9 creative photo ideas to try in November

As part of our ongoing series to help you get more creative with your digital camera, each month we publish some fun, seasonal, creative photo ideas to help inspire your imagination.

Along with some amazing images, we’ve also provided some quick photography tips by both amateur and professional photographers who are experts in these fields.

We’re kicking off November with 9 fresh and creative ideas to try, from vibrant doors to focus-stacked fireworks.

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Photo ideas for November: 01 Photograph birds in flight

Looking for an outdoor challenge to keep yourself occupied this month? Try your hand at shooting birds in aerial action.

Wildlife pro Ben Hall shot this barn owl while leading a bird of prey workshop in the Czech Republic. “Although the owl is a captive one, it still took some planning to make sure the bird was hovering in the correct position,” reveals Ben.

“My aim was to make the most of the beautiful backlighting, so we positioned a stump in some long grass where the background was in deep shadow. A professional falconer then flew the owl from a distance of 10 feet. Before alighting on the stump, the owl would hover for several seconds.”

Ben set his Canon EOS-1D X to continuous autofocus and used the highest drive speed so that he could fire off a sequence of frames. He panned with the bird as it flew in, shooting from a low angle to include the diffused foreground grass.

“Using a fast enough shutter speed is vital in order to capture a sharp shot,” Ben adds. “The shutter speed will depend on a number of factors, such as the lens and type of support used, as well as the speed of the subject. As a rule of thumb, try at least 1/800 sec, but go faster if needed by boosting the ISO.”

How to get sharp results
A monopod gives flexible support that’s perfect for panning. Rather than attaching the camera to the monopd, attach the lens’s tripod foot instead, and activate the panning mode on an image-stabilised lens.

Stand square to the backdrop you want to shoot the bird against, and twist to follow the bird towards and away from this point.

SEE MORE: Photographing birds in flight: how to set up and mistakes to avoid

Photo ideas for November: 02 Take faceless portraits

Tim Booth’s new book A Show of Hands is the perfect injection of inspiration if you’re looking to take your portraits in a new direction.

The book features more than 95 images from his long-term project to photograph the hands of well-known and talented people from all over the UK, including Terry Gilliam (top), Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.

It’s one of those projects that anyone can try – indeed, many have – but setting yourself some ground rules can help to keep you creative and motivated.

For instance, Tim shot all the images in natural light and spent a maximum of half an hour with each subject. The black-and-white treatment brings consistency to the collection, as well as being aesthetically pleasing.

Tim hasn’t just focused on the famous. He’s equally as happy photographing the hands of a zoo keeper or a dry stone-waller as he is a film star. For your project, make a list of occupations that involve heavy manual labour and start from there…

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Photo ideas for November: 03 Focus-rack a firework photo

Racking focus uses a similar technique to a zoom burst. The idea is to focus the lens at the distance fireworks are set to explode, and as they do so, twist the focus ring to take the shot out of focus.

The result is a much fuller-looking burst. You can create a different effect by doing it in reverse, although you’ll need to be able to see the ‘in-focus’ distance on the lens barrel as you do so.

Bryan Carnathan used a Canon EOS 5Ds R and a 24-70mm lens to capture this striking shot. “Because of the high resolution provided by the camera, I was able to crop deep into images to pull sections of interest from most of them.”

How to rack the focus
Set the lens to MF. Start the exposure as the firework explodes, turning the focus ring until the burst dies, then stop the exposure.

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