Welcome to my Photography blog.
seankent1@gmail.com
Currently updating content as in Jan 2020

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These are my Photography Blogs

Subject Address Link

1. Photography johnkent1.blogspot.ie This is where you are now

2. Macro jkmacro.blogspot.ie HERE

3. Flash jklight.blogspot.ie HERE

4. Photoshop    dccphotoshop.blogspot.ie HERE
5. My Web Site johnkent15.simplesite.com HERE
6. Blog - How to. Blognua19.blogspot.com.   HERE
7. Asia holiday jkasia.blogspot.com   HERE

Link to Dublin Camera Club web site HERE

seankent1@gmail.com

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Preface .............
There are three main difficulties that confront the beginner to photography
1. Getting to grips with the camera and its controls.
2. Understanding the various aspects of good exposure and
3. Training the brain/eye to see and compose "good" images.

Advice: Don't try to take it all in today or even tomorrow.
Confine yourself to the basics first.
Photography is a Learn by Doing hobby: No do - NO learn.
Enjoy the trip.

Apologies for typos, mistakes, errors and any misleading information you may encounter.

Section 1 starts here.
It will be simple and to the point.

Which camera to buy?
New or used?
Big or small?
Price?

My advice

Unless you are positive that photography in some guise is going to be your new addiction don't spend a ton of money.

Very many people buy a new camera and scarcely use it 12 times for the first year and after that hardly at all!

Buy a very good condition used camera + lens with at least one year guarantee.

How big/heavy?

If you are a man with large hands you may not want a small camera with tiny controls.

Some people want the camera to fit in their pocket/purse.

A DSLR camera like the Nikon D7000 weighs 780gr BIG

The popular mirrorless Fuji XT1 weighs 390gr Great size

The compact Panosonic TZ200 lighter still - an excellent travel zoom camera.

The Sony RX100V1 is a great small camera.

With a 24-200 zoom lens! Might be the best Compact camera you can buy........ Check out reviews online.

Read review HERE from "Trusted Reviews"

It is not cheap BUT you get the camera plus a very useful zoom lens. It is small - so handle it and make sure you are ok with size.

Many cameras sell as "body only" meaning there is no lens with the camera. Allowing the buyer to choose a lens type.

Many cameras sell with a "Kit lens" - a medium quality zoom like

18-55mm.

Which lens will I buy?

A zoom lens like a an 18-55 will cover landscape and portrait photography.

A prime lens like 50mm lens will be excellent for portraits

A zoom reaching to 400 or 500 will be excellent for wildlife and sport. Expensive.

Lens

A good lens can cost as much/more than the camera.
But the lens is more important than the body.
A good lens (good glass) will help you get sharp photos.

Lens that are suited to portraits: 50mm and 85mm and even a 100mm.

These are prime lenses.

That means that a 50mm will only shoot at 50 and an 85 at 85 only. So when composing with a prime lens you have no zoom facility so you move your feet closer or further

Whereas with a zoom lens you zoom in or out.

Eg 24-70 lens can shoot at 24, 30, 50 and so on up to 70mm.

Lens best suited to landscape/seascape - a wide angle lens like 14mm or a zoom lens like the Sigma 10-20.

Review of the Fuji XT1 HERE

This is the X-T2 with the 18-55 lens

Review by Ken Rockwell HERE

Fujifilm XT1 and Fujifilm XT2 are great cameras

Smaller and very popular cameras. A mirrorless digital camera.

MPB selling for £249 - “excellent condition”.

A good choice 15-45 good for landscape and portraits

In this section we will look at

1) Compact cameras and Compact System cameras - links to further reading.

2) DSLR cameras and how they work
3) The Mirrorless Camera and how it works (not finished)

4) Exposure:- Controlling the light with

a) Shutter Speed

b) Aperture

c) ISO

5) The Histogram

6) Depth of Field

7) Camera controls

8) Lens

The aim of this section is to assist people who are beginners to photography in getting to grips with

a) their camera and

b) the various aspects of Exposure.

Photography Beginner Classes at Dublin Camera Club happen every September and January.

I am a member of Dublin Camera Club - the biggest Camera club in Ireland.

The club is located at 10 Lower Camden St. Dublin.

The club is open every Tuesday 8pm for members.

The club welcomes new members.

The gallery is open every Saturday 11am - 4pm.

I strongly suggest to all Beginner class members at DCC to avail of the opportunity to join DCC for the year - it is well worth the extra €60
We are a very welcoming community with excellent facilities. Being a club member gives you access to workshops, studio courses, outings, competitions, dark room and free advice.

Otherwise there is a very strong possibility that your newly acquired knowledge from the classes - left unused may fade away, dissolve, rust and be no more!
Photography is a Learn by doing skill …...

Twice a year the club runs a Beginners' Photography course - September and January.

Details of the dates, content and enrollment form can be found on the web site under

Dublin Camera club / Courses / Beginners' Photography course.

www.dublincameraclub.ie

I teach the class Exposure Revised during the 10 week Beginners' course.

In my opinion understanding the various aspects of exposure and how they relate to each other, is the most important challenge for the beginner. Because of this we devote two class periods to Exposure during the Beginner classes.

Trying to squeeze all about exposure into 90 mins. or even 180 mins. is asking a lot.

Hence this blog ..........

It is my hope that you can study aspects relating to CAMERA and EXPOSURE here at your leisure.

So depending on whether you are about to do the classes or have finished them - this blog may serve as preparation and/or revision.

Questions .... Questions .... Questions ......

Which camera should I buy? Compact or DSLR?

How much should I spend?

How much do I need to learn?

Photography can be a great hobby.

Photography can be a profitable business.

Do the research before you decide the camera type and budget.

There is lots of good useful advice online.

If you do spend the top dollar surely you owe it to yourself to spend the time to "master" the camera. This means

learning the basic buttons, switches and dials on the camera - where they are and what they are used for and
learning about exposure.

The best place to do all of this is in a Camera club.

{Material in Purple is slightly advanced and not essential for the beginner - at least not until you have mastered the rest. A purple line marks the end of the purple area like this one.
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CAMERAS CAMERAS CAMERAS CAMERAS

There are iPhone cameras
There are Compact cameras
There are Bridge cameras
There are travel cameras - small and do-it-all
There are DSLR cameras (and more).

Take any camera in your hands and use it for a while
Is the weight ok? Is it too small with fiddly tiny controls?

A suggestion if you are thinking "DSRL" - There are lots of very good DSRLs out there second hand. Cameras that cost over Eur1000 when first introduced a few years ago - still very good cameras now available for a few hundred. Do the research homework.
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The whole world of cameras can be confusing.
There are so many types of camera - prices - weight - accessories - terminology -
I suggest that you buy a good second hand camera and a good lens.

Then put some work into learning a) how the camera works and
b) about exposure?

This baby is the Leica M9 Titanium - the Lamborghini of compact cameras - manufactured by Walter de'Silva the head designer for Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti among others.

$29,000 ! It does look … sexy…...

Compact is the general term for small, light cameras designed for convenience. While most do not offer *interchangeable lenses some employ high-performance optics (= glass/lens). Ideal for travel.
The Sony RX100 models are examples. Picture above of the RX100vi.
This is a small camera - so make sure you are comfortable with handling before rushing in.

There are lots of online Reviews.
Rankings that cover - Image Quality - Features - Battery life and memory - Design.
Most have Built in Flash, Image Stabilizer, Audio, Wi-Fi, Intelligent Auto mode, White Balance,
Face Detection, Slide show, Filters, Self timer, Red eye reduction.
Some have GPS, Panorama, Email support.

As you can see there is a lot of new terminology here!!!!
You cannot escape some new terminology
Don't try to understand it all at once AND
don't feel inferior just because you don't understand something.

Cheap compact cameras are loosing ground to Camera phones for sheer convenience.
For an increasing number of people their Smartphone is their only camera.

Modern Compact cameras are very good - they allow you to control the settings manually.
They are affordable
They fit in your pocket/purse
They can capture high quality images
Some have powerful zoom lens.

Nikon J1 with 2 lenses - 10-30mm lens and a 30-110 lens about £320 Amazon.uk

Lots of online reviews available online for all cameras.

6 page review of this camera - The Nikon J1 from "Trusted Reviews" .

http://www.trustedreviews.com/nikon-j1-review_Digital-Camera_review

This is Nikon's video manual for the Nikon 1 J3 HERE

Cameras have menus - buttons - wheels and even bells!

There are hundreds of models to choose from.

Some are advanced high-end and pricey; some have super zooms;

some are rugged and some are basic.

Your choice depends on what you want from the camera.

Until you own a camera and start using it you really don't know where it will take you.

High end compacts are NOT cheap.

The Fuji X100 with 15-45 lens is €419 at Conns;

The Canon Powershot G1 X Mark ii is €669 at Conns.
The Panasonic LX100 €579 Conns. Prices as of Dec 2019.

It is possible to rent equipment - "try before you buy" / see Conns online for details.

Nikon Digitutor does very good video tutorials on most of the Nikon cameras
Click HERE to go there now.

If you don't have the time in your busy world to study exposure and practice with the camera then maybe you should not spend too much.

The following excerpt is copied from a good ONLINE article from DPREVIEW

called

"Buyers' Guide: Compact Digital Cameras".

