The most important thing anyone can do, not just in photography, but with any art or talent is to practice. You can't become a good photographer fro reading blogs, manuals or watching YouTube videos. It doesn't even matter how much money you spend on your gear. The only way to improve your craft is by taking pictures, and trying different things.
It is also important that you don't use the automatic settings. For a new photographer, I think it is important to understand what the automatic settings are doing, and the way to understand this is to turn it off, and go in to manual mode. Think of an airline pilot, just because the plane is outfitted with an autopilot, you would still expect the pilot to know how to fly without it.
Modern dSLR's have many different settings and built-in setups. I recommend not using these and go in to full manual mode. Then as you learn what works for you, choose a semi automatic mode that will work for the type of shots you are looking for.
I have stumbled across an awesome website called DIY Photography. It is packed full of interesting techniques to try, and neat set-ups that are all cheap to put together. Full instructions for setting up a fold-away studio at home (dual purpose rooms) and instructional videos and tutorials on how take take different kinds of pictures. Ever wondered how some of the product ads you see in magazines are photographed? Think its all post-production editing? Think again, using a little lighting trickery, and some regular household items you can recreate that professional look.
I recommend having a read through the site, and then try some of the techniques at home. It is amazing the kinds of things you can make happen on film (or digital).
So get out there and shoot! Don't let the camera control the shot, you are the boss!
Friday 29 July 2011
Tuesday 26 July 2011
A few must have accessories for the new Photographer
Okay, so after my initial investment in a decent Camera, I have come to realize there are a few essentials bits and pieces an amateur should outfit himself with.
1. A decent camera/accessory bag. This is fairly obvious, you accumulate lenses, flashes, batteries, memory cards, light meters, lens cleaners, etc, etc. None of these things are much good if they are sitting at home in a sock drawer. Invest in a decent size bag to take these things with you. The bag also gives your camera a home to live in, and provided much needed protection. Where I bought my camera they had a deal on a bag that came with a spare battery for my camera (another much needed accssory). The kit was almost the same price as a spare battery alone, which made it very attractive.
2. A spare battery and charger. Some cameras come with a charger, and some don't. Obviously, if your camera takes AA batteries this isn't as important. However, do you really want to be spending boat loads of money an disposable batteries? My camera came with a battery and a charger, so my purchase of a camera bag/spare battery combo kit was perfect. You can spend a day taking hundreds of pictures, and all you will remember is the shot you missed after your battery died.
3. A Tri-Pod. I didn't think I needed or wanted a tri-pod when I bought my camera, after spending some time shooting I realized I do really need one. For low light shots you can achieve a much lower ISO for crisp shots, and save yourself a few stops in aperature/shutter speed (you read those links I posted earlier. Right?). A Tri-Pod allows you to use a slower shutter speed to capture movement, while preserving a crisp background (like a motion blurred waterfall). It will also allow you to capture crisp landscapes and portraits in less-than-ideal light conditions. Remember, the lower the ISO (film speed) you can use, the more crisp and clear the picture. Last but not least, if you are like me, you have hundreds of pictures of your friends and family but you are in none of them. A camera mounted on a tripod with a self timed shutter (or remote shutter) allows you to be part of your art.
Tri-Pods vary as much, and can cost as much (or more) than your camera. I decided to go with an entry level tri-pod with a quick release camera mount. The quick release plate attaches to your camera, and snaps on to the tri-pod. With the click of a lever the camera pops off, instead of having to tighten a bolt each time.. This saves your camera and your tri-pod from wear and tear, and since its easy to attach/detach you will use the tri-pod more... in my life when a convience turns in to a chore, im less prone to doing it. Tri-pods come in various types, sizes and styles.. and the pros and cons of the different styles are beyond me, so do some research. Don't buy the cheapest thing you find, remember you are trusting this thing to hold up your camera. I would hate to see a thousand dollars worth of camera gear smash to the ground because of a 20 dollar tri-pod.
4. Mounted/Remote Flash. Many cameras come with a built in flash, often these flashes are only good for a few meters, and are always direct on, facing yoru subject. This often leads to crisp shadows, and washout. While a lot can be done with built-in flashes, and mounted flash can be pointed up to give you light bounce (which will diffuse the flash and soften the shadow). The Canon speedlight system is very cool, as you can mount the flash to the camera, or have it off to the side or back of your subject (wirelesss). This allows to you position the shadows in your shot to give depth to you subject. Obviously, the scope of lighting a subject spans more than I can cover in a paragraph, but I can tell already I want a flash that can operate remotely. Combine a remote flash with the camera's built in flash, and its amazing the quality of shot that can be had. External flashes (mounted or remote) also have the benefit of travelling farther. Being able to flash a subject from 21 feet away has its obvious benefits, especially when using a telephoto lense.
