Sunday, September 5, 2010
This picture was a quick snapshot. I didn’t want to miss the moment. My little boy was reading to his daddy in the morning. It was a story in bed and it was just so sweet. So there was no time to change the lighting. The windows were closed and that’s how they had to stay if I wanted to capture the moment. The overhead tungsten light was on, but that’s okay, that’s normal inside.
My manual settings for this shot:
ISO – 6400 (fortunately my camera has a pretty high ISO range. I can go up to 6400 to help with dark settings. It gets a bit grainy but not too bad.)
aperture – 2.2 (remember it was a darker room at the moment so I was looking to let in light, so I opened my lens up more to let in more light)
shutter speed – 1/160 second (again, wanted to let in as much light as possible, could have maybe even gone a little lower/slower shutter speed since they were sitting still… 1/125 or 1/100 would’ve probably worked)
Friday, September 3, 2010
I’ve recommended canon’s 50mm 1.8 lens to many people who are learning how to use their camera on manual. I’ve also been asked why a 50mm lens and what’s the difference between the various 50mm lenses that canon sells?
Why a 50mm?
- On a full frame camera (like my 5D mark II) a 50mm lens is similar to what your eye sees. It’s not more zoomed in or out. If your camera isn’t full frame (like a canon rebel) then the 50mm will be a tad more zoomed in than what your eye naturally sees.
- The 50mm is a very practical focal length. Can be used on kids, families, regular life stuff. Not the best for zooming in from the bleachers on tball games (because it doesn’t zoom), but for the rest, it’s great.
- Any of these 50mm lenses allow you to learn manual settings on your camera without limiting you. Suddenly you can shoot much better in low light settings. Suddenly you can get that blurry background, shallow depth of field look that you’ve always wanted. Where as, the difference is, with your kit lenses (which usually only open up to the aperture of f4) you’re very limited in learning about aperture and what it can do for you.
- It’s what I learned on and what was recommended to me early on.
- It’s relatively cheap for a good lens. (at least the 50mm 1.8 is)
There are a few differences in the 50mm lenses:
50mm 1.8 is about $100
I used to own this lens, great lens for a very low cost, allows a wide open aperture, fantastic to learn on because you are not limited in your manual functions, lightweight, made of plastic but still great.
More info at B & H Photo.
50mm 1.4 is about $340
I haven’t actually used this lens, seems similar to the 50mm 1.8, so I would probably recommend the 1.8 since it’s cheaper unless I had tried this and noticed a big difference.
More info at B & H Photo.
50mm 1.2L is about $1500
I own this lens and I love it, professional lens, fabulous color, sharp images, heavy duty high quality construction
More info at B & H Photo.
Does this lens zoom in and out?
No. It is a prime lens, a fixed length. Your zoom is your feet. I think you get more for your money with prime lenses and that’s why I use them. That and they’re fabulous!
What if I use Nikon or another camera other than canon?
There are 50mm lenses out there by other manufacturers as well. Check them out on B & H Photo. I know canon equipment and so I feel I’m able to recommend what I know. I have noticed that Nikon has a different focusing system so you’ll have to check that out to make sure you can use auto focus.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Do you want to learn how to use your camera on manual? There are only a couple more spots left for my workshop on Saturday, September 18th. This is likely the last workshop for 2010 due to the busy fall that is approaching. So, if you’re interested sign up now or read more details about it.
The details on where I took this shot:
This was taken inside with natural light. No studio lighting and no flash were used. The windows were north facing and the little boy was facing east. So the window light is coming from the right side of the picture. Therefore the right side (when looking at the picture) of the subject is lit up more and the left side of him has more shadows on it. Some people try to avoid shadows, but I happen to like them. They make images realistic. Flash filled pictures have no depth. Everything is lit up. When a picture has shadows it allows the face to look natural, like we really look… for real. I like that. :)
My manual settings on this shot:
ISO – 1600 (inside near a window)
aperture – 2.8
shutter speed – 1/160 second
camera & lens – canon’s fabulous 5D mark II and my 50mm 1.2L (my current favorite lens)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Remember aperture? If not, check out my definitions page. It’s the opening in your lens that allows you to do two things. One, it allows more light in and two, it controls your depth of field (how much is going to be sharply in focus in the background.
These two pictures below are taken at the aperture (also known as f stop) of 2.2. That means the hole in my lens is open up really wide, the hole is big. So, my depth of field behind my subject is shallow, creating a blurry background. The background is not sharply in focus. Right? So that’s a shallow depth of field. Make sense? These two pictures were taken with the same settings but a different focus point. When taking the picture on the left I focused on my little boy’s eyes. In the picture on the right I didn’t change any of my settings, but instead I focused on the donut. :)
My manual settings for this shot were:
ISO – 800 (inside the donut shop)
aperture – 2.2 (open pretty wide open for light and for a very shallow depth of field)
shutter speed – 1/250 second
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Do you have specific things you’d like to see on this bruises and bandaids blog? Do you have any questions or specific areas of confusion? If so, please leave a comment on this post letting me know what types of things you’d like me to cover on this blog. I would love for this to be a helpful place for you to continue to grow and learn your camera, it’s manual functions, composition, and how to see and use light. So…. leave a comment with a specific question. Too shy for that? Send me a private email message then through my contact page. If I don’t hear anything from all y’all people (assuming one or two people are actually reading my posts. Hee hee…hopefully) then I’ll just pick the topics myself and keep on going. :)
Until then, here’s a pic of my family on a little mini trip to the aquarium. I’ll let you in on how I chose my manual settings and why.
