Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Photography – why you should use a polarizer

Polarizer.jpgpolarizer1 Photography why you should use a polarizer

Using a polarizing filter on your camera’s lens ensures crisp blue skies and saturated colours even as here, when shooting into the sun.

You may have already noticed that you can encounter problems you’re capturing photos in very bright sunlight. On the beach, for example, you may find your camera exposes for the lighter areas leaving the remainder of your photograph underexposed and very dark.

In bright sunlight you can benefit from using a Polarizing Filter over the lens of your camera. These filters are obtainable for most DSLR cameras and simply screw onto the lens.

For a point and shoot camera you’ll need to determine if it can take a polarizing filter either on a bracket that screws into the camera’s tripod mount or, in some cases using a special adaptor called a tele converter that screws over the lens and that has a screw mount for the filter.

polarizer filter1 Photography why you should use a polarizer

How to buy

When purchasing a polarizing filter for a digital camera you will generally want to purchase a circular polarizer. The other option is a linear polarizer – however circular polarizers are typically recommended for cameras that meter through the lens (TTL) which is what a digital SLR does.

When using your polarizing filter notice it has a marker on it that you can use as a reference point for adjusting it. Look through the viewfinder and turn the filter slowly. As you do this you will notice that the preview will change.

At some point of the rotation it may have no effect at all and at other points it will have an increasingly strong effect. Turn it until you get the effect you are looking for which is good rich color and no washed out skies. When you find the sweet spot go ahead and capture your photo.

A polarizing filter will give you better colour saturation and brighter, bluer skies. It’s also a good filter for photographing things under water from above the water surface such as a tropical reef or seaweed because it cuts out the sun’s reflection on the water surface allowing you to capture the underwater detail.

This blue sky would have been washed out if the photo had not been captured using a Polarizing filter:

filter1 Photography why you should use a polarizer

Labels: , , , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:41 am1 Comment links to this post

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

A cool resource for understanding Av and Tv

photon aperture shutter speed learning site A cool resource for understanding Av and Tv

I’ve been explaining recently why you might shoot in Av (Aperture Priority) or Tv (Shutter Priority)  mode.

Sometimes it can be hard to understand these things so I’ve found a cool tool you can use to see how these interact. Click here to visit the hands on simulator.

The simulator is an interactive camera that you can use online to experiment with aperture and shutter speed. You get to set the speed and the aperture and take your shot – the preview shows you what the image will look like with those settings.

Labels: , , , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:09 am1 Comment links to this post

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Understand your cameras settings – Part 1 – Aperture

aperture large depth of field camera manual mode Understand your cameras settings Part 1 Aperture

All digital SLRs and many point and shoots can operate in manual or semi-manual modes. If you capture most of your photos using Auto mode it’s time to look at some of the benefits you can get by switching to semi-manual operation.

With these modes you control the aperture or shutter speed and you get a chance to capture more creative photos. So how do you do this and what settings do you use? In this series, I’ll explain your camera’s Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority (Av and Tv) modes and also explain why your ISO setting  is important to understand too.

If your camera can operate in manual mode you’ll have settings such as M, Av, Tv and P on your camera’s dial. The two settings we’ll focus on are Av and Tv where you set the aperture or shutter speed yourself.

What is Aperture?

This begs the question, what is aperture and what is shutter speed? Aperture is, very simply, the size of the hole through which light enters your camera. The larger the hole, the more light gets in.

Aperture is described using an f number which is calculated using a complex formula. A rough rule of thumb is to think of aperture being a fraction so an f number (often called a f-stop) of f/2.8 is bigger than f/22 for example.

Understanding aperture

Aperture not only has a direct relationship to the amount of light let in to the camera, it also affects depth of field. When you use a large aperture such as f/2.8 you will get a small depth of field so only a small distance in front and behind the point of focus in the photograph will be in sharp focus and the remainder of the image will be out of focus.