5. Lens protectors. You can spend anywhere from hundreds of dollars, to thousands of dollars on a particular lense. These are precision optical devices, with special coated glass to prevent glare and give you the optimal focus and light. For around 20 or 30 dollars you can get lense filters that screw on to the end of the lense to give different effects. In the digital world, most of these effects can be done after the fact with photo editing software, or even the camera itself. Enter the clear "filter", it screws on to the end of your lense, and doesn't effect the picture at all. It's sole purpose is to protect the expensive glass of the lense.. now dust wont get to it, and you dont risk the coating if you are cleaning it. It will prevent chips and scratches that may occur in the wild. Consider this, you are taking a picture of your child in the driveway with his hockey stick, you want to capture some motion to you have him swing thes tick, he catches a stone and SMACK, right in the lense. It may seem like a far-out possibility, but Murphy's law states, anything you think can't happen, will happen. So for the few bucks it takes to attach one of these to each of your lenses makes sense. Now, if my lense gets hit with a stone, I replace the protection filter, instead of incurring a costly repair (or replacement).
Thats it for now, for the purpose of full disclosure. I have purchased everything on this list except for the Flash. My budget just won't allow for it at this point. Unless I become a superstar photographer tonight, or blogs start generating large amounts of money, it will be a while before I purchase one. Doesn't mean I don't see the value in one. Who knows, maybe Santa Clause will read this.
Till next time, keep shooting.
1. A decent camera/accessory bag. This is fairly obvious, you accumulate lenses, flashes, batteries, memory cards, light meters, lens cleaners, etc, etc. None of these things are much good if they are sitting at home in a sock drawer. Invest in a decent size bag to take these things with you. The bag also gives your camera a home to live in, and provided much needed protection. Where I bought my camera they had a deal on a bag that came with a spare battery for my camera (another much needed accssory). The kit was almost the same price as a spare battery alone, which made it very attractive.
2. A spare battery and charger. Some cameras come with a charger, and some don't. Obviously, if your camera takes AA batteries this isn't as important. However, do you really want to be spending boat loads of money an disposable batteries? My camera came with a battery and a charger, so my purchase of a camera bag/spare battery combo kit was perfect. You can spend a day taking hundreds of pictures, and all you will remember is the shot you missed after your battery died.
3. A Tri-Pod. I didn't think I needed or wanted a tri-pod when I bought my camera, after spending some time shooting I realized I do really need one. For low light shots you can achieve a much lower ISO for crisp shots, and save yourself a few stops in aperature/shutter speed (you read those links I posted earlier. Right?). A Tri-Pod allows you to use a slower shutter speed to capture movement, while preserving a crisp background (like a motion blurred waterfall). It will also allow you to capture crisp landscapes and portraits in less-than-ideal light conditions. Remember, the lower the ISO (film speed) you can use, the more crisp and clear the picture. Last but not least, if you are like me, you have hundreds of pictures of your friends and family but you are in none of them. A camera mounted on a tripod with a self timed shutter (or remote shutter) allows you to be part of your art.
Tri-Pods vary as much, and can cost as much (or more) than your camera. I decided to go with an entry level tri-pod with a quick release camera mount. The quick release plate attaches to your camera, and snaps on to the tri-pod. With the click of a lever the camera pops off, instead of having to tighten a bolt each time.. This saves your camera and your tri-pod from wear and tear, and since its easy to attach/detach you will use the tri-pod more... in my life when a convience turns in to a chore, im less prone to doing it. Tri-pods come in various types, sizes and styles.. and the pros and cons of the different styles are beyond me, so do some research. Don't buy the cheapest thing you find, remember you are trusting this thing to hold up your camera. I would hate to see a thousand dollars worth of camera gear smash to the ground because of a 20 dollar tri-pod.
4. Mounted/Remote Flash. Many cameras come with a built in flash, often these flashes are only good for a few meters, and are always direct on, facing yoru subject. This often leads to crisp shadows, and washout. While a lot can be done with built-in flashes, and mounted flash can be pointed up to give you light bounce (which will diffuse the flash and soften the shadow). The Canon speedlight system is very cool, as you can mount the flash to the camera, or have it off to the side or back of your subject (wirelesss). This allows to you position the shadows in your shot to give depth to you subject. Obviously, the scope of lighting a subject spans more than I can cover in a paragraph, but I can tell already I want a flash that can operate remotely. Combine a remote flash with the camera's built in flash, and its amazing the quality of shot that can be had. External flashes (mounted or remote) also have the benefit of travelling farther. Being able to flash a subject from 21 feet away has its obvious benefits, especially when using a telephoto lense.