My manual camera settings for this shot below:
ISO – 320 (I chose 320 because it was inside the aquarium, but there was quite a bit of natural light coming through because it was essentially windows everywhere with a wave going over us.)
aperture – 4 (choosing an f stop like f4 allows all three of my boys to be sharply in focus and it also allows you to see a bit of what’s going on in the picture, expressions, some bubbles from the wave, etc)
shutter speed – 1/800 second (chose this shutter speed in order to make the exposure look right)
equipment – canon 5D mark II and my 50mm 1.2L lens
Thursday, August 26, 2010
I blogged about this little girl’s pics previously but only when referring to the color and contrast. This time I’m going to focus on composition and my manual camera settings.
These shots were taken outside in the full shade of a building wall. Full shade is the best! Especially for those who are still learning. It’s much more forgiving and easier to shoot in than sun and other tricky lighting situations. Look at the composition of this shot below. She fits into the rule of thirds here.
My manual camera settings for all three of these shots were actually the same:
ISO – 200 (morning, but in full shade)
aperture – 3.2
shutter speed – 1/800
In this picture below the little girl is front and center. It’s all about her and her sweet little smile.
Same location, but pulled back a bit so you can see all of her. She’s sportin’ just a bit of attitude and I love it. :)
Have you heard the term white balance? What is white balance? Have you ever seen pictures that appear to be too blue (“cold”) or too orange (“warm”)? The white balance is likely off.
Here’s an unofficial definition of white balance from my little definitions page…
White balance: Sometimes an image can look too blue or too orange, in these cases the white balance is off. The white balance is what creates the realistic color cast for your image. Just remember with accurate white balance, white color in real life should look white in a picture.
I happen to use a white balance target to create custom white balance in many situations. Not in all situations. But in many. In real, normal life… the part of life that includes swim lessons, birthday parties, bike riding, etc, I choose to use “auto white balance”. But in those times when I have an extra couple of minutes, I choose custom white balance. Here is a before picture of some white papers under some indoor tungsten lighting…
Then, I take a picture of my white balance target in order to show my camera what white looks like in this particular lighting situation…
And… then after changing a couple of settings in my camera (open your manual to see how to set custom white balance), then here’s the same shot in the same lighting…
Closer to true white. Right?
Saturday, August 21, 2010
This little miss did not want to sit still, gaze silently into my camera, and smile. She didn’t quite get it. I don’t blame her either. How is she supposed to understand my goals and what I’m trying to create as an end result. Really? No. That’s not how it works with kids. Especially one year old little ones. They’re just too young to understand what we hope to gain from them. However… they do understand treats, candy, games, clapping, songs, and other fun stuff. So, make it fun for them. Don’t make it a difficult frustrating time. And then after all else doesn’t go exactly how you were hoping…. be very flexible. When your photographing children you have to be flexible. I was hoping for huge smiles, but instead, this little miss offered me sweet observation. I’ll take it and I actually happen to love it. Right? She’s still beautiful. Gorgeous in fact. And it documents what kind of little girl she was at one year old…. quiet and maybe more of an observer than a jumping off the couch rambunctious kid. I don’t know this little one super well, but by this image, that’s what I would guess. A quiet observer. Those are pretty sweet moments too. So, capture them, with your camera…. as they really are, not forced into someone they are not.
My manual camera settings:
ISO – 320 (evening)
aperture – 2.8
shutter speed – 1/250
Thursday, August 19, 2010
It’s a bright sunny morning, 10:00am with the lovely bright summer sun. So, how do you take a photograph of a family without having everything blown out super bright and leaving way too many dark circles under everyone’s eyes? Well, here’s one shot that’s in the sun, not shade and here are my settings. I put my camera on manual and set….
ISO to 125
Aperture at 4.0
Shutter speed at 1/250 second
Using my favorite lens, the 50mm 1.2L
And I also pay attention to where the sun is at. I avoid having the sun hit directly on any of my lovely subjects’ faces, but rather have it a bit behind them, lighting up their hair in a way that almost makes it glow a bit. Pretty, huh? :)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
We had an awesome photography workshop today. It was all about learning how to use your fancy camera on manual (more details here). It was so much fun. Well, anyways, I thought I would share my favorite question of the day because I thought it would be quite applicable to all of you out there.
Question: “If you were going to by some camera equipment, what would you buy first? What’s most important to you to purchase?”
Answer: Assuming you have a good camera body, I would buy these things, in this order:
1. Canon’s 50mm 1.8 lens (or nikon, etc, but research to make sure it’s the right one) – approx $100 and well worth the moolah (usually amazon.com has the best price)
2. A second memory card. I don’t think it’s smart to only have one memory card. Life isn’t always perfectly planned ahead and memory cards are not cleared off and ready to go…realistically. (8 GB from costco is great)
3. A second camera battery. I also don’t think it’s smart to have only one camera battery. Again, life (especially if you’re a busy mom like me) isn’t always prepared and perfectly ready to go.
4. A UV lens filter, to protect your lens. It’s not to distort or make your images funky. It’s simply to protect your lens in case your camera is dropped or your lens gets scratched. ($20ish from amazon.com)
5. A custom white balance target. It usually runs about $39 on amazon.com and perfects the color tones of your image.
And… because every blog post is SO much better with a picture. Here’s a picture, just one cause I don’t have time for more, from today. This is Hailey, our little morning model. She took modeling really quite serious. :)
by Cori Derksen
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