Depth of field is a creative tool that many photographers use to their advantage. For example, when photographing a beautiful flower, you’ll want the focus to be on the flower and not the things behind it. Using a large aperture such as f/2.8 throws the background out of focus. The photograph at the top of this post is an example of a large aperture and a small depth of field.

On the other hand, using a small aperture such as f/8 or f/11 gives you a large depth of field so everything in the photograph will be in focus – useful when photographing landscapes for example.

The relationship between Aperture and Shutter speed

When you set the aperture using the Av setting on the camera, the camera sets the shutter speed to an appropriate value. This is because there is a direct correlation between aperture and shutter speed.

When you use a small aperture, only a small amount of light comes into the camera so you need to compensate for this by using a slow shutter speed to ensure you capture enough light.

On the flip side, when you use a large aperture such as f/2.8, you get lots of light so the camera will set a fast shutter speed.

When you use Av mode, you’re effectively saying, I’ll set the aperture I want and you – the camera – are to adjust the other settings to give me a good picture. When you are in Av mode, there will be a dial or other option you’ll use to set the desired aperture value.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:52 amNo Comments links to this post

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Better Photos Tip #10 – Camera Raw vs, jpeg

cameraraw 781285 Better Photos Tip #10 Camera Raw vs, jpegCapturing in Camera RAW offers superior image adjustment options for your photos.

If your camera is capable of capturing images using the RAW format, this will allow you more editing opportunities later on.

It’s a good idea to capture JPEG when shooting regular snapshots simply because JPEGs are easier to process and use and to use RAW for more creative captures.

Some cameras have a button you can press which gives you a one shot RAW capture so you can shoot in JPEG but easily capture a single RAW shot when you need one.

Labels: , , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 10:12 pmNo Comments links to this post

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Better Photos Tip #9 – Read the Histogram

histogram 717281 Better Photos Tip #9 – Read the HistogramThe image histogram on your camera shows the tonal range in the image, use it to assess the quality of the image. Here there is a little too much data in the shadows (we say the shadows are plugged) and we could adjust the exposure accordingly.

To understand if you need to adjust your exposure, check the image histogram in the camera rather than relying on the image that appears in the LCD screen.

The histogram gives you a graphical representation of the image’s tonal range. If the chart data doesn’t extend from one edge of the chart to the other, you will probably have a muddy lacklustre image.

If the chart is too far to the left, you need to lighten the image and if all the data is to the right the image is being overexposed.

If you’re using a digital SLR you control the exposure by enlarging the aperture or decreasing the shutter speed to let in more light or vice versa to reduce the amount of light.

On a point and shoot camera, the exposure compensation feature lets you adjust the exposure amount to compensate for lighting issues. Typically you can adjust the exposure by any amount in the range -2.0 – +2.0 to darken or lighten the image. exposure 717063 Better Photos Tip #9 – Read the HistogramExposure compensation was used here to expose this musician correctly against a very light background – I traded blown out highlights in the background for a properly exposed foreground.

Labels: , , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 10:22 pmNo Comments links to this post

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Better Photos Tip #8 – Take 2 steps forward

closer 707863 Better Photos Tip #8 – Take 2 steps forward

When capturing an image, get in close to the subject so they fill your viewfinder.

If there is one technique most digital camera users can use today to instantly improve their photos it is to stand at least two or three steps closer to their subject.

Most photographers stand too far away from their subjects so the subject ends up being very small relative to the rest of the photo.

When you move closer to your subject you make them larger in the viewfinder so they fill the photograph.

The result is not only a much more interesting photo but, because the subject fills the screen, there is less distracting background detail. If you can’t get physically closer to your subject use the zoom on your camera to zoom in closer.

Labels: , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 10:08 pm4 Comments links to this post

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Better photos tip #7 – Don’t just look – See

possibilities 718113 Better photos tip #7 Don’t just look – SeeWhen you really look at a scene you may find things to photograph you might not have noticed at first glance.