Full article here;

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/0241211347/buyers-guide-compact-digital-cameras

Two questions for you

1. What kind of photographs do you want to take?

If you're looking for something to carry on nights out or for casual family snaps, then you probably don't need a huge lens, or fancy video specifications, and you might not need your camera to be particularly rugged. On the other hand, if you're looking for a camera to take traveling, a long zoom might be exactly what you want. If you're into extreme sports or underwater photography, it probably makes sense to sacrifice some things, like lens zoom range, for ruggedness. And now for the second question:

2. What kind of camera are you prepared to carry around?

Are you looking for something small and simple to throw into a handbag or pocket, or are you happy to have a larger, heavier camera with you? Do you want to add accessories in future? Most compacts don't have that capacity, but some higher-end models have accessory ports for additional flashes and other gadgets, as well as adapters to expand their lens ranges. But with the additional versatility comes added bulk (and cost).

Once you've answered these two questions, the individual model you end up choosing will come down to a number of factors - not the least price. In this article we've grouped digital compact cameras loosely into the five major categories - 'ultra-compact', 'travel zoom', 'super zoom' 'rugged' and 'enthusiast', and examined their major selling points to help inform your purchase decision. The table below lists these types of camera alongside the traits typical of each class, and you can click on the blue links to go straight to the relevant section of this guide.

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1 COMPACT CAMERAS 2019
Digital Camera World The best Compact cameras in 2019.
Click HERE

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2 Compact system cameras have interchangeable lens like the Nikon 1 below.

(* You can remove one lens and put a different lens on the camera.)
This piece in RED below explains what a Compact System Camera is and how it evolved.

If it does not interest you SKIP it.

What are compact system cameras?

An increasingly popular sector of the camera industry comes in the form of the compact system camera, or hybrid camera. Here we explain what Compact System Cameras are, why you might want one, and what’s available…

Once upon a time, if you wanted to buy a digital camera you’d have the choice of a compact, a bridge (a compact with a high-magnification zoom) or a DSLR. The step up to a DSLR was a big one, literally. DSLRs are much bigger than compacts not only because they have much larger sensors, but because the viewing system that defines them as DSLRs – a 45° mirror reflecting up to a prism assembly and viewfinder eyepiece – takes up a lot of space.

Panasonic and Olympus were the first to realise that if you did away with the DSLR’s optical viewing assembly you could still have a large sensor, and interchangeable lenses, but the camera could be much smaller, and the lenses could be smaller too. In 2008 Panasonic’s Lumix G1 was the first camera with a DSLR sized sensor and interchangeable lenses to dispense with the mirror and prism, and swap the optical finder for an electronic one.

Compact System Camera (CSC) tends to be the most popularly accepted term for cameras like this. MILC (Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera) or simply ILC, or just “Mirrorless” are also used, as well as “hybrid cameras”. Whatever they’re called, every manufacturer now has at least one such camera of its own, with an accompanying range of lenses, but the original aims of the first CSCs – to provide the image quality and interchangeable lenses of a DSLR, but in a smaller package – no longer necessarily apply, as manufacturers have plumped for a wide range of different sensor sizes all the way up to full-frame (35mm).

It’s probably fair to say that today’s definition of a CSC is a camera with interchangeable lenses but no mirror. Some have DSLR sensors, some have smaller ones, some have electronic viewfinders, others have no viewfinder – just the LCD screen.

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3 MIRRORLESS CAMERAS 2020

The best mirrorless camera in 2020: these are the best compact system cameras.

Click HERE

Cheap and simple: If you're just starting out in photography and looking for the best camera for beginners, a mirrorless camera is ideal.

It gives you the constant 'live view' you might be used to from a compact camera or a smartphone, often with touchscreen control and sometimes with a flip-over/under screen for selfies. I've picked three candidates that are both affordable and rather good.

1 Fujifilm X-T1 Affordable and portable.

Reviews HERE and HERE

One of the major obstacles you will be confronted with as you search online for information is terminology that you do not understand. e.g. a zoom lens.
What is a zoom lens - are all lens not zoom lens?

Do compact cameras have zoom lens?

What benefits has a zoom lens?

Wikipedia : A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length (and thus angle of view) can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length (FFL) lens (see prime lens).
e.g. an 18-200 zoom lens can be zoomed from 18 out to 200.
At 18 it will shoot a very wide view - ideal for landscapes
at 200 it can capture far away subjects e.g birds, sport action.

"Lens elements" above is a link - so when you click on it you get an explanation; same with focal length, angle of view and prime lens.

If you have the patience this is very worthwhile. Slowly but surely you will greatly decrease the number of terminology problems.

My suggestion is that you do this on a need-to-know basis.

Go ONLINE and there you will see samples of each of the 5 groups mentioned in the DPreview article above.

In the process of reading the reviews you will come across terminology that may be new to you.

E.g. Zoom lenses; Image stabilisation, manual control, Depth of Field, ISO, large sensor etc.

All of these I have dealt with below.

Zoom Lens: 28 - 200mm. The 28mm is wide-angle. That means that you can capture a very wide amount of the scene in front of you when set to 28 (landscape shots). When you zoom out to 200mm with the same lens you can bring far away objects into the shot and the angle of view is very much smaller (Wild life).

Image stabilisation is explained in the article on Travel Zoom.

Manual control, depth of field and ISO I explain later.

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What you can do with a Digital camera (or camera phone) -

Obviously take photos

Post you photos on Facebook, Flickr. Picasa web albums.

Use it as a scanner! e.g. take a photo of your tax forms.

Capture data - e.g. photo of where you parked your car!

These cameras are very portable - and can do an excellent job.

One of the draw backs on some cheaper Compact cameras is "Shutter lag".

This refers to a time gap between pressing the shutter and the image being captured - Beware.

In terms of quality you get what you pay for.

Most would say that the quality of the glass in the lens (the optics) is all important.

High quality glass allows high quality images -

Parts:-

Camera body - Lens - The Sensor - The Flash Card - Battery.
Note I say "allows" - high quality images come from great composition and exposure.
And that does not happen overnight.

What are the very basic controls on a camera?

On/ off switch.

Put camera in photo mode as against Video mode.

Focus.

Shoot in Auto.

Zoom in / out .

View photo you have taken on the LCD screen. Zoom in - enlarge.

Delete single photo.

Delete all photos / Format the card.

Switch to video mode - Shoot a video - view the video - delete the video.

(Not all cameras have video mode.)

The Mode wheel

Next step up - simple and obvious controls

Use the mode wheel to select Aperture Priority. (A)

Use the Control wheel to change the Aperture ( see photo below).

Use the mode wheel to choose Shutter priority. (S)

Use the Control wheel to change the shutter speed.

Of course the camera comes with a manual.

I have yet to see an easy to follow manual.

Nikon seem to have recognised this fact and have come up with the answer (see "Camera and Exposure" below).

Manuals do not distinguish between basic and advanced features and know how!

There are lots of articles and videos online offering advice, information and know how.

"The essential Guide to Digital Photography" by Bakari Chavanu

Excellent but goes well beyond the basics.

It covers the following:-

What camera should I buy?

Advantages and disadvantages of the compact camera.

Advantages and disadvantages of the DSLR.

Accessories - Cards, Bags. batteries, tripods. flash, Basic Menu settings.

Yes there are + 55 pages but very readable.

Let me remind you again of what are basics:

Getting used to the basic wheels and buttons of the camera as outlined above.

Starting to study exposure: Shutter Speed and Aperture and ISO.

Experimenting with the 3 main modes S, A and M. (All explained below.)

A word on "Bridge Cameras" - well maybe not. Why?

Because page 2 of the already mentioned DPRIEVIEW
"Buyers' Guide: Compact Digital Cameras" - does a better job than I could

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/0241211347/buyers-guide-compact-digital-cameras

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If you have a camera

1. Practice with it a lot.

Take shots indoor and outdoors - flowers / people/ bottles /still life / garden / landscape/ travel shots /night shots. Begin in AUTO mode.

Then experiment with Aperture mode and Shutter speed mode - explanation later.

2. Do a little study often on camera controls and on Exposure.

3 Put the pictures on your computer - use Picasa3 (Free).

Don't try to please others with your photos - please yourself.

Most beginners are way too critical of their efforts. What does it matter if I think it's crap

Did you take the photo to please me …..

Plan to produce a calendar 2018 with your images - great present.

The compact camera and the DSLR demand some work if you are to get beyond the very basic level. If you are not prepared to study exposure and learn where all the important camera controls are - then maybe you should not waste money on an expensive camera!

Cameras are complicated computers that can do amazing things provided we know how to ask them what we want them to do. There are so many buttons, wheels, menus and bells -

so what happens? Many people give up trying to understand them.

They put the camera in AUTO and leave it there.

In AUTO the camera makes all decisions relating to light and exposure and shutter speed etc.

Sometimes this works reasonably well.

But more often than not the camera in AUTO cannot cope with difficult lighting situations.

That is why you need to do a little study on the 3 parts of Exposure - Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO and how they are related.

Online blog:

"Stop shooting Auto - you are smarter than the camera."

You do not have to learn it all at once. Go slowly.

Whatever camera you have - it may need to be set up.

