It’s been a busy day, and it was only after we’d had our evening meal that I remembered it was day 4. Oops. No natural light left.

So I ran through the day, thinking about the events, and visualising all the things that I’d done. I remembered one item particularly, as it was particularly graphically strong.

My son has reached the age where he wants to copy us, and use the wash basin to clean his hands. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet reached the height where he can get his hands into the basin, so we bought him a foot stool to stand on.

It is covered in rubber ‘pimples’ to help his little feet grip, which have a great texture.

I used a tripod and lit it from the side with a desk lamp.

Today we went to the local park, which is the grounds of a grand old house. Along with a local running club and dogs and their owners enjoying the spring sunshine, these shadows across the path from the trees caught my eye.

I thought this worked best as a black and white version, and converted it in Aperture.

Today I let it relax in the spring sunshine.

My son’s bathtime toy, Elmer the elephant, floats forlornly, his work done.

Why take a photo a day?

It sounds a big commitment, to take a photo every day. So what can you get out of it?

1. Photos are a great way to jog your memory.

While big events stick in our heads, the smaller details slip by us. Do you remember what that person looked like that you had a great conversation with on the train? How about the day your child discovered that kicking leaves in the park was so much fun? How great would it be to be able to look back in the future and remember all those moments in time?

2. You will be a better photographer as a result.

Henri Cartier-Bresson said “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst”. You’ll get to use your camera more, and it will become instinctive to use, rather than a piece of equipment at the end of your arm. You’ll stretch yourself and take photographs you wouldn’t normally take.

Some tips to help you take a photo a day

1. Don’t underestimate the commitment

Taking a photo a day is more of a challenge than you may think. If you go into it without realising what you are getting into, it may become stressful keeping up. That’s the last thing you want. Taking photos is is fun.

2. Quality or quantity? Quality and quantity?

When I go out ‘to photograph’, I can end up in a mind-set that is trying to achieve perfection (whatever that is!). If I have lots of time on my hands I will spend it looking at the subject of my shoot, getting a feel for the place, thinking through various compositions. I love the process, it gives me time and space to think. However, I have a full-time non-photographic job and a young family, so I’ve had to adapt my photography. If you are trying to fit in time for this every day, you will need to think on your feet, and react to the moment. This can end up improving your eye. I find I am thinking about composition all the time I am on this project, subconsciously framing things in my minds eye. Remember: sometimes a photo is better than no photo at all.

3. The best camera is the one you have with you

Up until recently, you could have called me ‘traditional’ when it came to my photography. At the very least photography meant taking my DSLR with me. Maybe even a backpack with lenses, filters, etc. I came to realise I was missing a lot of good shots, simply because I didn’t carry all that gear with me all the time. There are some great compact cameras available now, with pretty impressive image quality. I bought a Panasonic -GF1 recently, and its portability has meant I take it with me nearly all of the time (check out our Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 resources page for more info). Do you have a mobile ‘phone? You can take some creative ‘photos with these, and most importantly, it’s probably with you right now.

4. Try something new

It’s the creative side of photography that gets me excited when I pick up my camera. But it’s all too easy to find a subject matter or style you feel comfortable with, and stick to it. I’ve got stuck in a rut with this myself, on more than one occasion. It’s going to be hard sustaining your project if you have to find something fresh that’s within your zone of comfort every day. Take up the challenge and do something different – it could spark off a whole new direction for you!

5. There’s always macros

Inevitably, there will be days when the weather keeps you indoors. Days when you’ve eaten supper, put the kids to bed, and realised you haven’t got today’s shot. Don’t give up! Macro photography can save the day for you. There are so many interesting details in everyday objects around the home – get in close and show us a new angle. Arrange some lamps to light it in an interesting way. Showing a small part of something in an abstract way can really get people wondering what your photo is.

6. Tell your story

There’s more to your photo than just the image. Why did you take it? Where were you? How did it form part of your day? We all like to know the story behind the photo.

7. Keep on going

There will be days when you think there’s nothing new to photograph, and your creative juices have run dry. Rubbish! Go for a short walk, the world is on your doorstep. You can find something to inspire you. Have you walked down all the street in your neighbourhood yet? How about near work? Is there something interesting in a box in the loft or basement? Is anyone visiting today – you could try a portrait.

8. Share your photos, share your passion

Photos are for looking at, don’t just leave them on your computer. If you have a blog, post them there. If not, take a look at sites like Flickr and 365 Project. They let you share your photos for free, and make new contacts – you can give each other encouragement, inspire one another with your ideas. There is even a group dedicated to this at Flickr 365 project.

See Photo-a-day project – day 1 for my first photo in my own project.

Have you got a photo-a-day project? Leave us a comment so we can look at it.

Exposure compensation is your friend

Your camera expects the average exposure of your photo to be 18% grey, so when faced with a lot of really bright, white snow, it under-exposes by 1 – 2 stops, to bring the overall exposure back to what it expects.

To correct for the sensor under-exposing, use your exposure compensation control, to over-expose the scene by 1 – 2 stops, and your snow will come out looking white, instead of a dull grey.

Check the picture and histogram once you’ve taken the shot, to see if you have got it right.