When you are looking for things to photograph, study your surroundings. There are plenty of photo opportunities even in places that look anything but photographic.

A good exercise for budding photographers is to set yourself a challenge to photograph a predetermined subject matter such as numbers, signs, a particular colour or shapes like circles or rectangles.

Go out with your camera and set yourself an hour to complete the task. When you set yourself a challenge to capture a particular subject, you have to look to find it in a larger scene.

As you do you’ll see a range of things that you may not otherwise notice.

Part of what sets a good photographer apart from a mediocre one is the ability to see the possibilities in a scene.

Labels: , , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 10:05 pm2 Comments links to this post

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Better photos tip #6 – Depth of field

depthoffield 768540 Better photos tip #6 Depth of fieldThis image shows a shallow depth of field – the statue is in focus but everything else is nicely blurred.

There is a benefit you get when you use the macro setting on your camera and that is that when you use it your camera generally captures the image using a very small depth of field.

Depth of field is the area in focus around and in front of and behind the subject of the image. When you have a large depth of field, everything is in focus and where the depth of field is small, only a very small portion of the image is in focus.

Shooting with a small depth of field requires some skill because you have to make sure that the subject itself is in sharp focus – so that the rest of the image is not.

Check the LCD screen or viewfinder to ensure that the subject looks crisp and in focus before shooting. When you have taken the shot, check the image and zoom in to it and make sure the subject looks sharp – the LCD screen preview at the regular size won’t show clearly enough if you have the subject sharp enough.

Depth of field will be a new concept if you’ve only used inexpensive film cameras in the past. Automatic film cameras shoot with a very wide depth of field so that everything in the photograph is in focus. In the days of film, only SLRs were capable of capturing images with a small depth of field.

Digital cameras changed that and many point and shoot cameras can capture images with smaller depths of field if you know how. The secret is in using the camera’s manual controls to set the aperture manually rather than leaving the camera to make the choice. This same option is available with digital SLRs and the results, because of the lenses you use, are generally better with a digital SLR.

For a small depth of field, adjust the aperture to a value such as f2.8 or f3.6 so it is very wide and so the camera takes in a lot of light. To get a large depth of field so everything in the image is in focus, use an aperture setting of f8 or f16 for example. This setting lets in less light so the shutter speed will be much slower than when shooting with an aperture value of f2.8 for example.

Labels: , , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 10:03 pmNo Comments links to this post

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Better Photos Tip #4 – No flash at night

noflash 778312 Better Photos Tip #4 – No flash at nightWhen taking photographs at night, turn off the flash and take a long exposure to capture the lights.

When shooting a night time concert, sporting event or even the city lights you might think your camera’s flash is a necessity. Unfortunately it’s not only next to useless at a distance of over 2-3 metres but using it will force the camera to use a faster shutter speed than you need so all you’ll get is a severely underexposed image.

Instead, disable the camera’s flash and switch the camera to night mode shooting so it will meter for the surrounding darkness and set a slow shutter speed allowing you to capture the detail in the scene.

A downside of the slow shutter speed is that any camera movement will result in the subject being severely blurred. When shooting at night without a flash, use a tripod or brace the camera so that it does not move.

On the flip side, when you take long exposures at night you can capture light trails from car headlights and taillights as they pass in front of you which can look really great.

Labels: , , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:58 pm2 Comments links to this post

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Better photos Tip #3 – get down low

animal 739818 Better photos Tip #3 – get down lowThe best photos of animals and kids happen when you get down to their level.

When you are photographing children and animals, get down to their level so you shoot from the side and not the top of their head.

This may require you to sit on the floor or to put the animal or the child on a table or bench.

If you are capturing animals that move a lot it can be helpful if you have a handler to hold the animal while you take the photograph.

A good time to photograph the family cat is when they are basking in the sun or asleep.

Labels: , , , ,

Categories:Uncategorized

posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:55 pmNo Comments links to this post

Page 1 of 212