People tend to take a lot of pictures when they travel or go on vacation. People explore new place, see new things and they want to have a visual reminder of their travels. The problem is that most of the time the photographs people take while traveling suffer from several problems, they can be boring, look like everyone elses photos of the same place and don't capture the real feel of the subject. There are a few simple things you can do to improve your photos on your next trip.

Lets first start with equipment. A lot of the time people will take small point and shoot cameras with them when they travel. This is not a bad choice, point and shoot cameras tend to be compact, light weight, easy to carry (all important considerations when traveling) and most of the point and shoot cameras on the market today take good quality photos. There are also small compact cameras on the market today that allow for more creative control than the basic point and shoot, while remaining compact, light weight and easy to carry. The Canon G10 and the Panasonic LX3 are just two examples of these advanced compact cameras. Many advanced compact cameras can yield great results that can give the best DSLR's a run for their money. More serious photographers may still opt to travel with a DSLR camera. Traveling with a DSLR may add some extra weight and baggage but for a serious travel photographer it can be worth it. However, most people can get by just as well with a good quality advanced compact camera.

Sports photography is of interest to a wide variety of people. We have all seen iconic images of sports stars like Micheal Jordan, Mohammed Ali, David Wright, and others. These photographs are taken by trained professional sports photographers with the latest photographic equipment for getting the best shot. Many people have tried their had at shooting sports photography before, weather it is on the sidelines of a youth sports game or shooting from the stands at a professional sports game.


Equipment

Choosing the right equipment for the job is an important thing to consider. Lets start with the basics of choosing a camera for shooting sports photographs. Action in sports obviously moves very fast, so catching the 'decisive moment' in the action when everything falls into place can be very difficult for a photographer. Because of the fast moving action, one of the most important things to consider when choosing a camera for shooting sports photography is the continuous shooting burst rate or 'frames per second' (fps) rate. What that means is the amount of photographs that the camera will take continuously in one second when shooting in a continuous shooting mode, the higher the fps rate the more shots the camera will take in one second. This is an important consideration when shooting sports photography because the action can move very fast and the more photographs you can take of the action, the better your chances of getting that one spectacular shot are. Most DSLRs and some advanced point and shoot cameras have a continuous shooting mode.


Below is a list of DSLR cameras and their continuous shooting burst rates.

• Canon T1i 3.4fps
  
• Canon 5d Mark II 3.9fps
• Canon 1Ds Mark III 5fps
• Nikon D5000 4fps
• Nikon D90 4.5fps

Choosing a camera with continuous auto-focus is also important. Most DSLR cameras have a continuous auto-focus function. Continuous auto-focus will continuously refocus the shot to keep up with the ever changing action. Because sports action moves fast, continuous auto-focus is an important function that will help keep your shots well focused. All of the cameras listed above have a continuous auto-focus function.

The next thing to consider is what lens to choose. Choosing the correct lens to shoot sports photography is as important as choosing the correct camera. The main two things to consider when choosing a lens are the maximum aperture of the lens and the focal length. Lets start with the aperture. The maximum aperture of a lens effects the amount of light that passes through the lens to the film plane. The larger the aperture, the more light passes through to the film plane, the shorter the shutter speed will need to be to obtain the correct exposure. Aperture size is so important in sports photography because it directly effects the shutter speed value. In sports photography a fast shutter speed is usually required to freeze the fast paced action. Aperture sizes are listed by number, with the lower number being the larger aperture. For example, an aperture of f/4 is larger than an aperture of f/11. Maximum aperture sizes are usually listed in the name of the lens, for example the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 EF-L USM lens has a maximum aperture size of 2.8. For most action sports you will want a maximum aperture value of f/2.8. However, if you plan to only shoot outdoor sports in bright sunlight you can probably get away with using a lens with a maximum aperture of f/4. Using a large aperture when shooting sports photography will allow you to use a fast shutter speed. A fast shutter speed will help to 'freeze' the action and prevent 'motion blur.'

Another effect of using a large shutter speed is the shallow depth of field. Having a shallow depth of field will help isolate the main subject of the photograph from the other elements that may be in the shot. This effect will draw more attention to the main subject and enhance the effect of the dramatic effect of the photograph. An example of this can be seen below, notice how the action of the baseball players in the photo is frozen and sharply focused, while the umpire, who is standing only feet behind the players is out of focus. This effect draws the viewers eye to the action, instead of being distracted by other elements in the photograph.


As mentioned above, it is very important to use a fast shutter speed in sports photography. Using a fast shutter speed will freeze the fast paced action. A photograph of blurry figures playing sports is of little use. Most DSLR cameras will have shutter speeds that go up to or beyond 1/8000th of a second. This is fast enough to freeze just about any sports action you will encounter, even race cars traveling at over 200mph. Shutter speeds over 1/1000th of a second will start to be able to freeze most sports action. However, allowing for some motion blur in a sports photograph can create excellent effects as well. For example, when photographing a baseball pitcher pitching a ball, it may be an interesting effect to have the ball or part of the pitchers arm slightly blurred from motion, while the rest of the pitcher is in sharp focus. This effect is illustrated in the photograph below, notice how the pitchers face and body is frozen and in sharp focus, while his arm and the ball is slightly blurred because of the fast motion.


The next thing to consider when choosing a lens for sports photography is the focal length of the lens. Most of the action in sports happens in an area that may not be right next to where you are shooting from. Often you may need to shoot across a large field or court to get the action shots. This requires a lens with a long focal length. Most lenses that come with DSLR kits have a maximum focal distance of around 70-105mm. While these lenses may be good for shooting subjects that are close to you, they will be almost useless when photographing sports action any more than a few yards away from you. A good starting point for a sports photography lens is 200mm. A 200mm lens will allow you to shoot sports action when you can stand on the sidelines, or relatively close to the action. For larger fields or in situations where you may not be able to shoot right from the sidelines a lens with a focal length of 400mm or 500mm would be a good choice. Using a lens with a long focal length like this will allow you to shoot right into the action without being right next to it.

