What’s all these dang symbols mean?!?

So if you’ve ever held a DSLR  (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera, the first thing you notice is, “Why can’t I see what I’m shooting in the LCD?”  Well, because these types of cameras have no “LiveView” mode (although some of the newer cameras do).

Reason is, when you’re looking in the small viewfinder, that’s actually the image your camera will be capturing. So when you press the shutter, the mirror will flip from the viewfinder onto the camera sensor, digitally capturing the shot.  I may have oversimplified this, but I think you get the idea.  So that’s one of the beauties of a DSLR is that you know exactly what you’re going to get.

And along that same line,  you can force the camera to do what you want instead of relying on the full AUTO mode, which lets the sensor/chip decide for you the shutter speed, iso, aperture, white balance, etc.

So if you’re thinking to yourself, “What did Chris just geek speak me on?  I just point and click! Do I really need to learn any of these settings?”

Short answer, yes.

So let’s take a look at what I mean, as illustrated below (Canon settings):

Canon Dial (example photo from Google)

I won’t go into all the modes to bore you to death, but here’s what could be helpful.  The green square means AUTO.  So everything is taken care of.  Only drawback is that , at least on my camera, you can only shoot in jpeg, not RAW (a more detailed/customizable format that’s easier for photoshopping).

SO, instead you want to shoot in the modes ranging from M, Av,Tv, and P.

M is manual mode, where you basically adjust everything yourself.  Not for beginners.

Av is for Aperture mode, so you control the f stop.  If you don’t know what that just meant, its basically controlling how much light you want in the camera by controlling the size of the shutter.  Bigger shutter opening means more light.  But what’s confusing is that the biggest setting actually means a smaller number on the f stop.  So 2.8 is really wide/big, but 11 is really narrow/small.  I could give a big explanation on that, but I’ll leave it for another day.

So you see all those cool shots where the subject is in focus but then the background is all blurry?  That’s because the photographer used a wide aperture/small f stop to center in on the subject.  Then through this “magic” know as depth of field, the background gets blurred out.  So this is bueno in using a DSLR. =)

Aperture/DoF Example

Tv is not geting to watch CNN from your camera, but rather it stands for Timing mode.  So you control the shutter speed, or how fast the shutter opens and closes.  The longer the shutter speed, the more light it will let in, but the more chance you have to get a blurry picture if the subject or even you holding the camera is moving.  The general rule of thumb is to have the shutter speed be equal or greater to your zoom length.  So if I’m shooting with a zoom of 50mm, my speed will be at least 1/50th of a second.  (This does not take into account calculations for image stabilization or crop factor.)

This is especially important in sports photography, where you must have a quick enough shutter speed to “freeze” the subject.

Houston Marathon

The reverse is also true.  You see images where there is a trail of lights or you see motion blur.  So the photographer purposely lowered the shutter speed to achieve that effect.  That’s what’s called a long exposure (basically anywhere from 1 to even 60 seconds!)

What’s really cool is if you do a really long exposure it will not record people walking past but only the actual scenery/background since it is stationary.  I don’t have an example to show you since I don’t have a tripod yet to get those long exposures.

And P is basically allowing the camera to decide for you the aperature and shutter speed, but giving you control over white balance and ISO.  I shoot in this mode if I’m going to be taking pictures of people at social events.  Because lets face it. No one wants to stand around waiting for you to adjust everything!  It’s not a photo shoot!  Plus if you’re too busy adjusting the settings, you may miss something!

Caroline and Dave's Wedding Shower

So basically that’s a really short tutorial to get you started. I’ll have more info to come!

It’s the Little Things that Count

Ever wonder what makes a picture interesting?

It’s color. It’s lighting. It’s a different perspective. It’s seeing things eye-level.  It’s seeing the details with a close-up.

Today I’ll illustrate the last one – details.  I went to Glenwood Cemetery, knowing I would see your usual tombstone, flowers, statues, etc.  But to make it interesting, I also had to pay attention to what people wouldn’t notice.  Are there little displays or childhood toys next to their loved ones?  What does the area look like when I squat down instead of looking at it standing up?

So here’s an example.  This first photo is what you would normally see:

Ok, so it’s not a bad picture.  I’ve already lowered the angle so I’m not taking the picture from a downward angle.  I’ve also gone with the rule of thirds for composition – the three is in the left third of the picture.  It would have been super boring if the tree and tombstone were straight in the middle.  Furthermore, I’ve actually cropped the picture slightly, as at the very bottom you can see some of that rock? debris.  I was able to crop most of that out, while still keeping the same photo ratio.  Last thing I want to do is make an “uneven” picture that can’t print right.

So what’s the big deal, you’re probably asking me.  Let’s continue, and see if you even noticed these items in the original picture.

The windchimes:

Ok, so you probably noticed in the first picture something was hanging from the tree, but could you tell what?

