Extra equipment & accessories for that extra creative flare!
Posted by clare bell on Friday, June 25, 2010
Under: Equipement
Now that you have had you DSLR for a little while, you have explored some of the manual settings and your everywhere you look is a potential shot just waiting to happen, you may have been thinking about expanding your kit further than just your camera & lens. Whether you have the cash to splash or you are on a budget there is plenty of reasonably priced new & used equipment that is worth a look.
Firstly we will look at filters, there is a lot of choice for the right effect from Macro to Neutral Density (ND) filters I found that Ebay has some very good prices, you can pick up a pack of 4 Macro filters for less than £10 in which you normally get +1, +2, +4 * Macro magnification they are great value for money, all macro shots displayed on my gallery page have been taken using these filters. You can also purchase a 4 pack of Neutral Density filters for the same price which contains 2 different densities of sold filter and 2 graduated filters. Macro filters are great for shooting close up shots such as flowers, plants & other small objects and especially shots like water droplets, Neutral Density filters and most used on Landscape shots in which you might need to slow down the shutter speed a stop or 2 for motion blur shots, such as streaky clouds or smooth water. Check out the Wiki page for an explanation of ND filters.
If your looking to splash out a little more for your filters you could always try brands such as Hoya, Kood or the Cokin P System, slightly more pricey but again available on Ebay at some very reasonable prices. There are a multitude of other filters that are available UV, Polarising, coloured and many others.
If your really serious about your Macro shots then there is also other equipment available such as Extension Tubes & Macro Lenses. Extension Tubes go between your lens and your camera and again you can pick these up on Ebay from about £10, however if your looking for really perfect images and you are willing to pay the price then have a look at Macro Lenses, but make sure you do your homework and get some advice from your local camera shop before you buy.
If you are doing a lot of your photography indoors such as macro or portrait shots getting enough light will always be a factor, however you can use the natural light from your windows and to help with this you can use a reflector which usually is usually circular and will have a gold side, a silver side & a white and is a great way of reflecting that natural light back onto your subject, yes you guessed it, available from our good friends at Ebay! Also for those Macro shots an LED torch is a great way to illuminate a subject.
I find taking shots indoors a particular problem for my unsteady hands and with the longer shutter speeds is almost impossible to avoid a little camera shake! to combat this, other than using a tripod, I use books, boxes and various other household items to prop up my camera however if you are going to do this please make sure your camera is stable! I also use a wireless remote control which I purchased for £5 on ebay to completely eradicate camera shake.
When it comes to using flash the pop up flash, although you can cut the power to 1/32 in the manual settings, can be harsh and unforgiving especially when taking shots of people, therefore if you are going to use flash you are better off using a flashgun or seperate flash. There are various makes of flashgun, your camera manufacturer will have a selection or there are other manufacturers who have cheaper versions one offer.
So what about backgrounds? again this doesn't have to be something that costs an arm and a leg, clean white sheets are something a lot of portrait photographers always have with them when the are shooting at peoples houses but if your just looking for something for smaller items visit your local craft shop or stationary shop, large sheets of white or even coloured card work just as well and at a very small cost.
There is so much accessories available I have barely scratched the surface but the point I am trying to make is Photography isnt a hobby that has to break the bank, if you are willing to buy second hand or something that is not top of the range. However that said if you are going to buy things second hand or off the net, make sure you check the reviews or feedback rating before you do just to be on the safe side!
Firstly we will look at filters, there is a lot of choice for the right effect from Macro to Neutral Density (ND) filters I found that Ebay has some very good prices, you can pick up a pack of 4 Macro filters for less than £10 in which you normally get +1, +2, +4 * Macro magnification they are great value for money, all macro shots displayed on my gallery page have been taken using these filters. You can also purchase a 4 pack of Neutral Density filters for the same price which contains 2 different densities of sold filter and 2 graduated filters. Macro filters are great for shooting close up shots such as flowers, plants & other small objects and especially shots like water droplets, Neutral Density filters and most used on Landscape shots in which you might need to slow down the shutter speed a stop or 2 for motion blur shots, such as streaky clouds or smooth water. Check out the Wiki page for an explanation of ND filters.
If your looking to splash out a little more for your filters you could always try brands such as Hoya, Kood or the Cokin P System, slightly more pricey but again available on Ebay at some very reasonable prices. There are a multitude of other filters that are available UV, Polarising, coloured and many others.
If your really serious about your Macro shots then there is also other equipment available such as Extension Tubes & Macro Lenses. Extension Tubes go between your lens and your camera and again you can pick these up on Ebay from about £10, however if your looking for really perfect images and you are willing to pay the price then have a look at Macro Lenses, but make sure you do your homework and get some advice from your local camera shop before you buy.
If you are doing a lot of your photography indoors such as macro or portrait shots getting enough light will always be a factor, however you can use the natural light from your windows and to help with this you can use a reflector which usually is usually circular and will have a gold side, a silver side & a white and is a great way of reflecting that natural light back onto your subject, yes you guessed it, available from our good friends at Ebay! Also for those Macro shots an LED torch is a great way to illuminate a subject.
I find taking shots indoors a particular problem for my unsteady hands and with the longer shutter speeds is almost impossible to avoid a little camera shake! to combat this, other than using a tripod, I use books, boxes and various other household items to prop up my camera however if you are going to do this please make sure your camera is stable! I also use a wireless remote control which I purchased for £5 on ebay to completely eradicate camera shake.
When it comes to using flash the pop up flash, although you can cut the power to 1/32 in the manual settings, can be harsh and unforgiving especially when taking shots of people, therefore if you are going to use flash you are better off using a flashgun or seperate flash. There are various makes of flashgun, your camera manufacturer will have a selection or there are other manufacturers who have cheaper versions one offer.
So what about backgrounds? again this doesn't have to be something that costs an arm and a leg, clean white sheets are something a lot of portrait photographers always have with them when the are shooting at peoples houses but if your just looking for something for smaller items visit your local craft shop or stationary shop, large sheets of white or even coloured card work just as well and at a very small cost.
There is so much accessories available I have barely scratched the surface but the point I am trying to make is Photography isnt a hobby that has to break the bank, if you are willing to buy second hand or something that is not top of the range. However that said if you are going to buy things second hand or off the net, make sure you check the reviews or feedback rating before you do just to be on the safe side!
In : Equipement