Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Assignment 2 - Portrait Mode
Hi, below are my exercises that I took in Portrait Mode with my DSLR. I took them at my mother's house on the weekend. She has a couple of bird feeders and these guys are really busy first thing in the morning.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Lesson 2 - Aperture
Hi Girls,
Here we go with lesson 2… One of the most popular questions has been about aperture and f stops. This goes hand in hand with the shutter speed to dictate how much light reaches the film or sensor. We’ll cover shutter speeds later.
Aperture:
The opening of the lens is like the pupil in your eye… if you look in the mirror in low light, your pupil will be dilated (wide open). If you then turn the light on quickly, your pupil will quickly close down to a small opening. This is your eye on auto mode controlling how much light is entering the eye. The same is true for the lens of a camera… the larger the opening is, the more light it lets in and the smaller the opening, the less light it lets in. The aperture itself is made up of several overlapping metal blades that work together to increase the size of the opening or decrease it. There are several size openings called “f stops”. The most common ones are f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, and f/22.
The part of this that can be sometimes confusing is the fact that the smaller the f/number, the larger the opening in the lens… f/2 is very large opening where f/22 is a very tiny opening. If you can think of it in terms of fractions, 1/8 is larger than 1/16, then f/8 is a larger opening than f/16.
Every time you move from one f/stop to another, you either double or cut in half the amount of light that you have entering your lens. For example, if you change from f/11 to f/16, you just cut your light in half, and then to f/22 in half again… this is not as completely dramatic as it sounds (use the shutter speed with the change in aperture and you can completely control your light).
Now, here is the really neat part about aperture… it really affects the way the picture looks in the end. With the smaller numbered apertures (larger opening), you get a blurred background. With the larger numbered apertures (smaller opening), you get a more clear background.
When you see a close up picture with only a small section in focus (macro photography), then the photographer used probably f/2 or f/2.8. When you see the really nice landscape shots with everything in focus, the photographer probably used f/16 or f/22. Everything else sort of falls in the middle depending on how blurred or clear the background is.
Mastering Auto Modes:
We are going master the auto modes first and work our way to the manual modes. This week, we are going to take a look at Portrait Mode. When you put your dial on portrait mode, you are telling your camera that you want to use one of the small numbered f/stops (which is a large opening which makes the background blurry). Your camera will probably choose anything from f/2 (if the lens is capable) up to f/4 or f/5.6. It won’t choose f/11, f/16, or f/22 because this will make the background clear which is used in landscape mode (we’ll cover that one later). I think that the really small numbered f/stops like f/1.8 or f/2 are used in macro photography (looks like you used a magnifying glass to take the picture).
So, for this week, choose portrait mode and see how your camera reacts (if you are not sure which one on your dial is portrait mode, check your manual – mine is the profile of the lady – Nikon camera). If you are working in lower light, the camera will also choose to use a slower shutter speed… don’t be surprised by this. If the camera decides to keep the shutter open longer than you expected, you will probably get “camera shake”. Just use a tripod or place on a table or something to stabilize it. We’ll cover shutter speeds a little later. For now though we are trying to get a clear subject and a blurred background. This represents the lower end of the aperture scale.
Have fun with your portraits this week… remember, anything can be taken in portrait mode… not just people. It’s just more of a close up and blurred background.
Reminder: All lessons will be reposted on the first page of the thread so they are easy to find. ;)
Here we go with lesson 2… One of the most popular questions has been about aperture and f stops. This goes hand in hand with the shutter speed to dictate how much light reaches the film or sensor. We’ll cover shutter speeds later.
Aperture:
The opening of the lens is like the pupil in your eye… if you look in the mirror in low light, your pupil will be dilated (wide open). If you then turn the light on quickly, your pupil will quickly close down to a small opening. This is your eye on auto mode controlling how much light is entering the eye. The same is true for the lens of a camera… the larger the opening is, the more light it lets in and the smaller the opening, the less light it lets in. The aperture itself is made up of several overlapping metal blades that work together to increase the size of the opening or decrease it. There are several size openings called “f stops”. The most common ones are f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, and f/22.
The part of this that can be sometimes confusing is the fact that the smaller the f/number, the larger the opening in the lens… f/2 is very large opening where f/22 is a very tiny opening. If you can think of it in terms of fractions, 1/8 is larger than 1/16, then f/8 is a larger opening than f/16.