Some lenses to consider for sports photography are listed below.

• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 EF-L USM
• Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM
• Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED
• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8G ED VR

Most of these lenses are pretty bulky and heavy, because of this a useful accessory to consider is a monopod. Tripods are bulky and can be difficult to move around easily and therefore are usually not allowed when shooting sports photography. Monopods take the place of tripods in this situation. A monopod is simply a single pole that mounts to the camera or, in the case of larger lenses, a mounting ring on the lens. Its function is similar to that of a tripod, but a monopod is much more maneuverable and compact. A monopod will help relieve your arms of holding up the heavy lens and will also help to steady you shot and prevent camera shake.

Taking close-up photographs of a subject is called 'Macro Photography.' Technically macro photography is when the image projected on the film plane of a camera is the same size as the object in real life. This is referred to as a 1:1 ratio. More recently 'macro photography' has been expanded to describe ratios of 1:2 as well as general close up photography. (A 1:2 ratio means that the image projected on the film plane is half of its actual life size.)

Many new point and shoot cameras can produce great macro photography results. However, to achieve a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio you generally need a macro lens on an SLR camera. A basic setup for macro photography could be a Canon T1i with a Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 compact macro lens.

A lens with macro capabilities allows the camera to focus on a subject that is much closer to the lens than a normal lens would allow. Therefore a lens with macro capabilities allows a photographer to focus on and photograph a tiny subject with fine details and achieve the 1:1 ratio. This can allow a large, high quality print of the small subject to be produced.

Macro lenses come in a wide variety of focal lengths. Each macro lens can be used to photograph a variety of different subjects depending on the focal length:

• 35-60mm range is typically used to photograph products and other small objects.
• 75-125mm range is the focal length range typically used for flowers and insects.
• 150-200mm+ range is generally used for insects and small animals.

Another tool for macro photography is an extension tube. An extension tube is basically a tube with a lens mount on one end and a camera mount on the other. This allows the extension tube to fit between the camera and the lens. An extension tube has no optics in it and is used to extend the distance between the lens and the film plane in the camera. An extension tube works in the same way bellows on a camera do, they simply extend the distance of the lens from the film plane. The further the lens is away from the film plane, the closer the lens can focus on the subject and therefore the larger the subject will appear when projected on the film plane. However, there is a trade off, the longer the extension tube, the more light loss there is, requiring a longer exposure. Some extension tubes do not have electronic contacts and therefore will not allow for auto focus or electronic aperture functions to be used. Keep this in mind when shopping for an extension tube.
Another option for macro photography is a close-up lens, (sometimes referred to as a close-up filter.) A close-up lens works in the same way a magnifying lens does. The close-up lens allows any lens to focus closer to a subject. The close-up lens simply screws onto the front of a lens in the same place a filter would attach to the lens. This allows any lens to be used for macro photography.A telephoto extender can also produce macro capabilities. A telephoto extender (sometimes referred to as a teleconverter) is simply a secondary lens, placed between the camera and the lens that enlarges the image produced by the lens and projects it onto the film plane. A telephoto extender effectively extends the focal length of a lens. For example a 2x telephoto extender when mounted with a 150mm lens will produce the effect of a lens with a focal length of a 300mm. Telephoto extenders generally come in 1.4x, 1.7x, 2x and 3x models. The downside to a telephoto extender is that like an extension tube, a telephoto extender decreases the amount of light that reaches the film plane, requiring a longer exposure time. While a telephoto extender allows the photographer to zoom in closer to a subject, the focusing distance remains the same.

Reversing the lens is another technique for macro photography. Reversing the lens is exactly what it sounds like, using a reversing ring to mount the lens backwards on the camera body. A reversing ring is an adapter that screws onto the filter threads on the front of a lens and allows the lens to be mounted in reverse to the camera body. This can be a good quality, low cost way to use lenses you may already have to take macro photographs. This technique can be combined with extension tubes or bellows to achieve even closer focus.
It is even possible to mount a reversed lens in front of a normally mounted lens for use in macro photography. To do this, the reverse mounted lens must be of lesser focal length than the normally mounted lens. The normal lens is attached to the camera in the standard way, and then the other lens is reverse mounted to the front of the normally mounted lens by using a macro coupler. The macro coupler screws into the filter threads on both of the lenses and allows the lenses to be joined together. Using this technique also allows most cameras to maintain full function of electronic features on the normally mounted lens. The magnification ratio can be calculated by dividing the focal length of the normally mounted lens by the focal length of the reverse mounted lens. For example, when a 15mm lens is reverse mounted on a 300mm lens the resulting magnification ratio will be 20:1.

Other things to consider in macro photography:

Depth of field is an important consideration in macro photography. In macro photography depth of field becomes very shallow. Limited depth of field in macro photography makes it essential to focus on the most important part of the subject being photographed. Even parts of a subject slightly in front or behind the focal plane can be noticeably out of focus. It may be necessary to use a small aperture at achieve an acceptable depth of field.

Lighting is another important element to consider in macro photography. Lighting can be especially important because of the need to use a small aperture. However, achieving a bright, well lit subject may be difficult in macro photography simply because of the close proximity of the lens to the subject. A tool known as a ring flash, such as the Canon Macro Ring Light MR-14EX can be used to light a subject that is very close to the lens. A ring flash is a circular flash that is mounted around the front of a lens.