More Satisfying Photos
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MORE SATISFYING PHOTOS
Teaching photography to beginners and non-photographers.
COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS INVITED!
By on Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 |
See something you like? Something you don't like? Have a question?
Have a testimonial? Leave a comment on just about any article or page!
EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT
By on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 |
I personally know several people who have a DSLR that cost more than
$1,500. Often that price is for the camera body alone and then the
price of the lenses is added on top of that. I think some beginning
photographers are scared away from getting an SLR camera because of:
* the price tag, and
* the seeming complexity of them.
First, let me address the second point. The number of additional
features offered in an entry-level DSLR is only incrementally greater
than what is found on high-end point and shoot cameras. Learning to
make use of those extra features is why MoreSatisfyingPhotos.com
exists. For very low cost, we’ll teach you what those features do
and how you can make use of them. From there on, the creative and
artistic possibilities are much greater than you’d get with a more
limited camera.
As for the price tag, let me tell you that my first DSLR cost me
around $650. That was for the body and two lenses. Most of the images
seen on our web site were taken with that camera and it’s one I
still actively use to this day. Since it came as a kit and that
particular model is no longer being sold, I don’t really have any
way of accurately knowing how much the body alone would have cost me
but I think it’s safe to say it would have been about $500. (Surely
the two lenses, both of which I also still use regularly, are worth at
least $150 for the pair of them.) The second camera body I bought cost
me less than $300. The third DSLR I bought cost me $300 and came with
a lens.
All told, I’ve bought three cameras and three lenses (not counting
lenses I’ve bought or made separately from camera purchases) and
still haven’t put out $1,500. In fact, if I shopped carefully
enough, I could buy yet another camera and lens and still not reach
$1,500.
So why would anyone ever pay that much for a camera? What does that
extra price tag really buy you?
GROUNDHOG DAY
By on Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 |
In the US, Groundhog Day (February 2nd) is perhaps the most
well-known and most popular of the "quirky" holidays.
This year, just five days after the "official" Groundhog Day, I had
my own personal groundhog day of sorts.
You see, I have a mating pair of groundhogs that live in a burrow
just outside my window. I would frequently have an apple or pear as
part of my lunch then throw the core out for them to find.
It seems that they love apples and pears. I've tried all kinds of
other fruits but none were ever as big a hit as the apple and pear
cores.
Once I figured out what they like and got them used to this idea that
I would throw out one core per day for them to snack on -- after all,
they are wild animals and I don't want to domesticate them by
providing all their food needs these are simply treats left for them
to find -- it was natural for me to set up my camera and try to
capture some shots. (That's my photography tip for the day: a
partially open window makes an excellent wildlife blind for back yard
nature shots.)
What could be cuter than watching these adorable little creatures
nibbling on a piece of fruit?
So, back to my own personal groundhog day I haven't seen them for
several months. A part of me knew that they went into hibernation for
the winter but it was still relatively warm when they disappeared. I
feared the worst.
Yesterday was a celebration when I saw one of them scurrying about.
Today, I packed an apple in my lunch.
THE SOUND OF THE SHUTTER
By on Monday, February 7th, 2011 |
In the earliest days of photography, all through the 1800’s and
well into the middle of the 20th century, the most common type of
shutter was the leaf shutter. These were found inside the lens on view
cameras and even some of the newfangled portable cameras that began to
spring up and grow in popularity throughout the 20th century.
The leaf shutter is very much like the aperture except that it closes
down completely to block out all light. It would be locked open to
compose and set up an image, then locked closed while film (or a
plate) was loaded, then tripped open to make the exposure.
The actual functioning of the shutter was very much like the way a
variable aperture operates. A series of overlapping leaves arranged
radially around the inside of the lens barrel would retract toward the
periphery of the lens. As soon as the smallest opening were created in
the center of the mechanism, it behaved exactly like an aperture in
that the rays of light entering the lens would bend their way through
the opening. Of course the opening would also get progressively larger
until, in a mere fraction of a second, it was wide open.
At the end of the exposure time, as determined by the shutter speed,
the blades would reverse course and contract back toward the center of
the lens. On the way in, they acted like an aperture mechanism again
right up to the point where they overlapped and blocked out the light
completely to end the exposure.
