Weekly Photography Challenge Thread (see first post rules and then the poll at top before entering)

Here is a man that has kept up with the posts and is not a whiner.

 

Nice! Recently decided to start working with models more to beef up my portfolio check out calvinmacphoto on ig

 

Wow I seem to have missed a lot, visits from Bob & Monte, new op’s photoshop tips, how to get great pics with a phone, and I’m only halfway through. Guess that’s what I get for spending a night reading and refreshing to teach a chainsaw class. I’ve got a lot to get caught up on today.

 

So with this camera is it best to use the different modes or use manual? Auto focus vs manual focus? Just to get me started.

 

MANUAL ALL THE TIME!!1! EVERYTHING SHOULD BE MANUAL! or so I have been repeatedly told

 

There are many here that have far more experience than me, and they might say something different. But for the most part @My_Name_is_Rahl is correct. With that said play with the settings aperture priority, shutter priority, etc. and take note of what happens when. That will give you the foundation of how to put it all together when you go full manual.

 

So you’re saying use the modes and then note what the camera does and then go from there on my own?

 

Oh! Don't forget this one: READ THE UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE, 3RD EDITION BOOK IN THE AMAZON SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!! IT'S AMAZING!

 

Might pick that up and give it a shot!

 

Let me get home and I’ll write something up for you Adam.

 

Sounds good man!

 

I just picked Understanding Exposure, and Understanding Shutter Speed also by B. Peterson. I found them both used on Amazon for less than $10.

 

Were they electronic versions?

 

Nope, old timey paper books.

 

Must’ve been used?

 

Those are the best kind.

 

He's saying use the aperture priority which I believe is Av on Canon. Other is Tv I believe which is shutter priority. I very well could be wrong on those so don't quote me on them as I'm not familiar with Canon (I've shot Nikon my whole life).

Firstly don't take this as the gospel because I'm not a know it all.

Aperture priority is the mode where you adjust the aperture (Amount of light entering the lens) which controls the depth of field. Ie is everything in focus or is only a small amount in focus. This does two things, it lets light into the lens and controls how much of it is in focus. They can work together and oppose each other at the same time. Sometimes you want everything in focus, (wide) depth of field but you need the extra light in the photo to make that happen. That's when you will up the ISO (old time film speed) to get more light in that situation. Sometimes you want a shallow depth of field (thin) but there's just too much light to do it without overexposing everything. In that situation you would lower ISO as low as you need to get the photo correct. If it's still too bright then you have two options. Abandon that idea and shoot it to get the correct exposure or use filters to take away more light (neutral density filters). I was just giving that in the example and no you don't have to go get them now. That something for later but wanted you to know that yes you can still make it happen. In this mode all you control is the aperture and the camera sets the shutter speed for you. ISO can be set to automatic also and it will control that or you can set it manually.

Shutter priority is opposite of aperture priority in a sense. You control the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture for the shutter speed you select. ISO will be like in the last one either auto or manually set. You'll use this setting when you want to take a action shot where you need the shutter speed up to stop motion like someone running etc. You'll learn about what speeds do what from practice on stopping what. 1/400 may stop someone running but a plane landing will be a blur. So in that situation you will up the speed to probably around 1/4000 or higher. This also affects exposure by how much light enters the sensor. Either a quick flash on it or up to 30 seconds on most camera's without a remote. Maybe you're seeing now that everything has to do with each other to get things right. It's not quite as complicated as it seems. It's a lot easier in these modes because the camera is helping you out instead of full manual where you have to do everything. So start with these two modes.

Hell, try Program mode just to look at what the camera is setting everything at. For some general pics (Notice I said general and pics not photo's) this will work fine. Sometimes.... It's not perfect.

ISO- This is basically what you are setting the "Film Speed" at or the sensitivity of the sensor in todays terms. Lower on most camera's is better and gives the better photo's in the end. In low light this will need to be raised to a higher setting to be able to take a photo. The better the camera the better they are at raising the ISO and getting a better photo. Play with this also some and see what the limitations of the camera are. You begin to see what looks like film grain in the photo's, this is noise from the sensor. When it is pushed too far you get the noise. Each camera is different in this situation because they all have different sensors in them that some work better than others. Most lower end consumer (Ie beginner camera's) will begin to get noise around maybe ISO 1000-1600. Some even lower than that like around ISO 800. Some the photo just falls apart when you get too high on it. But enough of all that. We're being basic here. If you need more light and can't get it with the lens then this will be your first go to spot.

Now you can also lower the shutter speed to get more light to the sensor. That's fine if you are on a tripod and the object is completely still. Moving objects like even someone standing there will be blurry at too low of a shutter speed. Answer? Up the ISO and keep a decent shutter speed. You might notice that your photo's just aren't sharp and crisp like you think they ought to be with this fancy DSLR. Yes, that can be frustrating after you paid all this money for a fancy camera and shit just isn't working. Well the shutter speed can be too low and that will affect the sharpness of the photo. So if things are looking kinda fuzzy and just not what they should be check your shutter speed.

Focus point- These fancy new camera's have all these cool multiple focus points on them. That's great and a pain at the same time. If you are following a kayaker on a run then yeah the 3d tracking with all those focus points may come in handy at locking the focus on their face. Then again it may not and you get a pile of out of focus pics. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. My camera has 52 focus points on it. I have it set on and use 1. That's just how I shoot. In the film days we didn't have multiple focus points and it's what I'm used to and it works for me. Reasoning behind this is when I take a photo of a person I focus on their eye. If the eyes aren't sharp then it kinda ruins the photo and people will notice a out of focus eye. They may not know that the eye is out of focus but they know something just isn't right. Get people's eyes in focus when you take their photo. But, back to the issue at hand. Sometimes the camera will thing that their shirt is what you're taking a photo of and select that as the focus point. Guess what? The eyes are out of focus and possible even their face. That's my reasoning behind a single focus point. I focus on the eye and then recompose the photo to what I want (If you press halfway down on the shutter button it will focus, If you keep your finger at half pressed it won't focus again and then you just press the rest of the way to take the photo). Only way it will change is if you have continuous focus turned on which is not for day to day photography.

Ok, I'm going to shut up now and let you absorb some of this. Questions? Ask away, I'm not always the best at explaining something and I'm damn sure not a teacher. lol

 

What does ISO stand for, as an acronym?

 

I second the Av and Tv settings. I use those primarily as a noob. Also, the focus trick is amazing. Go the the eyes (or whatever you want to focus) and then you can move the camera to capture the correct field of view, and the focus wont change. I also use that a lot for things like wildlife or if I want a building or vehicle in focus but the object is not front and center.


Do yall do the triple exposure trick where you set the camera to take three pictures?

one at -1 exposure, one in the middle and one at +1 exposure

I tried that for a while but never really noticed a huge difference in the results



I need to find my timer. I know it is somewhere.