Monthly Archives: November 2009

Back light

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When you see back light, you may want to try to use it if you can. That way you do not always get the same old same old.

When I was struck by strong sunlight coming my way at the show the other day, I shot this. I lined up the sun with the edge and used exposure compensation (“the +/- button”) of -2 stops to darken all but the rims:

IMG_2578

f/2.8, 1/640th sec, 32mm, on a 7D.

So what’s the scene?

These people are in fact merely lining up to get some free goat cheese samples. But this light makes it look a tad more dramatic, no?

Fire

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Do not forget to use motion in your pictures. Like this:

So I took that today with one hand – the other was holding a McDonald’s coffee, outside Henry’s School of Imaging in Toronto. I was about to go back in to do course two of the day.

Now, normally I would have gone to “Tv” mode (“S” on Nikon: shutter-speed priority). But with one hand and no time to lose that was impossible. So I rapidly did the following:

  1. Pop up the pop-up Flash.
  2. Zoom out to 16mm.
  3. I looked through the viewfinder at the street as the truck was approaching.
  4. I was in Av (Aperture priority) mode. So without the option of changing that while holding the camera with just one hand, I simply turned the Aperture setting up to to f/22, which I saw was what I needed to get to a shutter speed near 1/15th of a second. (I got to 1/20th: at that time time ran out and I left it there).
  5. Press the shutter!

All took about, oh, two seconds. And I hope you agree that is not a bad fire truck photo.

I bet you haven't all…

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…set your cameras’ clocks (all your cameras’ clocks) to winter time?

That is, if you live in Europe or North America or some other place where we use Summer and Winter time.

If you do, and you have not yet corrected your cameras’ time, then do it now. Otherwise your EXIF data will be wrong all winter. (Or summer if you live down under, but I do not want to hear about that).

 

ISO Rule of thumb

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What ISO setting to use? High is good for shooting without blur or shooting in the dark but gives you noise (“grain”). What is optimal?

The following may help.

If you do not use AUTO ISO, my rule of thumb for starting points is:

  • Outdoors, or when you are using a tripod: 200 ISO
  • Indoors: 400 ISO (whether or not you are using flash)
  • Problem light, such as museums or hockey arenas: 800 ISO

You can vary from there of course, but you will not be far off.

Here’s an 800 ISO handheld image (it won me a media award):

Let there be light

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Yes.. but what type of light?

One reason light is such a complicated subject is that there are so many ways of describing it; so many different aspects to light. You might think “it’s just photons”. Yes, but you can usefully talk about the light’s:

  1. Direction
  2. Intensity
  3. Dynamic Range
  4. Hardness
  5. Colour intensity
  6. Polarization

And also, in a picture, about such things as:

  1. Colour contrast: harmonious vs. contrasting colours
  2. High-Key vs. Low-Key light

All these properties can vary, so all these are useful ways to describe light.  “What is the light” should really talk about all six of the top ones… can you see the complexity yet? So we classify them together as “type”. This helps.. a bit. But it is an oversimplification.

In the coming months I will talk about these. For now, try to think in these terms and try to see how the property in questions changes your photos. As an experiment, you may want to do a high-low photo for each property.

Secret

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When you are shooting flowers, it has to be on a spring morning after a spring rain has gently deposited soft, gentle drops of spring precipitation on every bud:

Or, bring a little plant water spray, with glycerine+water. Just saying!

Crowds

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These are the crowds I like when I speak – this was at the recent Henry’s Photo Show at the International Centre in Toronto last month:

IMG_1499

That said – small classes also have their charm. Large groups make it easier for the speaker to see where the interest is – there is a “crowd spirit”, if you will – but small groups are much more individual in nature.

Either way, if you are interested in photography: today is a better time than ever for training. And it is more important than ever that you do it – a few hours’ training saves you years!

If you are new to digital photography, a course will teach you things such as:

  • Extras to add to your camera
  • How to Focus properly
  • How to use – and not use – the “scene modes”; and when to overrule the camera
  • How to use Exposure Compensation
  • When to use -and not use-  Flash

The kind of stuff camera manuals will never tell you.

 

 

 

A Better Battery Charger

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When you use AA or AAA batteries, like those in your flash, use rechargeables. But they lose 10% of their charge on day 1 and 2% each subsequent day. Worse, your batteries are NiMH so they have a “memory effect”.

The solution:

  • Only use conditioning chargers, like the Lacrosse. They discharge your NiMH batteries before recharging. Worth every penny.
  • Use low-discharge batteries, like the Eneloop batteries. They keep their charge.

Problem solved!

I have three of these Lacrosse chargers.

New strobes

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I have bought a few new strobes: 400 Ws Bowens “Gemini” strobes.

They come with two light stands and silver/white reflective/shoot through umbrellas, which is good. And these strobes work wonderfully.

These replace my older strobes, most of which died. That brand shall remain nameless while the maker has a chance to get back to me: I emailed twice and await a response. Fully 75% of the eight lights from that brand that I have owned died or started acting strange (like flashing by themselves, or refusing to flash at lower power settings). We’ll see if there is any response – only fair to give them that chance before I comment further.

Bowens, meanwhile, are good.