This system carries with it many inherent advantages. It also has
some disadvantages which modern technology only brought to light in
the latter half of the 20th century. The biggest advantage is that
EQUIPMENT RENTAL
By on Friday, February 4th, 2011 |
Some may wonder at the wisdom of renting camera equipment. There are
at least two good reasons why you might want to:
* Let’s say you are going on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation -- an
African safari or a cruise to Antarctica or a drive across the
Australian outback. Or perhaps that your son is going to the little
league world series. (How often is that going to happen?) You’ll
naturally want the very best pictures possible. In this case, rental
would get you a lot more (and better) equipment than you could
normally afford to buy outright.
* You have your mind set on buying a very expensive new camera or
lens but you’ve never actually used it. That can be a significant
investment. You should not make such a major purchase decision
blindly. Renting for even a few days is small insurance to ensure that
you will really and truly be happy with your new piece of equipment
and that it will do exactly what you expect it to.
* If you are a professional or part-time professional, there’s
actually a third reason that rental makes sense (though if you are a
professional you should already know about this and be sold on the
concept). That is, you may be hired to do a job which requires
specialized equipment. If it’s equipment you are unlikely to need
often, it makes a lot more sense to rent it than to buy it. You can
usually also add the cost of equipment rental (but not equipment
purchase) to your fee.
As equipment rental services go, I am in love with a photography
equipment rental service called LensRentals.com. I wish we could say
that we had an affiliate relationship with them but their business
philosophy precludes affiliate relationships. No matter. They are the
largest, and arguably the best, camera rental service out there.
You may be pleasantly surprised to see that they have an excellent
range of equipment on offer including “lesser brand” equipment
such as Olympus, Sony and Leica. (Many rental houses only carry Canon
and Nikon but nothing else.)
I checked out the pricing on two of my most desired lenses. In
general, a month of rental seems to be about equal to roughly 10%-20%
of what it would cost to buy a piece of equipment outright. They also
offer shorter rental terms, down to one week.
Bear in mind that shorter term rentals are much more expensive when
calculated on a per-day basis. For example, my #1 most desired lens
would cost around 5% of purchase price to rent for a week (insured)
but only about 18% to rent for a month (also insured) and only 25% to
rent for three months (insured). Of course I was looking at super
expensive ($5,000+) equipment. Checking out a much more modestly
priced lens which I bought for less than $300, I see they offer it for
rent (insured) for $112 per month.
Insurance is very important. Just like with car rentals, your
existing insurance policy probably will not cover rented equipment. In
the future, I'll discuss a special policy you can get that just might.
READY FOR SPRING
By on Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 |
I am so ready for winter to be over.
I don't know where you are or what it's like there but here in
Delaware, we've had a cold and unusually snowy winter. It's snowed
several times, often while there's still snow on the ground from the
previous time.
So, in the spirit of longing for Spring, today I'd like to just show
off photos of birds most of which were taken during warmer seasons. A
little jolt of color to help warm the senses.
Here's hoping that Spring is just around the corner!
BH PHOTO
By on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 |
We've long been customers and fans of B&H Photo in New York City.
I've even made the 125+ mile trek to visit their store in person. It
is a wonder! They have these very cool overhead tracks that carry
inventory from their basement warehouse-slash-stockrooms to individual
register stations. Everything about their operation is slick and
customer-friendly.
Is it any wonder then that they've started offering their weekly
sales ads in the form of a video snippet?
For the record, whenever I quote prices or values of any equipment,
B&H is my benchmark. When buying equipment for myself, I use them to
determine whether or not I'm getting a fair deal. There might
sometimes be lower prices to be had online if you look hard enough but
B&H is consistently the lowest priced reputable dealer on the web.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A NEW CAMERA
By on Monday, January 31st, 2011 |
Community member and previous workshop attendee N. DIXON recently
asked for camera shopping advice. "_In a few months I will purchase my
first SLR digital camera I am trying to narrow my choice but there are
so many good products out there I am really having a hard time making
a decision._"
She's right. When considering a camera purchase, most people look no
farther than Nikon or Canon. Those who have attended our photography
workshops know better. Attendees to our photography courses realize
that those are good brands and there are certainly legitimate reasons
to favor one or the other. They also know that, at the DSLR level,
there is no such thing as a "bad" camera. Every brand out there is
capable of professional quality results.
Very often, if you can bring yourself to be a brand-agnostic
pragmatist, better deals can be had by looking at alternative brands.
So what do you look for? I am frequently asked some variation of the
question “What kind of camera should I get?”
I never give a ‘direct’ answer. Because I can’t. At least not
without knowing an awful lot more information. Such as “What do you
want the camera for?” There are two separate inquiries implied in
that question.
