There are many situations photographers may find themselves where photographs are welcome but the sounds cameras make are not.

For example if you’re a wedding photographer or any event where you’re among an audience. Many people aren’t aware that those beeps can be turned off completely in virtually all cameras.

You will have to consult your cameras manual for specific instructions but it should take only a few minutes and it will make you a much better citizen of photography if you do!

Written by Trevor Warren

Many of today’s DSLR cameras contain a little-used feature called a histogram. It sounds somewhat forbidding, but it is a great tool to check the exposure of your images.

The histogram is a graph showing you how color is distributed in your image. On the left side of the graph are the dark areas of your image – on the right side are the light areas.

In a properly exposed image, the slopes coming down from the peaks both on the left and right side of the graph drop off and hit the horizontal line in the lower left and right corners of the graph.

In an improperly exposed image, you will see one of two graphs. Either:

• The slopes cut off on the sides.
• The slopes hitting the horizontal line before reaching the sides.

Through trial-and-error, I found if I under-expose my images by 1/3 to 1/2 stop, I get a better exposure (as shown on the histogram) the first time. Once you learn how to use it, you can tell at a glance if your image’s exposure is correct or over/under exposed.

Optional Assignment:

1. Find an extremely white scene a white-washed wall works great.
2. Meter and shoot an image.
3. Turn on your DSLR histogram feature and view the image.
4. Now adjust the graph by using your exposure compensation feature.
5. Add a stop of light and shoot another image.
6. Remove two stops of light and shoot another image.
7. Now, by using the graph information on the histogram, review each image and watch how the slope lines change in each graph.

Written by Ron Kness

With summer here, now is the time to brush up on your baseball photography skills. As you prepare to capture baseball images, keep these five bullets in mind:

• Get close to the action.
• If you consistently see action happening in one spot, focus on that spot and wait for the action to happen again and then capture it.
• Shoot action sequences as it increases your chances of getting good pictures and tells a story.
• Shoot faces as they will make your sports photos.
• Shoot at a high ISO such as 400, 800 or even ISO 1000.
• Concentrate on Little League, high school or sandlot games as it is easier to get close to the action.

Position yourself close to either first or third base. Focus on the batter and anticipate the action. While photographing the batter, zoom in on some head shots and focus on the eyes. Some of your best facial expression shots will be just as the batter hits the ball.

Another great shot is the runner sliding into home plate. Since we know what is happening during this action, it is not necessary to show the ball.

For this assignment, find a local baseball game. Position yourself behind and close to either first or third base, depending on from which side the batters hit. With your DSLR set at the settings above, capture images of batters hitting the ball. Try to capture a batter just as the bat connects with the ball. This is not as easy as it sounds.

By Ron Kness

Many photographers don’t think about using their flash for daylight pictures. When photographing someone:

• Wearing a cap
• In the shade

Make sure your flash is turned to the "on" position – the position where the flash will fire each time you press the shutter button. This will "pop" some light onto your subject’s face and eliminate the dark shadows.

Optional Assignment:

1) Position someone wearing a cap in full overhead sunlight.
2) Take two pictures – one without using your flash and one with the flash on.

Have fun!

Written by Ron Kness