And here’s a further close-up:

Now you can definitely see the details, as the angel is also holding a dove.  Note the silver decorations that adorn the dress as well as her silver wings.  Neat, huh?

And here’s another up-close further down the tree:

You can see his loved ones always called him Mikey instead of Michael.  Great craftmanship in making that heart.  Again, rule of thirds was used.  Also note how lighting was captured so part of the sun’s beam is on the subject.  Also , bokeh was achieved due the trees in the background being far away, so nothing is discracting us from the subject.  I do spy a small branch poking out at the top of the picture.  Oh well!

And let’s be sure to get a close up of the actual headstone:

I didn’t use a flash to capture the shadows falling on the engraving.  I also didn’t shot straight on but from an angle to capture both the plant and the headstone.  A little surprise at the bottom is a cherub blowing on the trumpet. Cute!

So there you have it.  Out came all these wonderful images from once scene.  It would have been unfortunately to just have taken one snap and then moved on.  I guess I’ll also qualify that you’ll need a zoom lense.  The basic kit lens that goes from 17-55mm isn’t going to acheive these close ups with great ease = you’ll have to be like six inches away to get the zoom and the object to appear in the entire screen.  I’ll suggest a 70-200 or even a zoom that goes to 300mm.  The all-in-one lenses (17-200) are pretty popular since you don’t have to change out any lenses, but beware of distorion at the wide angle. But what matters is to just go out and practice, as you can always sell used lenses without losing much value, and at the same time maybe getting a good deal on purchasing a better quality used lens!

On a serious note…

So I’ve decided that the theme of this new blog will be about photography.  It’ll include some basic concepts, techniques I’ve picked up, showcase some of my best and worst pics to learn from, as well as seeking input from some of my other photography friends who have been at this way longer than I have, including one who does this as a living.

But before we delve into that, I’d like to share with you a site that really has touched my heart.  I’ve always meant to blog about it but just always forgotten about it.
http://photooftheday.hughcrawford.com/

It’s really a basic website, as you can see it’s like any other photo album.  But if you look closer, there’s basically one Poloraid for every day for 28 years.

I won’t include any spoilers, as I’ll let you sift through them, especially in his last year.  Please feel free to leave comments on how you felt about this amazing site.  You can find more information here.

A sample pic of his work.

Senor?

Shadows at play

Foto Skillz

So I’ve really been taking my camera everywhere I go, and it’s been a good experience.  I’ve gradually switched over from AUTO/jpeg to Aperture/raw.  I think I’ve got the ISO situation down now.

Basically, when it’s outside and sunny, you can do 100 or 200.  Once it gets cloudy or in the shade, you’ll need to bump it up to 400.  Dusk/night time with hand-held/no flash and 800/1600 is a must.

When indoors, it’s 400-1600, depending on the lighting.  I’ve taken pictures in restaurants where it’s really dark, so 1600 and a still hand are a must.

Beer never looked so good at ISO 1600

I try not to use the flash because basically it white-washes people’s face, and I don’t have an external flash to bounce the light off the ceiling or diffuse it.

I’m still learning about what aperture to use, as now I’ve learned there’s a sweet spot for lenses, as that’s usually at least 1 f-stop above the max (widest aperature/smallest f-stop).  So I’ll need to shoot at least 4.0-5.6 and only use 2.8 when I have low light or really need that shallow depth of field to blur out the background.  And there’s that sunny 16 f-stop rule that I’m still trying to apply/figure out.  I think 16 f is the ideal for landscape photography, as that will get you the sharpest picture and depth of field.

Program mode was used, as it made the picture sharp with 9 fstop.

As you can see in my previous picture of the truck, not everything was clear, as I had used 2.8 with focus point on the tailgate of the truck.  I should have gone higher, trying anywhere from 5.6-11?

White balance I still stick to auto since I don’t have a grey card yet (I don’t want to pay $10 for a piece of cardboard).  So I test out the WB using the raw editor with Adobe Elements.  It’s interesting how the daylight/cloudy/shade settings will really warm up the picture, with auto being able to account for indoor light hues.

Example of Auto White Balance

All in all, I’m still learning.  I am getting my 70-200mm 4/f L this Thursday! Can’t wait to try it out and get ready for a friend’s graduation on Saturday!  Steady hands!  Didn’t want to pay the extra $400 for IS….

chocolate....f/4,800, 1/25 sec on Av priority.

If you would like to see any of my photos in a bigger size, please click on my Flickr section in the right column.

Turning over a new leaf

Well, time has come to start a new chapter in my blogging life.  I’ve left Xanga, where I’ve been a member for 5+ years.  It’s gotten too childish and drama-filled, not to mention all the stupid articles from the -ish sites. I don’t care about if ASM is being treated unfairly, who’s a racist, Ron the transvestite stalker, every funny or stupid observations about being Asian, who’s who because they are xanga celebrities, etc.

So here goes nothing…

Stupid light post....