* What role do you want this camera to play in your photographic
life? Is it to be something you can stuff in your pocket and keep with
you at all times? Or an upgrade to overcome deficiencies in your
current camera? A backup in case your current camera gives out? A
supplement so you can shoot with two cameras without having to switch
lenses?
* What kind of pictures do you most intend to take with this new
camera? Fast-action sports? Beach and underwater shots? Nature shots
while hiking? Your lover in the boudoir? The trinkets you hope to sell
online?
It’s important to seriously consider these questions. Doing so may
eliminate as many as 90% of the cameras on the market which may be
perfectly fine pieces of equipment but which will not suit your
particular needs.
The next important thing is to consider whether you already have
accessories or equipment that you might want this new camera to share.
That could mean a collection of lenses, a flash unit, spare batteries
or even an investment in memory cards. If you do have any such things,
your list of available choices will likely be narrowed to the point
where you really only have to consider the price you are willing to
pay.
Whether or not you have accessories you wish to use with this new
camera, the next big thing is to actually try out some cameras that
seem to suit your needs. How do they feel in your hands? Just last
week I held a different model of DSLR from the same manufacturer who
makes the camera I currently use and love. Although they were made by
the same company, I truly hated that other camera. It simply didn’t
feel right in my hands. It was too small and had no grip for me to
hold onto. The guy who owned it seemed to have an equal lack of
appreciation for my camera, which he probably thought was big and
bulky.
Aside from simple ergonomics, you should turn on the camera and
actually take some pictures with it. (I’ve never even heard of a
camera store that wouldn’t allow this.) Play with the functions and
menu settings. Do they seem intuitive? Try out a few different
cameras. Invariably, one will just feel ‘right’ to you.
One final note, buy the camera from the store that helped you out and
let you play with the different models. Sure, you might be able to
save yourself a whopping $20 by buying online. That, and another $20
might even buy you a tank of gas.
HIGH SHUTTER SPEED
By on Thursday, January 27th, 2011 |
Let's discuss a question from community member R. FRAGA, "_I thought
that a high shutter speed should only be used to photograph something
in movement but today I heard that high shutter speed is also used to
have more depth of field, is that right_?"
Shutter speed, in and of itself, really only controls whether motion
is frozen or allowed to produce a blur in your photo. However there
are several side-effects.
Specifically, as it relates to depth-of-field (sometimes called
simply DoF). Most photographers think only of aperture when they think
of depth-of-field but depth-of-field can be indirectly controlled even
in other modes such as shutter priority or scene modes like portrait
and landscape.
It helps to understand exposure. There are three basic building
blocks of exposure:
* how much light gets through the lens (this is most commonly
controlled by the aperture)
* how long the film or digital sensor is exposed to light
(controlled by shutter speed)
* how sensitive the film or chip is to light (this is the ISO
setting)
A change in any one of these requires that one or both of the others
also be changed in the opposite direction. If that weren't the case,
you would no longer get proper exposure.
Let's take for example, that you use a faster shutter speed (exposing
for a shorter time). If you don't let more light in or increase the
camera's sensitivity to light, your picture will come out darker. If
the camera opens the aperture to let more light in, this has the
effect of decreasing depth-of-field.
In your camera's preset scene modes, portrait generally aims for
narrow depth-of-field (when possible) and landscape mode aims for deep
depth-of-field.
IS THERE ANY WAY TO "FIX" A BLURRY PICTURE?
By on Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 |
This question comes to us in an email from valued reader L. JACKSON,
"_Is there any way to fix a blurry picture_"?
The short answer is not really.
Once a picture's been taken, there are only a handful of things that
can reasonably be done to it to fix minor imperfections. Correcting
blurriness would involve actually moving pixels from one location to
another. Even the best photo editing programs can't yet do that
reliably.
Having said that, all is not completely lost. Let's start by
examining what is meant by "blurry" and see if there's anything that
can be done. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least four
different kinds of "blurry". Each is slightly different and requires
different techniques to correct, whether at the point of taking the
photo or after the fact once it's already been taken.
The four types are:
* Camera movement
* Subject movement
* Focus problems
* Diffraction
These are listed roughly in the order from worst to progressively
less bad and also from most to least commonly seen.
CAMERA MOVEMENT is seen when hand-holding the camera (i.e. not using
a tripod or other support) and the camera moves while the picture is
being snapped. This is most common when using a telephoto lens or when
zoomed in on a faraway subject. Even if the camera movement is
imperceptible to you, that doesn't mean it won't register on the image
chip inside the camera.