Setting up your camera.
Open the Menu
Go to the Shooting Menu
For now - Choose JPEG Fine and Large size.
Set the White Balance to AUTO
Set Metering mode to Matrix/multi-zone/Evaluative (all same)
(produces a nicely balanced shot)
Drive mode Single
Colour space Adobe RGB (Bigger Range)

Picture style Standard
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2. The DSLR Camera

What is a DSLR Camera?

Stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex.

There used to be a twin lens reflex camera - see below.

Single lens because there used to be two lens - "twin lens". This camera uses a mirror and prism system - the mirror reflects the image so that the photographer can see what he is capturing - hence reflex.

The image reflects off the mirror (green, below) up to the prism and into the viewfinder where the photographer can view it.

The Digital camera has a sensor instead of film.

When the shutter is pressed (as in taking a photo) the mirror gets out of the way - it rises to allow the image to reach the sensor (red, below) where the image is captured.

For detailed info on sensors see "Sensors explained" from What Digital Camera (online).

This is a twin-lens reflex camera (TLR). One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is used for the viewfinder system, which is usually viewed from above at waist level.

How does the DSRL work?

The image is seen in the eyepiece because

Light from the bunny travels through the lens
hits the mirror
is reflected up to the prism
where it is seen by the eye.

When the shutter is pressed (as in taking a picture)

the mirror (green) rises up thereby allowing
the light from the image to go straight to the shutter which
in turn opens and closes allowing
the light from the image to now hit the sensor!
The sensor captures the image.

The camera now stores that image.

More about shutters, Aperture and sensors later.

There are numerous articles online

"How cameras work",

"Inside a DSLR camera" ,

"How to understand your DSLR" - very good intermediate level.

Some articles are easy to follow for a beginner - many are not.

As I said at the outset there are two areas we plan to cover

1. getting to know your camera and

2. exposure.

The bottom line!

It's up to you to learn how to operate your camera.

Start with the basics and practice.

There are so many camera models out there, don't be surprised if "knowledgeable" photographers do not know how to operate your particular model.

Some cameras are more complicated that others.

If you only take the camera out once a month - you are not serious about learning.

You don't need to know all the buttons and wheels to start with - just the basic ones.

Which ones?

Very basic: On/Off; Zoom the lens in and out; Focus; Shoot in Auto; view images on the LCD screen; Delete one image/ format the card;

Basic: Shoot a video; View the video / delete the video; Shoot in Aperture priority; Shoot in Shutter speed Priority.

Can't I skip all this - put my camera in AUTO and shoot away?

Of course you can.

But ... would you drive your new car in second gear only?

Why bother with Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO?

Because without them you will be very limited with what you can produce with your camera.

In "difficult" lighting you and the camera will struggle to get the shot.

If I was a Beginner right now thinking of getting into photography what camera gear would I buy?

I want very good value and I am not going to spend big - because I don't know for certain that I will take to this photography lark -

I would buy a second hand DSLR camera and the best glass (=lens) I could afford.

Example: Nikon D80 camera can be bought for E200 2hand -

Lens - 50mm 1.8 first choice. A quality lens with many uses - about E150.

Excellent portrait lens; Very usable for street photography and even landscape.

Canon EOS 40D E300.

Armed with a camera and the 50mm lens I would then start shooting and learning.

This is the versatile 50mm 1.8 - small but a quality piece of glass..

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3. The Mirrorless camera.
Also know as CSC - compact system cameras.
In 2009 Olympus launched the first mirrorless camera - the Pen E-P1
A mirrorless camera does not have a complex mirror system like DSLRs have.
So they are smaller, lighter and mechanically simpler.
Yes but sometimes the lens can be BIG - outweighing the advantage of the small body.
They match DSLRs when it comes to photographic features, controls and image quality.
The Canon EOS 5D has 50MP chip while the Sony Alpha A7R 11 has 42.5MP.
DSLRs and mirrorless cameras come with a choice of full frame sensors or APS-C sensors.
The full frame are the biggest and offer the best quality.
The image sensor of the MFT measures 18x13.5mm about 30% less than APS-C sensors.
The MFT uses a 4:3 ratio while most DSLRs use 3:2 ratio.
The battery life of a DSLR is much better than a CSC camera.

You get more for your money with a cheap DSLR than with a cheap CSC.
At enthusiast and pro level the differences almost disappear.
CSCs are probably the way forward.

Here is a brand new model from Olympus. It is ideal for a beginner and enthusiast.
It is called the

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III and costs about €800

For a great video from Jimmy Cheng on that camera from Click - HERE

Tony Northrup does a very good VIDEO (+1 hour long) on the Olympus E-M1 mark11

Covering everything you need to know to get started.

Click HERE to go to that video now.

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4. EXPOSURE : Controlling the light.

Exposure is the amount of light allowed to fall on the sensor during the process of taking a photograph.

The amount of light allowed to enter your camera is controllable.

We can have a lot of light or very little light.

On a very bright day we need to cut down the amount of light entering the camera - otherwise our picture will be overexposed = too bright.

On a dark day we do the opposite. We allow more light to enter the camera - otherwise the picture will be dark = underexposed.

How do we control the amount of light?

We have two main controls

1. the shutter and

2. the aperture (the opening in the lens)

plus the ISO if needed.

Changing any one of these three will affect the exposure.

We will now look at all three light controls

Shutter

Aperture

ISO

starting with -

The Shutter : Control 1

In the above image the light (red arrows) enters the lens - bounces off the mirror (green) - around the pentaprism (black) and the image is seen in the eyepiece.The shutter (blue) is closed.

Here at the moment of shooting The mirror (green) has gone up out of the way

the shutter (blue) has opened and

light hits the sensor (red) creating the image.

1. Explanation Where exactly is the shutter? The shutter is a curtain in front of the sensor inside the camera - (blue above) which opens and closes allowing light to hit the sensor.

When we take a picture the shutter opens allowing the light to pass through to the sensor as you can see above in "moment of shooting" diagram. Both the Mirror and Shutter get out of the way in diagram 2 and allow the light to go straight to the sensor.
See the shutter in the first image - it is closed.

If you want a very detailed description of the working of a shutter in a camera look here.

The Shutter

In the first diagram above Light from the subject enters the lens (red arrows) - hits the reflex mirror (green) - is then reflected around the pentaprism to the eye piece where we see what we are about to shoot.

Notice that at the moment of shooting we cannot see what we are shooting.

OK so how is the shutter a control over light entering the camera?

A shutter in front of a window keeps the light out.

The shutter in front of the sensor keeps the light out.

I can tell the camera how long I want the shutter to remain open!

This is referred to as Shutter Speed.

The longer it is open the more light enters to the sensor.

I can set a shutter speed of 1/400 of a second = fast.

I can set a shutter speed of 2 minutes or 2 hours etc. = slow.

Shutter speed is easy to understand.

What is the shutter?

Simply put, a camera shutter is a curtain in front of the camera sensor that stays closed until the camera fires. Fires = we press the button to take a picture.

It then closes immediately.

The shutter opens and closes at a certain speed.

Only when light gets through the shutter to the sensor can the camera capture an image.

So no light - no image.

Too much light and the image is - too bright = "burned out" - all white (Overexposed).

Too little light and the image is very dark (Underexposed).

In AUTO mode the camera decides the shutter speed.

So in auto we can never shoot the dreamy long water exposure like this:

by john Hooton

In very bright conditions we will want that shutter speed to be fast.

Why? So that not too much of the bright light enters the camera.

The faster the shutter the less time light has to get into the camera sensor.

In darker conditions as in an indoor shot we will slow down the shutter speed because the longer the shutter is open the more light enters the camera.

Shutter speeds can vary from hours to 1/8000 of a sec.

How do we get to choose the shutter speed?

Select Manual mode (M) and we can now select any shutter speed we want.

How?

On the camera body AUTO on the mode dial is where Auto is found - as in picture below.

The white marker (right) on the camera body below shows that AUTO is selected.

To select Manual rotate the wheel until M comes to the marker.

This is the MODE SELECTOR WHEEL.

By rotating it you select the desired mode e.g. M is Manual mode.

In auto mode the camera decides the shutter speed and Aperture.

The wheel can be rotated to engage any of the modes as in P, S, A, M, portrait, macro (the flower), action (the runner), Landscape (Mountains) and night time.

Let's not knock AUTO mode. In many cases the camera makes good decisions on the shutter speed needed and you get a well exposed picture. Not all the time ....

I will explain the modes - P, S, A and M later.

You will find this Mode wheel on some Compact and all DSLR cameras.

(see ONLINE "Understanding Digital Camera Modes" for more details.)

So if we are in Manual mode we can control the shutter speed ourselves.

e.g. we can tell the camera to open and close the shutter in 1/100 of a second exactly.

Practical How do you select and change the Shutter Speed on a DSLR?

1. Using the Mode wheel above select M for Manual.

2. Now find the control wheel (SP) (some cameras may have just one wheel).

This picture shows two control wheels - one to select and change Shutter speed (SP) and

the other to select and change the Aperture (A)

Here they are

(Note: A is not the On/Off switch - it is in front of that.)

With wheel (A) you can change the Aperture; rotate the wheel

With wheel (SP) you control the Shutter Speed; rotate the wheel.

