar was a tricky hand-held shot. The Japanese White Eye is a pretty skittish bird and I wanted to frame him with the branches. I used Burst Mode and would have preferred backing-off on my zoom lens to show more of the branch overhead. It was a pretty cloudy, dreary day and in a split second both the sun and the bird would be gone. When a hole in the clouds lit up his eye, that’s all I had time to concentrate on. He’s framed, somewhat; the eye took precedence.

The second photo was another case where there was no time for setting-up a tripod. The rainbow appeared as I was heading north along the west coast of Okinawa. Before the driver could safely stop, more rain and black clouds were drifting our way. A roadside guardrail and Burst Mode saved me again. Without either the fishermen highlighted by the sun, or the rainbow in this scene, it would be a pretty uninteresting photo. Together, they compliment each other.
In your travels, look for frames in nature. Soon you’ll start to notice, they’re everywhere. It’s only a matter of training your mind’s eye to recognize them. Me, even without my camera, I’m always composing shots, looking for the perfect light and framing pictures in my mind. Vaseline, I keep that at home. It’s for squeaky door hinges and grandkids. Until next time, Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan, Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

Nowadays, I shoot both ways, with and without tourists in the scenes because I know they add a scale to my photos. When they’re really cooperative and sign a release for me to publish their picture, as these girls visiting Zakimi Castle were, they get free copies of the shot sent to them. And you or anyone else can probably guess how tall the castle walls are or determine if you’d have to duck your head walking through the archway.

In the photo of the Shisa (Lion-dog) with a 10 story hotel in the background, I used perspective for a more dramatic effect. By moving my position, relative to the hotel, around until I saw what I wanted in the viewfinder, I was able to make the Shisa appear to dwarf the hotel. The statue is probably around twenty feet tall. Both photos were taken with an aperture setting of f/11. Had I desired to blur the background and make the hotel seem farther away or less prominent in the photo, I’d have used a setting such as f/2.8 or f/3.5 and probably would have except I wanted Japanese to be able to read Royal Hotel to the top of the building just in case they want to visit the largest Shisa in Okinawa.

Imagine what kind of shot you could create with a pizza pie at the Leaning Tower of Pizza. All you need is a little imagination, a plane ticket, your camera, tripod and some perspective. Until next time, Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

While you’re composing a shot:
Look around and find some lines to draw attention to your subject. They don’t even have to be straight lines. Anything in the scene that can be captured and lead the viewer’s eye from the corner of the frame towards the subject is fair game. Sometimes it’s a curved or crooked line, like a branch, the shoreline, a curve in the road or, the paint on a basketball court.

Some examples of straight lines used in pointing towards a subject are handrails, railroad tracks, the roof of a house, edge of a sidewalk, even the crease in someone’s shirtsleeve. The diagonal line of the sail on a boat, a tent or the white lines painted in a parking lot can be used to point from a corner of your photo to the subject. The lines don’t even have to reach all the way to the corner, just use them to help the subject say, “I’m over here. Look at me”!
Use it to your advantage.

Every scene doesn’t require leading lines. You wouldn’t want to use something that will overwhelm your subject. Something as bright as the international orange of a traffic cone, probably wouldn’t work well as a leading line for a fair-skinned lady; unless it’s the traffic cone you want to draw attention to. Look around and if you do find something that compliments the photo compose it into your photo. In your travel photos, give Leading Lines a try. You’ll start noticing a depth to your pictures which makes you feel you could walk right back into the scene. If there are no such lines available, don’t worry, you’ve always got the Rule of Thirds as a back-up. You may end up taking a $64,000 photo. Until next time, Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

The direction the light source comes from is critical.

In this photo, the sun was shining from off to the right; you can see the shadow from the tree. Maximum texture is seen when you use what’s called 90 degree side-lighting. The board at the highest point on the bow of the boat shows the most texture. The 90 degrees is the angle you’d form if you drew a line from the camera to the subject and another, from the subject to the light source. Notice, the texture in the wood grain isn’t as pronounced as you look towards the right side of the picture. Had the sun been directly behind me or had I used camera flash, there would be no texture visible in the photo.
Aperture settings have an impact as well.

This photo was shot at an aperture of f/11 with the intention of having as much wood grain stand-out in the frame as possible. Had I used an aperture of f/2.8 or 3.5, I would have lost texture in the outer edge of the photo, even though it would be sharp at the spot I focused on.
Steady the camera.

In this instance, I used a tripod but, there are other methods you can use to obtain just as sharp a photo. In fact, the day I shot this, it was windy and just the movement of my camera strap in the breeze was shaking the camera. You wrap it around your neck, hold it steady with your hand and use your body to shield the camera from the wind. Not having a tripod, anything you can find to make sure there is absolutely no movement will work. The roof of a car, a fencepost, a wall, guardrail or the limb of a tree can be suitable substitutes.

