Fill the frame with your subjects One visible factor that separates the photos shot by beginners to those by professional photographers is the size of the subject(s). Professionals always make sure that their subjects fill up the frame as much as possible, leaving little or no room for empty spaces, thus eliminating any distractions. Filling up the frame is part of Q3. The candid shot of the three beauty pageant finalists was captured using the EF 100mm f/2.0 USM lens and Partial metering was used. Enough details are provided from this shot to show that they are aspiring beauty queens and there is no need to show more of the surrounding atmosphere. The group photo of another batch of finalists was captured with the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM at the 70mm setting. Evaluative metering was used with the AE Lock feature utilized to retain the exposure data from the 200mm setting before zooming back to the 70mm and recomposing for this tight angle of the finalists. Partial metering was used for this candid shot (EF 100mm) AE Lock was used for this group shot (EF 70-200mm) Half-length indoor portrait (EF 100mm) Two persons half-length portrait (EF 100-400 IS) Individual or two persons' half-length portrait? Treat it the way you would have shot with a head-and-shoulder portrait. The same goes for a 3-quarter length or a full-length version. Always fill the frame up with the subject as much as possible and leave little space open. Aside from Q1 (theme), Q2 and Q3 must also be applied thoroughly in this aspect, as evident from the last two examples shown from above. Bounced flash from a Speedlite 540EZ was used for Miss Czech Republic's shot and Open Shade lighting for the photo of HK-TVB artistes, Nick Cheung and Monica Chan. Throughout my years of covering motorsports, I have been amazed that some people, including local professionals, still judge a photographer's expertise by the type of equipment used. So when I showed up with the EOS 300 for the 1999 Malaysian Motorcycling Grand Prix held at the Sepang F1 circuit, some of them thought I was crazy to assume that decent GP action photos could be shot using that entry-level model. I proved them wrong. The same thing happened again when I showed up at Shah Alam's Batu Tiga circuit with three models, the EOS 88, EOS 300 (again) and EOS 50 for the final leg of the 1999 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship with just three lenses, the EF 35-80mm f/4-5.6 III, EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM plus EF Extender 2x. But the real reason why entry-level EOS cameras don't quite make it as back-up bodies for the professionals are due to the pre-wind film loading system employed. Performance-wise, they are just as good as the top EOS models. Partial metering was used for this candid shot (EF 70-200mm) Candid shot of the umbrella girls (EF 75-300mm) A HRC official walking along the pit lane (EF 75-300mm) What a difference when one is not careful - distraction (on right) A racer whizzed pass the cheering crowd (EF 70-200mm) Close-up of the cheering crowd (EF 70-200mm) Podium placing riders spraying victory champagnes (70mm) Close-up shot after the spraying had ended (200mm) Like I said earlier, it is not the equipment but the eyes of the photographer which makes the difference between a lousy shot and a better one. Q1, Q2 and Q3 as well as the appropriate usage of the required fundamentals of photography were applied in all the above pictures shot during the final round of the 1999 Asian Championship. << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 .