Obviously the best solution would be to not move the camera while
taking pictures. Secure it on a steady support or practice good camera
holding technique. This technique varies, depending on the size and
shape of camera you are using but most important is to use two hands.
* With a compact point-and-shoot camera, hold your hands like a
letter "C" and a backwards letter "C", so that they enclose both ends
of the camera.
* With a larger SLR or bridge camera, wrap your right hand around
the right side of the camera's body and cradle the lens in the palm of
your left hand.
Once a photo has been taken in which there is camera movement,
everything in the photo will be blurred. Luckily, it will all be
blurred to the same degree and in the same direction. That means that,
depending on the amount and noticeability of the blurring, you stand a
chance of fixing, or at least minimizing, it.
There are too many variations and this is too involved a subject for
me to give detailed instructions on how to do this in either Photoshop
or GIMP. Just be prepared that, like the photo above, you may be
able to salvage something beautiful but it will never be perfect.
If you can't re-shoot the subject, learn to lower your standards of
what is acceptable.
Bear in mind that not all camera movement is accidental or a mistake.
Panning is a form of deliberate camera movement in which you follow a
moving subject to keep it in the frame.
SUBJECT MOVEMENT is equally self-explanatory. Even if you hold the
camera steady or have it firmly supported, your subject may move while
the photo is being taken. This would result in static portions of the
image, such as the background, being nice and sharp while moving
portions come out blurred.
When it's done for artistic effect, as above, the results can
actually be quite beautiful. If the blur isn't very obvious and very
artistic looking, it's likely a whole other matter.
Fixing subject movement is even more complicated than fixing camera
movement. It involves masking, layering and many cumbersome steps. It
is certainly not for the faint of heart.
The best way to avoid subject movement in your photos is to use a
shutter speed fast enough to freeze the motion of your subject. That
isn't always the very fastest shutter speed available. For instance,
1/125th second may be sufficient for a subject moving at walking
speeds.
If your camera doesn't allow you to control your shutter speed
directly, you may be able to trick it by shooting with a mode such as:
* Sports
* Action
* Children
* Pets
All of these modes tend to favor faster shutter speeds. They also
enable burst shooting; firing off a rapid sequence of 3-5 frames. This
will also help hedge your bets that you get a good shot.
Many may think that FOCUS PROBLEMS are a thing of the past in this
age of autofocus. Not necessarily so. A careful look at the photo
above will reveal that the point of perfect focus is actually on the
cat's back. That being the case means that his eyes are technically
out of focus.
This photo is saved by its depth of field. Most don't notice that the
cat's eyes are not the point of focus.
The easiest solution for preventing focus problems is to be careful
about where your camera sets the point of perfect focus.
Easier said than done.
Many cameras have dynamic focus points. That is, they have more than
one and will cycle through them, quickly deciding which is the "right"
one to use. Your camera's idea of the correct focus point and yours
may or may not be the same.
Not all cameras allow you to limit the focus points but many will.
Still, that may be more trouble than it's worth in some situations.
If you have blurriness in your photos caused by portions being out of
focus, and assuming the problem is minor, you may be able to salvage
the photo by using Sharpening or Unsharp Mask.
DIFFRACTION is the least often though of, and most poorly understood,
form of blurriness in photos.
Diffraction comes in more than one form. When taking photos,
especially at night with bright points of light in the frame, and the
aperture stopped down to an extreme degree (i.e. f22), can bring about
diffraction. The rays of light have to bend so far to get through the
tiny aperture opening that it degrades the overall sharpness of the
photo.
Usually this effect is slight. It can be resolved using Sharpen or
Unsharp Mask.
Another form of diffraction involves shooting into fog or other very
low contrast settings. Not much can be done about that, though it can
yield attractive results, as in the photo below.
Yet a third form of diffraction can be seen in the butterfly photo
above. This happens when something builds up on the front lens element
or filter. It could be dirt, oil, salt spray or, as in this case,
simple condensation. (The photo was shot in a rainforest-like
environment with high heat and even higher humidity.)
Cheap lenses (also used for the butterfly shot) may even cause
diffraction through their poor quality. Holga cameras have developed a
cult following for this very reason.
So there you have it. A multitude of different kind of blurriness and
the very few things you might be able to do about it. Which, all told,
is not much.
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