In this camera an Aperture of f/9 and Shutter Speed of 1/100s was selected.

Take lots of shots at different shutter speeds until you

a) fully grasp the effect of changing shutter speed and

b) know how to change shutter speed quickly.

DON'T mess with Aperture until you have got shutter speed sorted.

There is another method of selecting Shutter Speed.

We will deal with that when we look at the Mode Wheel (below).

Aperture: Control 2

The second control we have on the amount of light that enters the camera is the Aperture.

1.. Explanation Aperture refers to the size of the opening in the lens.

f/2.8 the opening in the lens is big. A lot of light can get through ..... dark day/Indoors etc.

f/22 a very small opening. Light will be slow to get through .... sunny day/very bright.

This hole in the leaves (also called blades) of the lens is the Aperture. We can tell the camera what size aperture we want depending on the lighting conditions.

The various sizes of opening are called stops.

These stops are denoted by f-numbers.

Now get your head around this .....

the smaller the f-number the bigger the opening!

As you can see f/1.4 is the biggest aperture for the above lens.

f/8 is the smallest aperture.

If you are in Manual mode you can change the aperture by changing the f/stop settings.

f/stops numbers vary depending on the lens.

Practical

HOW do you change the aperture? By rotating Control wheel (A) (Picture above).

If you are indoors set the shutter speed to 1/20s and leave it there.

Using control wheel A select an Aperture e.g. f/5.6. Take a shot.

Select a very different Aperture e.g. f/16. Compare the two shots.

EXPERIMENT Keep working on experimental shots until you

a) are fully aware of the brightness effects of changing the Aperture and

b) you can change quickly.

Don't rush it!

You now have two very important controls to play with - Shutter speed and Aperture.

If you are still in doubt about what they do - revise back.

Take shots in Manual mode changing both the Aperture and Shutter speed like this-

f/5.6 @ 1/30s; f/5.6 @ 1/60s. Compare the two shots.

f/7.1 @ 1/40s; f/7.1 @ 1/15s. Compare the two shots.

Go outdoors and experiment with different settings.

Question!

Why do we need more than one control over the amount of light entering the camera?

If Shutter speed does the job why complicate matters?

Because we get different effects depending on which controls we use.

Hang in there all will be clear - soon!

Photographers usually want a well exposed image every time - (not always).

Using Shutter speed and Aperture we can control Exposure.

We can control how much light enters the camera so that we get a well exposed image.

A well exposed image is neither too bright or too dark.

The dark areas should have some detail and the bright areas should not be blown out (no detail).

Part of the sky and the lighthouse in Overexposed image below are "blown out" - all detail is lost.

In the first image below we have an over exposed image

the bright part of the sky just above the mountains is blown out - has no detail.

Same with the lighthouse.

We can see the difference in the second image - well exposed.

The sky detail has been captured and the light house looks better.

What would cause the image to be overexposed?

Too slow a shutter speed - allowing too much light in or too big an Aperture = too big an opening in the lens allowing too much light in.

Above is an under exposed image - no detail in the dark areas.

(Please note that if this is the effect that the photographer was after - no problem.)

Here is a variation on that

ISO: Control 3

ISO determines how sensitive the image sensor is to light.

(International Organisation for Standardization)

It can be set in the camera Menu.

AS you see here it is at ISO 400.

In many cameras now there is a fast access button to ISO - where you press the ISO button on the back of the camera and rotate the (SP) wheel to change the ISO value.

Use ISO 100 if possible.

Because High ISO can cause NOISE.

Noise appears in an image as grain.

Low ISO gives better quality Image.

ISO may range from 50 to 100000.

In very low light - inside a church / night photography

increasing the ISO will allow you to get the picture.

Practical:
Note: in these exercises we are not concerned about camera shake.

In manual mode indoors set the lowest f number you can like f/3.5.

Set the shutter speed to 1/20s. and the ISO to 100.

Take a picture.

Keep the same aperture and shutter speed and start changing the ISO.

How? Hold down the ISO button and rotate the control wheel.

Get ISO 400 and shoot again.

Try ISO 800. Compare.

Problem - At a slow shutter speed like 1/20s you will get camera shake and blur if you are hand holding the camera.

So I need to get to at least 1/100s to avoid blurred pic.

How?

As I increase the ISO I am getting brighter pictures. So I don't need to keep the shutter speed down.

At ISO 1000 I can now increase the shutter speed to 1/100s.

At this new shutter speed I will get a sharp non-blurred picture.

To take an indoors shot without flash you may need ISO 1600 or more.

To take a late evening shot outdoors a high ISO may help.

So these are the 3 Exposure controls Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO.

Aperture may take you a little extra time to grasp.

We have looked at the 3 controls of light.

Do we need to print the shot to see if we got it right? No.

We can view the shot in the LCD screen of the camera. We can use the enlarge button (+) to examine areas of the shot. On a bright day this does not work very well.

Better to use the Histogram.

What factors influence our choice of Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO?

Examples:

I am hand-holding the camera (i.e. no tripod) - therefore I need a shutter speed of at least 1/100s to avoid getting a blurred image. If it is a bright day and I am shooting outdoors then this is not a factor because there is plenty of light.

Explain. If it is very bright I will most likely be shooting at a fast speed like 1/300s. - otherwise I may overexpose the image = too much light allowed in.

If I am shooting portraits outdoors in this light and I want to blur the background I will choose a big aperture like f/4 or f/2.8 if available.

If I am shooting a seascape or landscape I want a small aperture like f/16. Why? Because I want everything to be in focus (see Depth of Field below).

Lets say I am indoors doing a still life shoot. Because I have the camera on a tripod - camera shake is not a problem. I choose a large Aperture f/4 - because I need plenty of light.

I am shooting car light trails at night - I want a slow shutter speed so that the light trails are visible. A fast shutter speed would freeze the lights and there would be no trails visible.

5. The Histogram

Can we check exposure just after taking a shot?

Yes we can.

Bring up the photo on the LCD screen (back of camera)

Use the Selector button to bring up the Histogram

This is a "good" histogram - the dark graph is centered.

The left side represents the darks in the photo.

The right side represents the whites in the photo and

the middle represents the midtones in the photo.

Less exposure; explain how.

There are 2 usual ways to get less exposure.

They are Shutter Speed and Aperture.

1. Shutter speed;

Less exposure = less light because the image was too bright = "lack of any blacks".

So lets say you shot the photo at 1/100s f/8.

I can change to 1/150s. This is faster = less exposure - not as bright.

2. Aperture;

I can leave the shutter speed as is and change the Aperture.

So at 1/100s the photo was shot at f/8.

I change to f/11. This is a smaller aperture = less exposure.

It is very important that you understand all of this - so here it is again!

The left side of the above histogram (graph) represents the black/darkest areas of our image.

There is no black above - because the graph does not reach all the way to the left.

The centre of the histogram represents the mid-tones of the image.

The right side is where the white/brightest areas are represented.

Not only does the graph reach the right side it is stacked up against the wall.

This means that the shot is overexposed - too bright.

So what do you do?

Change the exposure. How? Example 2

Lets say you shot at 1/40s. at f/11 and ISO 100.

You have 3 options to remedy the exposure problem.

Option 1: Change the Shutter speed to a faster speed. Why?

So less light gets in. Example - change to 1/125s or 1/150s.

Option 2. Change the Aperture to a smaller opening. Explain.

The shot was taken at f/11. A smaller opening would be f/16. Less light.

Shoot the scene again!

Option 3. ISO may also be an option.

So we have 2 or possibly 3 choices to correct exposure when not in Auto.

These are Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO.

If I am shooting at 100 ISO I will not be able to darken the shot using ISO as this is likely to be the lowest ISO on camera.

But if I am at ISO 1600 I can now go to something like ISO 600 to darken the image.

Auto ISO in P, S, A, and M modes.

{Everything you see in Purple is slightly advanced and not essential to the beginner - at least not until you have mastered the rest. A line like this marks the end of the purple area. ________________________________________________________________________

Auto ISO doesn’t appear on the ISO settings list, but you still can enable Auto ISO as a safety net.

Here’s how it works:

Dial in a specific ISO setting. If the camera decides that it can’t properly expose the image at that ISO given your current aperture and shutter speed, it automatically adjusts ISO as necessary.

To get to this option, select ISO Sensitivity Settings on the Shooting menu and press OK.

On the next screen, turn the Auto ISO Sensitivity option to On. The camera will now override your ISO choice when it thinks a proper exposure is not possible with the settings you’ve specified.

It is likely in your camera that you can set a maximum ISO when choosing Auto ISO.

So to avoid noise I might select 800 as a max ISO when using Auto ISO.

This is set in the Shooting Menu.

ISO choices are important.

They allow you more scope when choosing a Shutter Speed / Aperture combination.

Explain:

The picture below (Nasim Mansurov) was shot at 1/2000s. at ISO 800.

If ISO 100 had been selected on the camera he would have needed 8 times more time to capture the shot. This would be 1/250sec.

SO? Well at that speed the foreground bird would have been blurred.

Why? Because the birds were moving fast. So to freeze the action 1/2000s. was needed.

And to allow enough light (ISO sensitivity) ISO 800 was needed.

Recap: Use ISO 100 when possible to avoid noise.