Every time you move from one f/stop to another, you either double or cut in half the amount of light that you have entering your lens. For example, if you change from f/11 to f/16, you just cut your light in half, and then to f/22 in half again… this is not as completely dramatic as it sounds (use the shutter speed with the change in aperture and you can completely control your light).
Now, here is the really neat part about aperture… it really affects the way the picture looks in the end. With the smaller numbered apertures (larger opening), you get a blurred background. With the larger numbered apertures (smaller opening), you get a more clear background.
When you see a close up picture with only a small section in focus (macro photography), then the photographer used probably f/2 or f/2.8. When you see the really nice landscape shots with everything in focus, the photographer probably used f/16 or f/22. Everything else sort of falls in the middle depending on how blurred or clear the background is.
Mastering Auto Modes:
We are going master the auto modes first and work our way to the manual modes. This week, we are going to take a look at Portrait Mode. When you put your dial on portrait mode, you are telling your camera that you want to use one of the small numbered f/stops (which is a large opening which makes the background blurry). Your camera will probably choose anything from f/2 (if the lens is capable) up to f/4 or f/5.6. It won’t choose f/11, f/16, or f/22 because this will make the background clear which is used in landscape mode (we’ll cover that one later). I think that the really small numbered f/stops like f/1.8 or f/2 are used in macro photography (looks like you used a magnifying glass to take the picture).
So, for this week, choose portrait mode and see how your camera reacts (if you are not sure which one on your dial is portrait mode, check your manual – mine is the profile of the lady – Nikon camera). If you are working in lower light, the camera will also choose to use a slower shutter speed… don’t be surprised by this. If the camera decides to keep the shutter open longer than you expected, you will probably get “camera shake”. Just use a tripod or place on a table or something to stabilize it. We’ll cover shutter speeds a little later. For now though we are trying to get a clear subject and a blurred background. This represents the lower end of the aperture scale.
Have fun with your portraits this week… remember, anything can be taken in portrait mode… not just people. It’s just more of a close up and blurred background.
Reminder: All lessons will be reposted on the first page of the thread so they are easy to find. ;)
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Assignment 1 - Lighting (Archived Photos)
Hi, I just thought I would post a variety of different lighting situations that I have come across in the past. Maybe one or two of these ideas might be useful to someone else too. Thanks for taking a peak. ;o)
Sandie
Sandie
This one was fun and a little surprising to me... I walked out my front door at 6:30am to head to the wharf to take pictures and looked up my street... it was all foggy. I took a quick snap and realized it was recording as red. So, I set up my tripod and took some still photos. Who would have thought that street lights in early morning fog would come out red?
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Assignment 1 - Lighting
Hi everyone,
I took a few shots the other night of my ornaments on my tree to get a lighting effect.
Light source: Christmas Lights - night time.
I hope everyone is having fun with their assignment! See you back on the forum. ;)
Sandie
I took a few shots the other night of my ornaments on my tree to get a lighting effect.
Light source: Christmas Lights - night time.
I hope everyone is having fun with their assignment! See you back on the forum. ;)
Sandie
Lesson 1
EACH CAMERA IS DIFFERENTThe basics of an SLR camera are pretty much the same; however, the menu items in each different camera and the layout of where to find things from different brands can vary. Our first step for this week is to become familiar with our own personal cameras again. This way, when we refer to things down the road, we each know where to find them in our own personal camera. So, if you can find them… please dig out your original manual to your camera and do a quick review this week. Okay, that’s the dull part… here’s the fun part:
VIEWING LIGHT
Because a camera is based on light, this week whether you have your camera with you or not, we should try to observe different sources of light and how they fall on different subjects. Theoretically, whatever we see, we should be able to photograph. So, take note of what lighting situations you are drawn to, observe what the light source is, where it comes from, which angle and which way looking at it seems the most interesting. For example, my cat was laying on my bed yesterday and the sunlight was coming through the window. Because it was coming in at a 45 degree angle and hitting him from behind, it caused his fur to “glow” around the edges. This would be interesting to photograph. Also, there are many Christmas lights at night for this time of year… As you look at your tree or lights in the snow, think of different angles that would be interesting to photograph from. As sun peaks through trees and creates long shadows on the snow, think about why that’s interesting… the sun is low in the sky and makes longer lines than midday. All in all, try to observe light, the source, the angle, and why it appeared interesting… even if you don’t catch it on film. Then, feel free to report back and post what you saw. This is to practice seeing with the eyes of a photographer.