Don’t touch that shutter button!

Once you have moved around the subject to get the best possible directional lighting, determined which aperture settings you’ll use for maximum texture on the wood grain and composed a postcard-perfect photo to show your friends don’t screw it up by snapping the shot. Set your camera timer for ten seconds or use a remote. The little bit of motion caused by pushing that shutter button could ruin your masterpiece. Until next time, Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

Think before you shoot.
If you’d like to capture a scene where everything is in focus a higher number aperture setting is what’s required. Usually for a landscape or any scene where you decide everything is important in the composition, go with an aperture of f/9, f/11, f/16 or higher.

The Iris field photo was taken with my Panasonic set at f/11 because I wanted to display the entire patch of flowers. Had I wanted to isolate and focus on only one plant and blur the rest, I’d have used a setting such as f/2.8.

The photo of the bird in a field was captured much differently. The scenery wasn’t that attractive and I wanted the bird to stand out from the background. F/6.7 was the widest aperture available on the Sigma 50-500mm lens I had attached to my Pentax when I zoomed to its maximum length in order to capture the rascal. This blurred the background enough to make the bird stand out as the subject.

Some other factors to consider.
The distance you are from your subject has an impact on DOF. The farther you are away from the scene, the more depth of field you can create.
Focal length has an impact on the scene, as well. A wide angle lens gives you a greater Depth of Field than a zoom or telephoto lens. Zooming-in, as I did in the bird photo creates a narrower Depth of Field and increases distortion in the background.

Put yourself in charge of your camera.
Play around with aperture settings. Try a few shots at maximum, middle and narrowest aperture and at various distances from your target. You probably won’t notice the difference until you pull the photos up on your monitor. But, when you do, you’ll notice a dramatic difference. You can make yourself the Master and RULE OVER YOUR SUBJECTS. Until next time; Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

When I go to look at tripods anyone who knows me makes an excuse to not come along that day. I embarrass them. Only the salespeople, who know I’m about to spend big bucks with, want to be near me.

I set up every tripod on display and fill up the whole aisle with them. My cameras come along with me and we give each tripod a thorough going-over. And I’m rough on them, sometimes breaking them in my demonstrations. So, if the salespeople know I’m coming ahead of time, they hide all the cheap ones in the storeroom, way before my arrival. You can be a little more discreet and look at one at a time, just make sure you bring your camera along and maybe your shortest and longest lenses. You’ll have to try on your camera to the tripod just as if you were buying a pair of boots. You wouldn’t buy boots without trying them on, would you?

Here are my top ten tips for buying a tripod:
1. Cost: Everyone wants to get the best deal they can but, a cheap tripod will not enhance your photography. The little $10.00 aluminum ones are good for nothing, unless you plan on taking all your photos while it’s set up on your coffee table. For a point and shoot camera you may get by spending under $50.00. If you have a DSLR, plan on spending at least $100.00. There’s always the used option for saving as long as you know what to look for.

2. Folded height: For travel, you want to know how small you can make your assistant. Will it fit in a suitcase, backpack or a carrying case that you can wear comfortably on your shoulder? Make sure it’s not so large that you can’t carry it on a plane.

3. See how much it weighs; you’ll more than likely be wearing it a lot in your travels. The best tripods made are wooden but, they are extremely heavy. Aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber have made modern tripods much lighter. Just make sure whichever you buy is sturdy.

4. Maximum Height: This is as important as minimum height. With your camera mounted on it, make sure you can elevate the tripod to eye level. If not, you’ll be doing a lot of bending over.

5. Maximum Weight: This is the maximum weight the tripod was designed to support. If you have 10 lbs of camera and lenses to mount on a tripod designed for a maximum weight of 8 lbs, it will bend or break. At a minimum, it will be moving while you’re trying to shoot.

6. Quick Release: This is a feature that allows you to keep part of the hardware screwed to the bottom of the camera and easily press a lever to install or remove it from the tripod. It’s a good idea to buy extra quick release shoes to mount on all your cameras, if you have more than one.

7. Ball Head: Some tripods come with this feature built-in, others you have to invest in buying them separately. The ball head allows you to Pan the camera (Follow a moving subject) smoothly without creating more noise in your photos from camera shake.

8. Center Post: The pole that can be raised or lowered on the tripod. It should be reversible so you can get lower to the ground for flower and macro shots. When it’s upright, look for a hole or hardware to attach weight to. Sometimes when it’s windy, even the weight of a camera bag will help steady the tripod when it’s vibrating in the breeze.