Auto ISO is a useful setting - where the camera decides and selects a suitable ISO

Get familiar with the Shooting Menu on your camera.

Know how to fast change the ISO on the camera body.

(End of Purple piece).

_________________________________________________________________

The Water Bucket Analogy

This is just a different way of looking at the 3 components of Exposure and how they interact with each other.

The tap is the aperture or the amount of light control.

The water is the light.

The filled bucket is the final image

At f/16 it is open very little and so it takes 4 secs.(shutter speed) to make the image.

At f/11 light gets in faster through the bigger opening and so takes 2 secs. to make the image.

f/8 is the biggest aperture above. The image is captured in 1 sec.

Are all 3 images the same?

Stephen Pottage has a video on the water bucket analogy - online.

Exposure - The Water Bucket Analogy on Vimeo

10mins. long - Very good but goes beyond basics.

If you can follow it you have have the full picture!

Homework! Practical

Put your camera in Manual Mode (M on the mode wheel).

Outdoors take a picture lets say at 1/100s at f/16. Look at the Histogram.

Stay with f/16 and change the shutter speed first to 1/200s and then to 1/400s and 1/800s

As you view the image on the LCD screen notice the change - they are getting darker because you are allowing less time for the image to be captured. Look at the changes in the Histogram also.

Stay with f/16 but change the speed to 1/60s; then 1/25s. and 1/10s.

Now the image is getting brighter as we allow more time for the light to enter the camera.

Less time = Darker More time = Brighter.

Still in Manual mode :-

Repeat the exercise but this time we will keep the shutter speed - at 1/100s but change the Aperture up and down and notice the effect. Look at the histogram each time.

Low f numbers = bigger opening = Brighter.

High f numbers = smaller opening = Darker.

This is basic work but very important so that you realise the effect of making changes to Aperture and/or shutter speed.

Ok it's time to get back to the wheels and buttons now that you know why we are making changes.

I am going to point you to some good videos.

It may be that there are video tutorials on your exact model of camera.

Nikon have done this for all their main models - brilliant videos; see

"Nikon Digitutor"

Nikon: Shutter speed Priority = S; Aperture priority = A;

Canon: Shutter speed priority = Tv; Aperture priority = Av.

Canon 550D youTube

Canon 550D Training video - Beginners guide to photography 3 parts

Great video once you have some understanding of Aperture and Shutter speed.

Part 2 of the video deals with the Mode wheel and Depth of Field.

6. Depth of Field (DOF)

This is an easily understood concept.

I mentioned earlier that we get different effects depending on which exposure control we use.

The controls are Shutter speed, Aperture and ISO.

Enter DOF.

If all of your landscape image is sharp (in focus) you have a large DOF.

If very little of your portrait image is in focus you have a very small shallow DOF.

The landscape shot below has a large DOF. This results in everything in the photo being sharp.

The portrait has a small DOF. Only the girl's face is sharp.

This is deliberate so as to increase attention on the main subject which is the girl's face .....

Aperture and DOF are closely connected.

Important points:

1. To have everything in focus use a small aperture like f/16 = large DOF.

This results in everything from the shrub to the far away clouds being in focus.

This means everything can be in focus. (I say "can be" - you do have to keep the camera steady etc).

This is a usual landscape Aperture.

2. To have the model only in focus use a large Aperture like f/4.

The background and foreground are now out of focus so as to focus the attention on the subject -

the model....... f/4 = (small DOF)

Practical DOF.

You are out shooting landscape/Seascape shots.

Method 1. Put the camera in M mode. Select an aperture like f/16.

Select a shutter speed e.g. 1/100s. Take the shot.

Look at the Histogram.

If the image is too dark change the shutter speed e.g. 1/60s.

Method 2. Put the camera in A mode(Aperture priority) and select f/16.

(On a Canon camera Av is Aperture Priority mode.)

The camera will now try to select a suitable shutter speed that will result in good exposure.

Being the clever person you are - you see a problem here!

Let's say the shoot is happening at dawn or sunset = not much light!

Even f/11 may not be big enough Aperture. Then you have to rely on ISO. Explain.

Move the ISO up to 800 or 1000.

If Auto ISO is already selected that may work provided you have not put too low a ceiling eg ISO600.
What does that mean?
Well in the MENU it is possible to set an upper limit (ceiling) to ISO - if this limit is too low like 600 then the camera cannot select the necessary iso 1000.

7. CAMERA CONTROLS

The Mode Selector Wheel.

Usually on top of the camera..

I will deal here only with P, S, A and M and Auto.

P, S, A and M are referred to as the Creative zone while the rest are the basic zone.

AUTO Mode
In the above picture Auto is at the White marker and is therefore selected.

In auto mode your camera makes just about all the decisions for you.

Most of the time it does a pretty good job, even if the results are a little less than artistic.
If there is not enough light the flash will pop up.
The camera selects Apeture and shutter speed. You cannon select either.
Auto mode tells the camera to use it's judgement to select shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance and flash to take the best shot it can.

P is for Program mode.( not very useful)

Rotate the mode wheel until P is at the White marker -

Switching to program mode, however, allows your camera to make some decisions for you, but also puts three things in your control: the flash, the ISO value, and the white balance.

In P mode the flash will never pop up and fire automatically.

In P mode the camera is still choosing the Shutter speed and Aperture for you.

This is an outdoor shot and in Auto mode the flash would not pop up - because it is a bright day!

But we want the flash to eliminate shadows from the model's face

and so we press the Flash button

Can I take pictures in low light without the use of flash?

Taking an indoor portrait shot with flash can result in very unflattering images.

But instead we can up the ISO settings from say ISO 100 to ISO 800.

How do you change the ISO?

Press and hold the ISO button (1) while simultaneously rotating the command dial wheel.

You should see the ISO value changing in the LCD status screen (3).

NB Don't forget to return the ISO to 100 when finished - otherwise the next occasion you take your camera out you will have ISO 800 selected!

A is for Aperture priority mode. (Very useful) (Av on Canon cameras)

Rotate the wheel so that A is at the white marker.
You set the Aperture and the camera sets the Shutter speed to match.

You would use this mode when attempting to take control of Depth of Field (DOF)

Let me remind you again. Aperture is the size of the lens opening - the f/numbers.

f/22 will give a very big DOF (landscape). f/4 will give very small DOF (model).

So in A mode you set the Aperture and the camera will set the shutter speed to match.

As you change the Aperture the camera will change the shutter speed - clever!

S is for Shutter Speed priority mode. (Very useful) (Tv on Canon Cameras)

Rotate so that S is selected.

You set the shutter speed and the camera sets the Aperture to match -
as determined by the camera's meter.

S gives you control over how you capture a moving subject.

For example a racing car. At 1/2000s. the car motion will be frozen.

At 1/125s we get a desirable amount of motion blur - suggesting speed.

M is for Manual mode. (Very useful)

Rotate so that M is selected.

Here you decide both the Aperture and Shutter speed.
= full control.
*********************************************

ONLINE see Lifehacker ........ "Master your DSLR camera, Part 2: Manual mode and more".

Very good article taking in Shutter, Aperture, DOF, and ISO.

Manual mode gives you complete control of your camera.

You make all decisions - Aperture and Shutter speed.

There are two wheels that we need to connect with on your camera

1) The Main Command dial and 2) the Sub Command Dial.

Rotate the Main Command Dial to select the Shutter speed.
In the above image a shutter speed of 1/100s has been selected.

Rotate the Sub Command Dial to select the Aperture. Here f/6.3 has been selected.

In the control panel window on top of the camera you will see the changes as you rotate the wheels.

P, S and A are sometimes referred to as semi-automatic modes. They benefit from starting you close to the correct exposure. When shooting street photography, sport and night photography your ability to get the shot at the right moment is more important that nailing the exposure - so semi automatic modes make sense.

Example: A landscape shoot at Dawn with tripod.

I choose A mode (Aperture mode) and ISO 100.
I set it to f/22 - a small opening to get a big Depth of Field (because I want everything to be in focus). The camera picks the Shutter speed - let's say 5s.

I fire a shot and look at the result on the camera LCD.

I look at the Histogram.
If the picture is too dark
I can change the ISO from 100 to 400 or,

I can go to Manual mode (M) and select 7 secs. or f/16.

7 secs. = more time = more light = brighter.

f/16 bigger opening (than f/22) = more light = brighter.

As you know by now all 3 - Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO are changeable.

It was very dark when I shot this on a Dingle beach before sunrise.

More ONLINE reading: "Digital camera modes" by Darren Rowse

"Understanding Digital camera modes" Nasim Mansorpy

Ronan Palliser's Blog see his A2Z photography guide.

Ronan is a member of Dublin Camera Club.

You may find an online tutorial specifically for your camera model. If not there are many tutorials and uTube videos that will be close enough for you to follow and adjust as needed.

"The right way to set up your camera" Digital Camera World covers the following:

Quality control - shooting in RAW.

Setting ISO.

Setting White Balance (WB)

Setting camera mode

Setting Metering mode

Setting focus mode

The LCD screen

The SLR camera Simulator - Brilliant.....

You will find it online - Looks like this:

You can set the Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO on this simulator!