Before we get started…DISCLAIMER
As the person “leading” the group, I just want to say that all of my posts are solely my opinion on things that I have learned since I started and trying to pass on to other people. When we get into more technical stuff, I will try to either quote or link to somewhere that is a little more textbook on the subject. If I make any mistakes, kind corrections are more than welcome and I encourage anyone to pitch in on lessons as we progress. This is a learning process for all of us. None of us are “advanced”, and therefore are subject to learning from one another. Please be kind and encouraging to one another. And, everything that I make as suggestions on “lessons”, I will be doing myself as well. I will never ask you to do anything that I won’t be doing myself. Again, if you have any suggestions for future lessons, please PM me and I will add it to the list.And, with that said, let’s begin…
REASSURANCEI was reading through the posts and I noticed that a few of you mentioned that you thought that perhaps this was not a begginers section. I just want to reassure you completely that it is. I will appologize to anyone who is a little more advanced if this is a little slower than what you had hoped for, but we have lots of girlfriends here who are looking to master the basics. And, not to discourage those looking for more information and fun stuff. We will definitely be covering some pretty cool stuff - like "how to set up and get studio looking photos without equipment or money". I've fooled the best labs in town into thinking I have a studio and I don't. Or, "how to start your own photography business with little or no money". Etc... We will be covering composition, F stops, shutter speeds, low light, morning shots, night shots, back lighting a subject, photoshop tips and tricks (lots of those), etc... so, if you find what we are up to at the time a little slow, just check back in later for another subject. All subjects will be highlighted in red to make them easy to find. So, with that said, I think that since we are all here for the long run that a good pace to work at would be to cover a section per week and include practice time in that. What do you girls think?Someone also asked “what’s an SLR”… no worries… if you can change your lenses, then you have an SLR, if you can’t, then you have a point and shoot digital or film camera. And ladies, please feel free to ask any question. This is what this thread is for. “The only stupid question is one that wasn’t asked”.
STARTING YOUR BLOG:
I know that this might seem a little intimidating, but it really isn’t. Trust me… And, I write all my instructions in a step by step process… you can’t do it wrong, K?
1. Go to www.blogger.com.
2. Click on the big orange arrow that says “create your blog now”.
3. Create an account by filling out the e-mail and password information that they ask for.
4. Name your blog: give it a name that will appear on the blog (you can change this later if you’d like) and also give it a web address. Write down the web address. This is what you will post in your signature or on your posts here in this thread so we can take a peak.
5. Choose a template by looking through what’s available there and whatever suits your personality. You can see a larger preview by clicking on the preview link just below each template. When you pick the one you like, then you can just click on the corresponding circle.
6. That’s it… your blog has now been created.
7. To enter posts, go to www.blogger.com or your own personal blog by typing in the address in your address bar and then log in using your e-mail and password.
8. This brings you to your “dashboard” which is the main page.
9. Click on “new post”.
10. You can type anything you’d like and upload pictures… the pictures is at the top of this section (looks like a little scenic photo). It takes a couple of minutes to load, but it’s pretty cool. That’s it! You’re all set up and running.
ADDING YOUR BLOG TO YOUR SIGNATURE:
You can add your blog address to your signature so you don’t have to type it each time. Or, if you only want it viewed when you want to, then just type it in a post when you feel like it. But, to put it on your signature:
1. go to your sb.com “my place”.
2. on the left under forum stuff, click on “my forum control panel”.
3. 4th one down in the list is “signature”. Click on that.
4. type in: “Group 2 Blog: www.myblogname.blogspot.com” or something similar.There, you have a blog and we have access!! Woohoo!
Below is a survey that we ran on the forum...
Survey:
What camera do you own? Nikon D50
Is it film or digital? Digital
Is it an SLR or a regular camera? SLR
What level would you say you are at with photography? Intermediate
Do you own any photo editing software? Yes
If so, what kind? I use Photoshop CS2 the most
What level would you consider yourself in your software? Intermediate/Advanced
If you use film, do you use a darkroom? No
Have you set up a blog yet? Yes – the link is in my signature
How long have you been doing photography? About 4.5 years
What sorts of topics would you like to see covered? Try to be specific
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