5. Lens protectors. You can spend anywhere from hundreds of dollars, to thousands of dollars on a particular lense. These are precision optical devices, with special coated glass to prevent glare and give you the optimal focus and light. For around 20 or 30 dollars you can get lense filters that screw on to the end of the lense to give different effects. In the digital world, most of these effects can be done after the fact with photo editing software, or even the camera itself. Enter the clear "filter", it screws on to the end of your lense, and doesn't effect the picture at all. It's sole purpose is to protect the expensive glass of the lense.. now dust wont get to it, and you dont risk the coating if you are cleaning it. It will prevent chips and scratches that may occur in the wild. Consider this, you are taking a picture of your child in the driveway with his hockey stick, you want to capture some motion to you have him swing thes tick, he catches a stone and SMACK, right in the lense. It may seem like a far-out possibility, but Murphy's law states, anything you think can't happen, will happen. So for the few bucks it takes to attach one of these to each of your lenses makes sense. Now, if my lense gets hit with a stone, I replace the protection filter, instead of incurring a costly repair (or replacement).
Thats it for now, for the purpose of full disclosure. I have purchased everything on this list except for the Flash. My budget just won't allow for it at this point. Unless I become a superstar photographer tonight, or blogs start generating large amounts of money, it will be a while before I purchase one. Doesn't mean I don't see the value in one. Who knows, maybe Santa Clause will read this.
Till next time, keep shooting.
Friday 22 July 2011
Finding the proper exposure.
In order to use the manual mode on any SLR Camera, digital, or film. It is very important to get the correct exposure.
I have found the following cheat sheet on the internet. http://www.woodshirecreations.com/Download/EV%20Exposure%20Cheatsheet.pdf
At fisrt glance, it looks very complicated, but once you understand how to use it, its basically a 1-2-3.
First use table 1 to find the lighting conditions you are shooting in, slide your finger across to the ISO you want to expose and get your LV number.
Using the LV compensation chart for your ISO, find the adjustment number. Since all the LV numbers are described using ISO100. Add the comensation to the LV number.
Then using the chart find your result.
For example:
Lets say I am shooting just before sunset, and want to expose an ISO200.
I use "EV Table 1" to find my conditions, and ISO, where the two lines intesect I get 15.
Using the ISO adjustment tool I see that ISO200 has an adjustment of 1. 15+1 = 16.
Using the "EV Table", I find 16 in the table and see what F-Stop and Shutter speed to use. Note that 16 apears in the table many times, actually in a diagonal. This is because Shutter Speed and Aperature are scaled by halves and doubles.. So when you go up one F Stop, you go down one shutter speed and you get the same exposure.
I've seen this explained with the analogy of filling a bucket with water. Pretend the bucket is the film, the water is the light. You can turn the tap on just a little bit and fill the bucket slowly, or you can turn the tap on full and fill the bucket quickly. In this analogy the time it takes to fill the bucket is the shutter speed, and the opening in the tap is the F Stop. If I close the tap half way, it takes twice as long to fill the bucket.
This table makes it easy to get the shot you want, for example, lets say i want to freeze the action in the shot, and I want to use the fastest shutter speed I can. This chart goes to 1/8000 of a second. I look under 8000 and find 16, I slide over and see I need an F Stop of 2.8 to achieve that exposure.
I have found the following cheat sheet on the internet. http://www.woodshirecreations.com/Download/EV%20Exposure%20Cheatsheet.pdf
At fisrt glance, it looks very complicated, but once you understand how to use it, its basically a 1-2-3.
First use table 1 to find the lighting conditions you are shooting in, slide your finger across to the ISO you want to expose and get your LV number.
Using the LV compensation chart for your ISO, find the adjustment number. Since all the LV numbers are described using ISO100. Add the comensation to the LV number.
Then using the chart find your result.
For example:
Lets say I am shooting just before sunset, and want to expose an ISO200.
I use "EV Table 1" to find my conditions, and ISO, where the two lines intesect I get 15.
Using the ISO adjustment tool I see that ISO200 has an adjustment of 1. 15+1 = 16.
Using the "EV Table", I find 16 in the table and see what F-Stop and Shutter speed to use. Note that 16 apears in the table many times, actually in a diagonal. This is because Shutter Speed and Aperature are scaled by halves and doubles.. So when you go up one F Stop, you go down one shutter speed and you get the same exposure.
I've seen this explained with the analogy of filling a bucket with water. Pretend the bucket is the film, the water is the light. You can turn the tap on just a little bit and fill the bucket slowly, or you can turn the tap on full and fill the bucket quickly. In this analogy the time it takes to fill the bucket is the shutter speed, and the opening in the tap is the F Stop. If I close the tap half way, it takes twice as long to fill the bucket.