You set the Lighting conditions indoor or out

Your lens goes from 15 to 55mm

Choose Aperture or Shutter speed priority

Choose to use a tripod or not

Take the picture and see the result!

Under the girl you see the chosen Shutter speed, Aperture and ISO.

The important bit is in the centre - the Exposure compensation dial.

From -2 through 0 to +2. Objective = 0 in the middle.

When centered you have possibly got it right! See more on this below

But remember the girl is moving - so if you shoot at 1/6s even on a tripod you will get a very blurred image. You need at least 1/60s to get the girl sharp.

THIS IS BRILLIANT!

When you fully understand all the workings of this Sim you have arrived!

Shoot Example 1.

Subject: - Indoor shot of an oil painting.

(This is my copy of the painting "A young girl Reading" by Jean-Honoré Fragonard.)

Camera in A mode (Aperture Priority = where I select the Aperture).

I put the camera in A mode and select an Aperture of f/3.5

The camera will choose a shutter speed to fit in with my chosen Aperture.

Because it is fairly dark indoors - I need a big opening (A) = f/3.5 ISO at 100

(DOF is not an issue here.)

I take a shot - the camera selected 1/3s. @ f/3.5. This is the shot

The exposure is ok but the shot is totally out-of-focus. Why?

Because I was hand-holding the camera at the very slow speed of 1/3s.

So I get "camera shake".

I put the camera on a tripod and shoot again at the same Aperture and Speed.

I used a remote control to fire the shutter to reduce the risk of blur from camera shake.

Now that I know that 1/3s at f/3.5 works I can play around with other settings.

I could change the ISO upwards to get a brighter image.

I could use the camera flash.

I could go into M mode and change the aperture and/or the shutter speed.

In AUTO mode the camera fires the flash because it needs more light. This is the result.

This is why I don't use AUTO .

ONLINE Interested in Landscape photography?

1. "Landscape photography from idea to execution: free photography cheat sheet".

from Digital Camera world.

(Left click to zoom in on the pages). To go there now click HERE

2. "10 quick landscape photography tips" Digital Camera World.
To go there now click HERE

3. "26 landscape photography tips every pro still uses" 2 pages Digital Camera World.

To go there now click HERE

After you have studied Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO

Have a look at this excellent YouTube video (10mins) to recap.

ONLINE DSLR basics: Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO Photo EXTREMIST

Part 2 deals with White Balance.
The link is > HERE

Time for some terminology explanations.

White Balance "Introduction to WB" by Darren Rowse (Digital Photography School)

WB can be selected and changed in the Menu of your camera.

8 LENS

Undoubtedly the most important element of your camera is the lens.

Not all lens were created equal - there are cheap plastic lens and there are solid well made lens.

Camera bodies go out of date - a good lens does not.

This is why very many people when buying a new camera choose to buy "body only" and then go after the best and most useful (for them) lens they can afford.

Zoom lens. This is a 28-200mm zoom lens. On the right it is collapsed to 28mm.

On the left it is at 200mm - to zoom in on a subject. So the zoom lens has a variable focal length.

The Focal Length of the lens is the distance in mm from the glass in the lens to the sensor when focused on a subject at infinity.

A lens with a shorter focal length (eg 28mm) will be able to "see" a wider view of a subject than can a lens with a longer focal length (eg 200mm), which would see a narrower view of the scene, but at a higher level of magnification.

First picture 18mm below shows the angle of view from a focal length of 18mm.
It is a very wide view favoured a lot by landscape photographers.
As the lens is zoomed out the view gets narrower.
At 300mm we have zoomed right in on the red shed which is scarcely visible at 18mm.
That is why sports and wildlife photographers need a long zoom - 300 - 600 mm plus.

Wide angle lens

A lens like the popular Sigma10-20mm is popular with landscape people because it is a wide angle lens (and not expensive). Wide angle means that it covers a very wide angle of view - so more of the scene is included in the photo. Here is a wide angle shot taken at 10mm.

A telephoto lens refers to a higher magnification lens that is able to direct a narrow but magnified view of a scene to the camera's image sensor > 300-600mm lens. (Sport and Wild life)

Prime lens - the focal length is fixed. It does not zoom in or out. So to frame your subject you have to walk to the subject - because you cannot zoom in.

Below is the Nikon 50mm 1.8G (Great portrait lens).

YouTube "How to use prime lenses on your Digital DSLR".

It is very small, yet regarded as a fantastic value quality lens.

Prices vary dramatically. Here are a few examples.

You can buy a "kit lens" like the 18-55 for £90.

Landscape photography:

Good value Sigma 10-20mm less than Eur 500

Top of the range Nikon 24-70 2.8G ED lens Eur 1700

Canon 24-70 F2.8L Eur 2249
Nikon 70 - 200mm f/2.8 Very heavy and pricey.
Nikon 70 - 200mm f/4 Much lighter - better value.

"I am a beginner - what lens do I need for my dslr camera"?
1. 50mm prime lens f/1.8 (Portrait lens) and
2. Something like 18-200mm for everything else.

Hey man that's 2 lens ... I said lens singular not lenseses!
Then it would be something like the
Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM or the
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
Tamron have a 28-300mm also
Sigma have an 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

CAMERA and EXPOSURE

Just come across some excellent videos from Nikon to-day.

ONLINE "Learn and Explore - Nikon".

then Scroll down to "Digitutor".

Here you will find very comprehensive video tutorials on 14+ Nikon DSLR models and 3 of their Nikon 1 cameras.

They cover everything and if you happen to own one of the featured cameras all your questions are answered. Just follow along with camera in hand.

See All topics A-Z

Even if you don't own a Nikon or one of these models most of the information is universal across many camera models.

Soft focus with the eyes pin sharp photo by Ray Wewerka

Lens used: 18-200 at 135mm.

Flash fired.

Aperture f/2 1/200sec. ISO 100

Shoot Example 2

Subject: Orchids

Some dark day indoor fun ........

Set up some flowers on a table - can be in a jug - a flowerpot.

I put the camera on a tripod because I will not be using flash and it is relatively dark indoors.

So the shutter speed will be slow. If you handhold the camera at a speed slower than 1/80s you will get camera shake no matter how steady you think your hands are.

Best to use a remote to fire the shutter - so no hands.

Yes Vibration Reduction (VR) does help.

I could up the ISO from ISO 100 to 800.

This is my picture.

It would have helped if I was more careful with the black background!

and this is the camera screen (LCD) showing the data connected to that shot.

The Histogram on the right is ok - there is a good spread of light from blacks to white.

The shot was taken in Manual at 1/8s and f/4.2 using ISO100.

By now you have downloaded Picasa3 - still free!

In Picasa you can crop the image /brighten/add borders / email and more.

This is the "Finished " image. I have done a little painting, blurring and added a border.

So I am showing off now ....

Only to demonstrate a point

10 years ago I knew nothing about photography. I still have lots to learn.

Take your time and learn the basics well.

Only then can you take this hobby to any level you want.

I know it's boring but here again are the basics:

1. Learn your camera controls by practicing with the camera in hand

2. Study Exposure - Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO until you fully understand it all.

3 Metering Modes

Matrix, Centre-weighted and Spot metering.

Knowing how metering works and what each of the metering modes can do is important because it helps with getting the exposure right with minimum effort.

When you don't manage metering modes you may have some images that are too dark and more too bright and you won't know why.

What is metering?

Metering is how your camera determines what the correct shutter speed and aperture should be, depending on the amount of light that goes into the camera (and the sensitivity of the sensor.)

Every DSLR has a built-in light meter which measures the light coming into the camera and sets the best exposure based on that information.

If you put the camera in Manual mode (M) and point it at a bright light and then away from the light - in the viewfinder you will see the the bars below (red circle) moving

As you point it at the light the bars go to + telling you there is too much light.

(Not very clear above + plus is on the left and - minus on the right.)

Here is an interesting and very useful exercise "Center the meter".

As you point the camera at something dark and the metering bars go towards "-" put your thumb on the Command Wheel and change the Shutter speed until the meter centres.

Alternatively point at something very bright. The bars will show "+". With the sub-command wheel change the aperture until the bars centre.

Exposure compensation.

So you can correct the exposure with either Aperture or Shutter speed compensation.

a) Centre-weighted - where a circular area of the scene is used to correctly expose the shot. Good for more difficult lighting where there is bright light either at the back or front. Allows you to go right in and focus on the subject in the middle of the scene.

b) Spot metering - where the circular area is a very small spot which gives you more control of exactly what you want to expose for. Useful when the light is difficult and the subject is small. Allows you to get deeper into image than centre-weighted.

Canon cameras may call this Partial metering

c) Matrix metering - which uses an average calculation of the whole scene and all the light in that scene to make a calculation on what the exposure should be. This is a good all-purpose metering mode to use; good for portrait groups and general shooting.

Canon call this mode Ev = Evaluative metering. It is the default setting on most cameras.

When in doubt use Matrix.

Online article on Metering HERE

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Landscape Photography.

Normally you are looking to shoot a balanced image with good exposure for sky and land.

We don't want to blow out the sky (= loose detail in the highlights) nor do we want to loose detail in the shadow areas.

1. Set the right metering mode Matrix or Ev.

With matrix the light meter will assess the whole scene.