9. Look at the tripod’s feet to see how much room you need to set it up and check for rubber boots to prevent scratching floors or sliding on smooth surfaces. Some tripods have retractable metal spikes for steadying the camera when you’re on ice, soil or uneven terrain.

10. See how the leg sections and center pole are locked into position. There are knobs to turn, hand cranks or clamps you squeeze to raise or lower your tripod and secure it in position. Make sure you check them all out and find which style works best for you and your camera.

What will a sturdy tripod do for you?
If you’ve learned the basics of exposure, composition and focus, you will see a dramatic improvement in the quality of your photography. The reduction in noise will have your friends thinking you shot with a film camera. The best part:  When you go shopping for a new tripod, you’ll have an excuse not to invite me along that day.  Until next time, Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/

What is Exposure?
It’s simply the amount of light allowed to enter the camera when you press the shutter button. The correct amount of light, reflecting towards your lens, from off your subject is what you want to capture.

In Auto Mode, your camera is making a decision as to what is the proper amount of light (Exposure) based on everything it sees through the lens. It’s taking a guess; it doesn’t know that the subject may be in the left or right third of the frame. So, it meters the light entering the lens and hitting your digital film (The Sensor) based on what it sees, not what you intend to be the subject.

How Can You Control Exposure?
The camera doesn’t have to be an expensive DSLR. It doesn’t even have to have Manual Mode on it but, you can control the Exposure in almost any Mode you use: A (Aperture Priority), S (Shutter Priority), P (Program Mode) or a Red, Green, Picture of a Camera on the dial for the beginner’s Mode.

Check your camera manual and look for Exposure Compensation. There are dials you can turn, menu buttons you can push or gadgets you can slide to deliberately under or over expose the photo. That’s what you want to experiment with. I’ve included some pictures here to demonstrate what a camera’s light meter displays when I deliberately underexpose a shot at -1/3 and -2/3 Exposure Evaluation (EV).

Demonstrating underexposure was my choice because, the majority of the photos I shoot, I deliberately UNDEREXPOSE. That’s according to the meter readings my camera gives me. The camera was taking-in the whole scene; PC Monitor glaring in the background and my mouse pad in front of a camera pointed at it. The camera doesn’t know I’m trying to show you a little ORANGE TICK MARK on the LCD screen of the camera I’m taking the picture of.

Whenever you’re taking photos of what’s called a High Contrast scene with a digital camera, you have to use Exposure Compensation. I shoot a lot of these type scenes, especially when I’m out in the bright Okinawa sun so, I’ve learned how to best guesstimate the difference between what the meter reads and how much I need to underexpose for any given amount of contrast in a scene.

Adjusting Exposure, How?
There are two things which effect exposure readings, regardless of what ISO your camera is set at. They are Shutter Speed and Aperture. Remember exposure is simply how much light is allowed to hit your camera sensor.

Think of it as light hitting your eyes. You just came out of a dark theatre on a bright and sunny day and your sunglasses slipped off your nose. Too, much bright light = Overexposure. You squint. Your pupils close down (Aperture). How long you squint to keep the bright light out (Shutter Speed) is entirely up to you.
The lower the number on Aperture, equals more light entering the lens. f/2.8 is a much wider opening than f/11. Sounds confusing, I know but, think of it as a fraction. Replace the “f” and consider this: 1/2 is a much larger fraction that 1/11.

Shutter Speed, is just as confusing to some people; the higher the numbers 1/2000 (Fast Shutter Speeds), the less the amount of light there is hitting the sensor. The shutter stays open longer at lower numbers; fractions of a second.

When you read a light meter, if the exposure reading is way to the left side of the scale, open the Aperture more or slow down the shutter speed until the readings move towards perfect Exposure.

If the meter indicates the photo will be way Overexposed, Stop-down (Close the Aperture) or increase Shutter Speed, until the meter moves towards perfect Exposure on the scale

Experiment:
Play with the Exposure Compensation on your camera or set it to Manual Mode and take a few photos of the same subject at different Aperture and Shutter Speeds. Maybe, use Auto Mode first then, take 5 or 6 shots and each time vary the exposure by 1/3 plus or minus on the Exposure scale, taking notes as you go. When you look at the shots after downloading and see them you may be surprised. You may never want to shoot in Auto Mode, ever again. Until next time, Happy Shooting!

A wildlife photographer living in Okinawa, Japan, Mike has been published in Apogee Photo Magazine, Boots N all, Brave New Traveler, Go Nomad, Matador Abroad and Trips, The Nihon Sun, Travel Thru History, The Okinawan , Wend Magazine and Photo Guide Japan. He has recently joined the ranks of travel writers, capturing Nature, Festivals, Castles and Cultural shots of the Ryukyu Islands to share with the world. More of his work may be seen at: http://www.mikesryukyugallery.com/