This table makes it easy to get the shot you want, for example, lets say i want to freeze the action in the shot, and I want to use the fastest shutter speed I can. This chart goes to 1/8000 of a second. I look under 8000 and find 16, I slide over and see I need an F Stop of 2.8 to achieve that exposure.
Thursday 21 July 2011
Learning the basics of photography.
Since it's been years since I have studied photograpy, I decided to scour the net and brush up on some of the basics. When I say basics, I mean, probably the most import elements of photography.
The two most important things in photography is shutter speed and aperature size. Shutter speed is a measure of how long the film (or sensor) is exposed to light, while aperature size is the amount of light allowed to pass through the lense.
Aperature size is expressed in F/Stops, while shutter speed is expressed in fractions of a second. I understand the importance of these, as changing the aperature size changes yoru depth of field, while shutter speeds allow you to show motion, or freeze time, in the photo.
I could explain in depth (and possibly misinform you), but it makes a lot more sense for me to direct you to this link http://www.uscoles.com/fstop.htm. The author has a given us a well written, in depth explanation of F/Stop. Probably more information that you will ever need, but it is important information... as the F/Stop - Shutter Speed is the most important ratio in photography.
Unfortunately I have been under the weather, and we are in the middle of the hottest heat wave this region has ever seen. So I have not spent a lot of time outside with the camera. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get outside and take a lot of pictures to show how Shutter Speed and Aperature size change the way a picture looks.
The two most important things in photography is shutter speed and aperature size. Shutter speed is a measure of how long the film (or sensor) is exposed to light, while aperature size is the amount of light allowed to pass through the lense.
Aperature size is expressed in F/Stops, while shutter speed is expressed in fractions of a second. I understand the importance of these, as changing the aperature size changes yoru depth of field, while shutter speeds allow you to show motion, or freeze time, in the photo.
I could explain in depth (and possibly misinform you), but it makes a lot more sense for me to direct you to this link http://www.uscoles.com/fstop.htm. The author has a given us a well written, in depth explanation of F/Stop. Probably more information that you will ever need, but it is important information... as the F/Stop - Shutter Speed is the most important ratio in photography.
Unfortunately I have been under the weather, and we are in the middle of the hottest heat wave this region has ever seen. So I have not spent a lot of time outside with the camera. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get outside and take a lot of pictures to show how Shutter Speed and Aperature size change the way a picture looks.
Wednesday 20 July 2011
Welcome to CapturedByPixels
Hello, and thanks for visiting this page.
I have created this blog to showcase and document my experiences with digital photography. I am by definition an amateur photographer at this point.
I have always had an interest in photography, during college I had taken a few photography courses in order to learn the terminology and techniques used in field. Back then, digital photography was in its infancy, there were SLR digital cameras available, but cost was prohibitive. I had learned a great deal about 35mm photography, how to set up the camera for a shot and have it turn out the way I wanted it to.
In this new age of digital photography, the photographer has instant feedback, and the camera is smart enough to do a lot of the work (if you let it). The problem with this is, the art of setting up the camera and creating the shot is left in the dust. Why bother with an expensive and intricate camera if all you plan to do is point and shoot in automatic mode.
My intention with this blog is to allow readers to follow along with me as I re-learn the ins and outs of photography, specifically digital photography.
Yesterday my wife and I purchased a Canon T3i DSLR camera, with a macro and a telephoto lense. So far I am in love with this camera. It shoots at 12 megapixel, and from the few shots I have so far taken, it has exceeded my expectations.
Thanks for checking this page out, and come back shortly to see some of my first pictures with this camera, and get an explanation of how I achieved the shot.
Bye for now
I have created this blog to showcase and document my experiences with digital photography. I am by definition an amateur photographer at this point.
I have always had an interest in photography, during college I had taken a few photography courses in order to learn the terminology and techniques used in field. Back then, digital photography was in its infancy, there were SLR digital cameras available, but cost was prohibitive. I had learned a great deal about 35mm photography, how to set up the camera for a shot and have it turn out the way I wanted it to.
In this new age of digital photography, the photographer has instant feedback, and the camera is smart enough to do a lot of the work (if you let it). The problem with this is, the art of setting up the camera and creating the shot is left in the dust. Why bother with an expensive and intricate camera if all you plan to do is point and shoot in automatic mode.
My intention with this blog is to allow readers to follow along with me as I re-learn the ins and outs of photography, specifically digital photography.
Yesterday my wife and I purchased a Canon T3i DSLR camera, with a macro and a telephoto lense. So far I am in love with this camera. It shoots at 12 megapixel, and from the few shots I have so far taken, it has exceeded my expectations.
Thanks for checking this page out, and come back shortly to see some of my first pictures with this camera, and get an explanation of how I achieved the shot.
Bye for now
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