2. Set the mode wheel to A or Av. = Aperture priority and dial in an aperture of f/16.

This aperture will give you a big Depth of Field - which means that everything in the shot has a chance to be in focus. Focus about a third into the shot.

If you have a foreground interest e.g. a rock - focus on that.

3. Ideally the camera should be on a Tripod. Zoom in/out to get the exact composition you want.

4. Take the shot and look at it in the LCD display. If it is too dark you can

a) change the shutter speed to allow more time or

b) change the aperture to allow more light in e.g. f/11 or f/8

c) change the ISO from 100 to 400 or 800

d) Use the Exposure compensation button.

What is the Exposure Compensation button you ask.

Exposure compensation is an easy way to correct for improper exposure.

What does that mean in English?

If your picture is either too dark or too bright you can correct using this button.

Well the button which will be on your camera looks like the above with a Plus and Minus on it.

You press this button and then rotate the Command wheel to make an exposure change/compensation.

Depending on the camera you use you may be able to access the Exposure Compensation bar above by pressing the info button. Otherwise you will see it at the bottom of the view finder window.

So if this is not centered as above I can make changes to center it.

I can change the Aperture or the Shutter speed or the ISO

remember The DSLR camera Simulator above.
This is the end of the PURPLE piece.

FILTERS

Filters in my opinion are an essential part of a landscape photographer's kit.

What are they? Camera filters are transparent or translucent optical elements that alter the properties of light entering the camera lens for the purpose of improving the image.

I will only speak of the types of filters I use. These are: -

1. The Neutral density Graduated filters.(Grads).

2. Neutral Density filters.

3. The Polariser.

Let's look at the Grads first. The first grad below is a 3 stop hard grad (left) and the second is a soft grad (on the right).

In the soft grad there is a gradual change from dark to light.

In the hard grad there is a sudden change from dark to light.

Graduated refers to the fact that there is a Gradual decrease in darkness from top to bottom.

The Graduated filters like the one on the right is so called because it graduates from dark at the top to clear at the bottom. Top left is a hard grad - giving a clear line that separates clear glass from 3 stops.

The Lee system consists of the following:

Adaptor rings, Filter holder, Neutral Density filters and Graduated filters. The rings screw onto the lens - e.g. 72mm ring for a 72mm lens.

So yes you need a different ring for various size lens.

The Filter holder clips onto the ring - it fits all the ring sizes.

The Neutral Density filter is completely dark glass. Here are the various pieces >

The circular piece on right is a Polariser.

Here is what the assembled Lee filter setup looks like on a camera.

See ONLINE for full details

Lee filters are expensive!

There are alternatives e.g. Kood, Hoya, Hitech, Hama, Cokin.

More detailed info "Cambridge in Colour - Camera lens filters";

ONLINE www.leefilters.com

ONLINE Photo Technique - Filters explained.

ONLINE How to shoot Landscapes at Sunset (with filters).

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Wikipedia lists over 101 genres of photography!

Included in these are recognisable ones like the following: Aerial, Black and White, Environmental, Fashion, Nature, Nude, Landscape, Portrait, War, Wedding, Photojournalism, Infrared, Sport, Wild life, Underwater, Stock, Street, Food, Documentary.

3 Examples:

Street Photography

It is the capturing of human activity in particular outdoor surroundings. Street photography is not about capturing the street rather it is capturing the soul and life of those streets. Most of them are candid moments. Street photographs are lively and have a story and moment in them. Many photojournalists are street photographers.

Floral Photography

It’s related to macro-photography and sometimes it’s a tedious task to find the good colorful blooming flowers with a complementing natural light

Wild Life

photo: Scott Linstead

Requires a super zoom lens eg 400+mm - a little luck and lots of patience.

Experiment with some genres - you might be surprised at what interests you. Since we have the right to pretty much look at and observe anything in this world, you would be forgiven to think you have the right to photograph it. Sadly this is most certainly NOT the case.

Infringement, Privacy and copyright - worth being aware of and beyond the scope of this blog.

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If you got this far well done. Email me with suggestions etc.

seankent1@gmail.com

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Faststone

http://www.imagingtips.com/faststone/

It is a free image browser, converter and editor.

It supports most major graphic formats and has very good features such as > image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping, color adjustments, musical slideshow and much more. Reports say that it more user friendly than Picasa.

We all need a place to put our images where we can seperate them into folders, and improve them etc.

Enter "Faststone" in your browser and then go to the "exe download" and click download and Download. Next click on "Save file" and open the file.

You get the Faststone icon on the desktop.

Down the left side I see my computer files. I select a file.

The photos from that album appear. This is Thumb nail view.

If you have no photos on your PC then you can connect your camera to your PC and using the first icon top left start to download photos from the camera to Faststone.

Faststone handles Video files also.

YouTube has excellent videos outlining all the features of Faststone like this one

ONLINE www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw9NaNLF7OQ

In Faststone you can adjust the light in an image / resize an image / crop an image / rotate the image / email and print / Clone / remove red eye / adjust colours and light / sharpen and blur / add a border to an image / Change the photo into a painting! / make a contact sheet showing many photos / and under "Help" you will find tons of tutorials (need to download).

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Landscape Tips

AIM ; You want a balanced pic with both land and sky nicely exposed, so the sky is not too bright against the foreground.

How to do it

1. Set the right metering mode to matrix or Evaluative so that the light meter in the camera is assessing the whole scene.

2. If you have a ND grad filter use it. An ND (neutral density) filter is dark on one half and clear on the other. Position the dark half so that it covers the sky. A 2 stop ND is the most useful = 0.6 ND.

3. Set up the camera. On the mode wheel select A or Av Aperture priority). Set a small Aperture like f/16 if you want the whole scene to be sharp. If you want the sharpness to be centered around a point of interest select an aperture like f/3.5.

Zoom in and out until you are happy with the composition - called Framing up.

Focus 1/3 of the way into the scene.

Use a tripod and a remote control to prevent camera shake.

(NB Check that the ISO is where you want it and not where you left it on the last shoot!)

4. Shoot and check. Review the quality of the exposure on screen. Check the histogram.

If the shot is too dark either change the Aperture or shutter speed or ISO or -

dial in Compensation. How? Hold the Exposure Compensation button (+/-) on the camera body and dial in (= rotate the main Command wheel) +0.3 or +0.7 stops of EV. This button will have a +/- on it.

Stela Tasheva

"A good photograph is knowing where to stand" Ansel Adams.

Yes composition is all important - knowing what to include and more importantly what to omit is critical in landscapes and seascapes. There is so much in front of you as you point the camera - only you decide how much to zoom in or out - include more sky or less - a lot of foreground or just a little - decisions, decisions. In general "Less is More" keep it simple.

You need to search for a good location. Having found a good location you need to search for the actual shot within that good location.

"Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment".

Study the work of landscape photographers. Here are a few of my favourites -

David Herreman

John Kent

ONLINE Digital Photography School "12 tips for Photographing Stunning Sunsets"

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Portrait Tips

AIM Lets say you want an atmospheric portrait with plenty of shadows and a dark background to give a moody artistic feel.

How to do it:

1. Position the subject by a window and put a dark coloured sheet behind them -or large bath towel.

Get them to look towards the light so that both eyes pick up the reflections. Keep the unlit part of the face in shadow.

2. Focus on the person's nearest eye. Get them to move until you are happy with the way the light falls on the face. Now they must remain still.

3. Set up the camera. Use Aperture priority and dial in the lowest f/number your lens will allow e.g. f/4. This will keep the DOF small and give you a fast shutter speed.

4. Check the shutter speed - you need at least 1/125s. to avoid camera shake or subject blur. If the shutter speed is too slow use ISO - increase the ISO value possibly to ISO800 until you then get the desired 1/125s.

Dramatic Backlit Portraits.

NYIP

How to use the sun to backlight your subject.

It creates a warm halo of light around the subject

An hour after sunrise or before sunset is a good time for an outdoor portrait.... "the Golden Hour".

The sun should be behind the model but not visible in the picture. Don't shoot directly into the sun.

If this portrait was shot in Auto mode the camera would expose for the bright background lighting. This would result in the model being underexposed (dark).

Explain: If you point the camera towards the sun (in Auto) as in this example it will "think" > way too bright - I better shut down the Aperture and also the shutter speed - otherwise I will produce a very bright, overexposed image. But shutting down like this the model is left in the dark.

1. Switch to Manual mode.

This avoids the camera overcompensating for the light and turning your model into a silhouette.

Use a wide Aperture like f/5.6 to get a small DOF.

Experiment with shutter speed - 1/125s.?

2. Focus:

Not so easy because the automatic focus on the lens gets confused with the light coming towards you.

Point the camera down to waist level to get focus - then set the focus.

Or shield the camera from the sun with your hand - focus on the face - take the hand away and shoot.

Overexpose a little because the camera will underexpose.

This will result in a darker better exposed portrait.

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ONLINE Backlit Photography 101: Secrets of Expressive Backlit Portraits

also Backlit Portrait Photography Tips by Danny Eitreim

How to Blur the background in a portrait shot.

200mm at f.2.8

What are the factors involved?

Use a wide Aperture like 3.5 or lower. The photo above was shot at f/2.8

Have lots of distance between the model and the background.