If your camera has exposure bracketing, you may want to turn this on, so that you get a shot both over and under-exposed, either side of your settings.

I would always recommend shooting in RAW mode too – you can do a certain amount of exposure compensation back on your computer. But always try to get it right in camera, if possible.

Snow scene shot using evaluative metering and no exposure compensation

Snow scene shot using evaluative metering and +1 ev exposure compensation

White Balance

If you have set your camera to use auto white balance, then your snow may have a blue color cast to it when you view the image. This is caused by the snow reflecting the sky.

To correct this, you need to set the correct white balance for your conditions. You can do this either by choosing a fixed setting that your camera provides (such as “sunny” or “cloudy”), or by setting a custom white balance. This is usually done by taking a photograph of the snow, so that the color that should be white takes up most of the central area of the image, then choosing “custom white balance” from the camera’s menu system and choosing the photo you have just taken (check your camera manual for the exact procedure on your model).

The camera now knows that the snow should be white, and sets the white balance accordingly.

If you didn’t set your camera up with the correct white balance, don’t panic! As long as you shot in RAW, you can change the white balance in a program such as Photoshop. You will be able to pick from a list of preset values (again, “sunny”, “cloudy”, etc.) or use a color-picker tool (an eye-drop shaped icon) in the white balance settings to pick the snow as your white point.

Snow photo using auto white balance - notice the blue color cast

Snow photo with the white balance corrected - no blue color cast!

Take spares with you

Batteries hold their charge less well when they are cold, so make sure you take spares with you, as your normal setup will run out of juice more quickly.

Keep your batteries warm

Batteries work better when they are kept warm, so keep your spares, and even your camera, if possible, near to your body in pockets, rather than in a bag.

You get what you pay for

Ever wondered why the manufacturer’s battery pack costs more than the 3rd-party copies? I always find the camera maker’s branded packs last longer than the cheaper alternatives, even if they are meant to be equivalent.

Get the highest rating you can afford

When it comes to items that use standard NiMH rechargeable batteries (AAs or AAAs), check the charge rating of the battery, which is given in mAh. These can range from low (750 mAh) to high (2400 mAh or more). The bigger the rating, the more charge they will hold. I use 2400 mAh batteries in my flash gun – anything less gets drained in no time.

Don’t charge up your batteries, then leave them in a drawer for months

Batteries lose their charge over time. Make sure you charge them up the night before you go on a shoot, or you’ll find they don’t last as long as you expected.

Got any more tips for keeping going in the cold? Let us know with a comment!

Copyright – the law is behind you

What is copyright?

Copyright was invented to protect the creators of artistic works from their work being exploited by others. This is so that you can earn a living (if you wish) from your work. Copyright is there to prevent others from copying or reproducing your photos, displaying them in public or making derived works from them (e.g. using your photo in a collage, or making a painting from them). Most countries recognise copyright under local law in a broadly similar way.

As the original author of the work, you can assign the copyright to someone else, but this must be done in writing.

Copyright exists for 70 years after the death of the author.

It’s worth noting that if you took a photograph as part of your employment for someone else, that your employer holds the copyright to the photograph, not you.

How do I copyright my photos?

Firstly, it’s important to realise that you automatically own the copyright to every photograph you take. You don’t have to use the © symbol or watermark your images in order to have the copyright to an image. The problem comes when you get into a dispute and need to prove that you are the creator of the photo.

How do I prove that I created the photo?

You publish a photo on the internet and someone copies it and uses it for their own means. In this digital world, the copy is exactly the same as the original that you published online. How do you prove that yours is the original?

The answer could be easier than you thought. If you take your photographs using RAW format, and keep the originals, that is. Assuming you published a jpeg of your photograph, and that is what the thief has too, you can show that it could have been created from the RAW photograph (which only you have), but that the RAW photograph could not have been created from the jpeg.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.

They provide free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry.

You will probably have come across Creative Commons if you use photo-sharing web sites like Flickr. The Creative Commons licenses are clearly and simply worded so that anyone should understand if and how they can use your photographs.

The license covers three areas – whether anyone using the photo must give attribution (mention you and link back), commercialization (can your image be used commercially) and derivation (can your image be used in another work). A common combination is Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works i.e. Someone may display your photo if they mention you and link back to the original image or your website, cannot use it for commercial puposes, and cannot base a new work on your photo. You can use the tools on the Creative Commons website to make a badge that summarises this, which for our example would look like this:-

This also automatically links back to the full license with a straightforward explanation.

You can access the Creative Commons licenses and tools at http://creativecommons.org/.

How do I find where my photos have been copied?

It’s very difficult to find your photographs on the internet, but not impossible. If someone has been silly enough to leave the file name the same, you can search for it using Google. Google have also launched a similar images feature in Google Images. If you can find your photograph on there, there may be a ‘Find similar images’ link under it, which will display (you’ve guessed it) similar images. Google images is at http://images.google.com.

Tin Eye is a reverse image search engine. You can upload the image you are looking for (or supply the URL of the web page where it is displayed), and it will look for similar images online. Tin Eye did a good job of identifying a test image I uploaded, but they admit that they only have a small part of the web searched at the moment. Tin Eye can be found at http://www.tineye.com/.