Archive for category Tips

-1.3ev


Twenty Four

Originally uploaded by Scott Randolph

It’s a boring photo but a nice camera learning moment. Outside the forest the sun is shining brightly. About 30 feet into the woods the cover is so thick the temperature must have dropped 10 degrees. However, looking down at my legs I estimated two dozen mosquitos buzzing about looking for a quick meal.

I set up the tripod and mounted the camera. The camera is in Aperture Priority mode and set to f/20 for maximum sharpness. I screwed up the focus though. I focused on the bricks in the background rather than on the leaves and twigs in front of me. If I had done that then both the bricks in the background and the twigs in the foreground would be in focus. Oh well. That’s why this is a learning moment.

I snapped a couple of photos and the exposure was a bit out of whack. The forest was fine but, the sidewalk next to the building was blown out. I could tell by the blinkies. Blinkies is a tool built into many digital cameras these days where the parts of the photo that are too bright flash on and off. The camera is warning me that I needed to turn the exposure down a bit.

The easiest way to dial down the exposure is to use the camera button labeled with [+/-] symbols. I tried a couple of different settings and the first one to eliminate the blinkies as -1.3ev. If I were in full Manual mode this would be the same as increasing the shutter speed. Faster shutter, less light and the darker better exposed photo.

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Slim Jim White Balance


Six

Originally uploaded by Scott Randolph

You might have seen those expensive disks to set the white balance on your digital camera? ExpoDisc is one brand name that comes to mind. I like to use the plastic cap from a Slim Jim container. Most any white, semi-opaque lid will work but, test several out to find the one you like best. Some lids give your photos a cool (blue) tint. Others, like the Pringles lids, give your photos a warmer (red) look. To my eye the Slim Jim lid was just right.

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Selective Focus


Jenga

Originally uploaded by Scott Randolph

Today’s photo isn’t so impressive but, any day I learn something new is a good day!

My camera is a DSLR with the Live View feature. Live View is familiar to everybody who’s ever used a point and shoot camera. Live View has become so popular that many of P&S cameras don’t even have view finders anymore. However, this feature is new to DSLRs because the mirror normally blocks the view through the lens.

Withe the DSLR, the normal way to compose a shot like this is to look through the view finder, press the shutter halfway down to focus and take the picture. This scene is too busy and the light too low for the autofocus to work properly so I switched the focus to manual.

The depth of field is pretty shallow so you can easily see what I was focusing on but, looking through the camera’s viewfinder, I couldn’t see the “Jenga” text clearly enough. As an assist I turned on Live View and then – here’s my lesson for today – zoomed way in to the scene!

What’s really cool about the zoom feature is that I had already selected the closest focus point. Zooming in then zoomed in on that point. As I zoomed closer and closer then I could move the focus point over to the right and up a bit. I could now clearly see the Jenga text and dial in my focus exactly.

Cool huh?! Well, I thought it was pretty neat :)

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Digital Workflow

I was listening to the This Week in Photography podcast Episode #63 Resolutions and the guys were discussing their digital workflow. In other words, what do they do after downloading their photos from the camera cards to the hard drive.

Steve Simon’s workflow is somewhat similar to mine so I thought it best to write it down here. If I write down my workflow then I can edit it and revise it and memorize it until it becomes routine.  If it becomes routine then it becomes a task I can do quickly and efficiently and not one of those tasks I dread and put off till later.

My process is based on Aperture but, it works just as well in Lightroom or ACDSee or any other program that lets you manage your photos with keywords and/or rating systems.

My Digital Workflow:

  1. Import the photos into the software
  2. In the first pass toss the obvious losers. In Aperture press the 9 key which gives the photo a [X] rating hiding the photo from view.
  3. In the second pass rate keepers with 1 to 3 stars [Aperture keyboard shortcut - press the 1-5 keys to give the photos 1-5 stars].
  4. Rate killer photos  - ones good enough to go into a portfolio or enter a contest – with 4 stars. These are the photos that deserve your love when it comes to making adjustments.
  5. At the end of the year go back through all the 4-star photos and give the best of the best 5 stars.

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