Use an 85mm lens or longer.

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Nature Tips

AIM a shot of an insect with some of its natural environment to give it context.

How to do it

1. Ideally you need a macro lens. But many telephoto lens like a 70-300mm allow shots up to half life size.

2. Set up the camera. Use Aperture priority mode and a medium aperture like f/8. This will give you enough DOF to keep the bug in focus.

3. Get low enough so that you are level with the subject -use a bean bag to support and steady the camera. Maybe lie on the ground! Frame up keeping some foliage in the shot.

4. Focus and shoot. Switch to Manual mode and focus on the head of the bug. You need a shutter speed of 1/150s. to avoid blur with a macro lens. You may have to increase ISO to get this speed.

Shoot 3 or 4 shots. Check the sharpness by zooming in on the bug's head. Keep shooting until you get a sharp image.

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Still-Life tips.

AIM Still life of fruit with gentle lighting and a background that compliments the subject.

How to do it;

1. Set up your studio! Pick a window with soft light - not direct light. Place a table near it.

2. Put the camera on a tripod. Use Aperture priority and a big aperture like f/3.5.

Zoom in - this will give you a small DOF - and a nice diffused look.

3. Set up the still life. Find a suitable backdrop eg paper, hessian sack, bread board - set the fruit on it. Check how the shadows are cast from the window light. You could use a white card to bounce light back on the subject.

4. Focus and shoot. Set the AF on a point of detail on the fruit eg a stem or skin.

Shoot and check the exposure. Experiment until you have 3 or 4 different images.

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Computer Problems.

Sooner or later our PC slows down - sometimes to a very reluctant crawl.

Download Malwarebytes - it is FREE.

(There is a Payfor version also.)

Save the download to your Desktop.

Above is the Malwarebytes icon you should see on your PC screen.

When you click on it you get this screen.

Choose "Perform full scan" and let it run.

When you click SCAN it will ask you which drives you want to scan. On your first scan choose all the drives you have. Always include C:\.

Don't sit watching it! Leave it run in the background and forget about it.

Objects detected will appear in RED.

I just scanned my C drive. It took 1hr.56min and 32sec.

Objects detected 1106.

Detailed easy-to-follow instructions ONLINE "How to install and run Malwarebytes on a Windows computer".

Section 1 finishes here

You may need need to click on "Read more" to continue onto Section 2.

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Photoshop Blog

If you are a beginner to Photoshop you might find my blog

on photoshop useful.

http://dccphotoshop.blogspot.ie

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Section 2 starts here.

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This section is aimed at the more advanced photographer.

Hyperfocal Distance (HD) :-

What is it and how to use it.

A hyperfocal distance chart is not just very useful. Some say it is essential.

We need to know where to focus and what aperture to use in order to achieve the DOF we want. In Landcsape Photography we want everything sharp. To do that we need to understand Hyperfocal distance.

HD is the distance at which if the lens is focused at - for any given focal length and combination of Aperture - everything from half that distance all the way to infinity will be sharp.

Example :- A 28mm lens has a HD of 3.3m at the Aperture of f8.

So if you have a 28mm lens focussed at 3.3m and locked off and stopped down to f/8 - everything from half that distance (1.7m) to infinity will be sharp.

The chart: -

Procedure

1. Compose and frame the picture.

2. Note the focal length of the lens you are using eg a zoom lens at 35mm focal length.

3. Measure the distance to the nearest object in the shot that needs to be sharp.

eg. an object 2m. from the front of the lens -

Double that distance to find the HD required = 4m.

I need 4m HD.

4. Use the chart to find the Aperture required to get the desired HD of 4m for 35mm - which is the focal length in use.

On the chart you will find that for 35mm at f/11 you get a HD of 3.6m - the nearest to 4m.

See chart above.

So if the lens is focussed at 3.6m at f/11 everything from 1.8m to infinity will be sharp.

5. On the camera set the Aperture to f/11.

6. Now manually focus the lens at 4m.

If there was nothing of interest in the foreground then all you would need to do is focus somewhere in the distance using any mid range Aperture.

But when you need maximum DOF to include a nearby object then you need to understand HD.

The chart is for guidance.

Give yourself more DOF than you need.

If the chart is telling you that you can use f/5.6 - go to f/8 or f/11 to be safe.

The invisible Black Backdrop.

This is SO COOL ...............

A UTube video by Glyn Dewis.

You would never think that this photo was shot in broad daylight without a backdrop.

Glyn's video will show you how.

Below is a video - click on the arrow to view.

Live view focusing.

{If you have Live View on your camera.}

Camera on tripod - for a landscape shoot.

Switch the lens to Manual focus mode.

VR off.

Activate Live view.

Open the lens to its Max. aperture e.g. f.2.8

Zoom in to the max focal length of the lens eg. 70mm on a 28-70mm lens

even though you might shoot the image at 28mm.

The image is now on the LCD screen at max focal length and max aperture -

Zoom in to an object in the image in Live view and focus the lens (manually) on that object

Come back out - recompose if necessary - go to the focal length that you will use e.g. f/16

The lens should not loose focus as you zoom in and out

NB Don't forget to change the Aperture - it was at f/2.8. Go to f/11 or whatever Aperture you need.

Check the diopter wheel.

Image sensors - Size matters

A 16MP compact is never going to be as a good as a 12MP full frame DSLR.

The size of sensor that a camera has ultimately determines how much light it uses to create an image. In very simple terms, image sensors (the digital equivalent of the film) consist of millions of light-sensitive spots called photosites which are used to record information about what is seen through the lens. Therefore, it stands to reason that a bigger sensor can gain more information than a smaller one and produce better images.

Think about it this way, if you had a compact camera with a typically small image sensor, its photosites would be dwarfed by those of a DSLR with the same number of megapixels, but a much bigger sensor.

Able to gain more information, the large DSLR photosites would be capable of turning out photos with better dynamic range, less noise and improved low light performance than its smaller-sensored sibling. Which as we know, makes for happy photographers.

See full article HERE

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APS-C what's that all about!

APS-C stands for Advanced Photo System type C.

It is an image sensor format of Size 25.1x16.7mm with an aspect ratio of 3:2.

This sensor size/type is used in very many DSLR cameras.

They are smaller than the 35mm standard film which is 36x24mm.

Because of this they are referred to as cropped sensors.

Compared to a Full-frame camera image quality is lower especially at high ISO values.

Crop Factor is a much used phrase!
It relates to APS-C lens formats.

Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony have designed lens for their cameras with a crop factor.

Most use 1.5x crop except Canon who use 1.6x crop.

Explain !!!!!

Example : A 28mm lens is a wide angle lens on a 35mm film camera or on a full frame DSLR.

But the same lens on a APS-C camera with a 1.6x lens factor becomes a 45mm lens (28mm x 1.6).

to be continued ...............

Post Production

Using Lightroom5 to manage your picture collection.

You need to be able to find your images on your PC.

Managing a picture library of thousands of images is a big job.

To find a cloud image; Click on Text - Any searchable field - Cloud.

Images must have a caption and Keywords

Narrow the selection; Cloud and Sky.

Lets say you want to use 3 of those images in a web page -

Go to Export - Export to a specific folder

Export as a Jpeg / Colour space Adobe 98 / 72 pix per in.

Another Search; Mountains

Mountain - Austria - or USA - or Ireland.

Another search ; Blue

The better your images are keyworded the easier to find.

Keyword and Caption all your images.

Processing an image in Lightroom 5. {Will demonstrate with an image asap}

Raw image.

Start - adjust Black and white points.

Make 2 different Raw conversions and fuse together: Foreground and sky.

Foreground - Exposure slider - sharpen - add Vibrance and Clarity.

Export to a folder and name it - Tiff 16 bit 300 dpi

Sky - Vibrance down - Clarity down - Darken sky so clouds stand out.

Export.

Open both the Raw conversions in PS.

Window / Arrange / Tile / 2Up vertical /

Dark image - Select all/ Edit/ Cut

Other image - Edit Paste.

CREATING DEPTH IN LANDSCAPE.

(from an article by M. Fyre)

Depth can be a powerful tool in photography. In out two dimensional world the illusion of depth, space and distance can make the viewer fell part of the scene and add an extra dimension to a photograph.

The usual formula is something like this: Find an interesting foreground; get the camera low and close to that foreground and use a wide angle lens. Putting the lens close to something in the foreground makes the foreground look big and by comparison things in the background smaller. So the lens creates an exaggerated size difference between near and far objects and our little brains interpret that as depth and distance!

Here is a wonderful image by fine art photographer Michael Frye to illustrate the point:

Michael suggests that this near-far look that is so popular today was not always so and because of its popularity photographers have stopped looking for other ways to create depth.

The artist Turner created depth using foreground, middle ground and background. This arrangement produces a size comparison. He used subtle convergence lines in the middle of the painting; he added smoke and haze. The nearby shadows are dark as is the nearby contrast.

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/01/23/creating-depth-without-the-wide-angle-formula/

Now that I have got you interested I am passing you over to Michael.

You can subscribe by email and in return will get his very informative blog.

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photography4u

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Beginners' Photography Guide

What are compact system cameras?

The best mirrorless camera in 2020: these are the best compact system cameras.

Click HERE

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III and costs about €800