do you have specific camera questions?

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

Posted in general, my manual settings

4 Comments

Chris on September 3, 2010 at 12:32 am

Hi, there. First of all, love your blog. Thanks for sharing all this information with the world. :)
I have a quick (?) question… do you ever use diffuses? Or reflectors? If so, do you have an assistant?
I also notice that your use your 50mm quite often – I love mine too. But do you ever use wide angle lenses for your outdoor portraits? If so, which one?

Thank you!
Chris

Cori Derksen on September 7, 2010 at 1:27 pm

thanks for your comment. i use diffusers now and then when i’m in spotty shade outside. check out the post on spotty shade by searching with those key words. i use reflectors now and then indoors when i want to bounce natural light, but not on a weekly basis. i don’t have an assistant i just tweak my body to hold things and find creative ways of propping things up (or i use the dad or someone else standing around). i’ll post more on this maybe soon. i don’t have an professional wide angle, but that’s actually next on my list. :)

Amy on October 14, 2010 at 4:22 am

I have had this question forever thanks for this! I am having trouble shooting my constantly moving 1yr old. The camera takes too long to focus on him and by the time it does he’s gone. How can I get it to focus faster and stay focused on him? I even tried the sports option but the problem isn’t exposure so much as focus. (I have a canon t2i w/ 50 mm). Thanks your awesome! I wish I lived close enough for a workshop.

crissy on October 14, 2010 at 10:16 pm

is my camera broke?? this manual thing is killin me will my camera not focus because im using a factory lens?? also in manual mode on my canon right under my shutter speed, f stop, and iso is the exposure compensation it wont let me set it lighter or darker all it does is move them in equal spots on both sides it wont let me just go all the way right or left, sorry this is hard to explain..

Chris on September 3, 2010 at 12:32 am

Hi, there. First of all, love your blog. Thanks for sharing all this information with the world. :)
I have a quick (?) question… do you ever use diffuses? Or reflectors? If so, do you have an assistant?
I also notice that your use your 50mm quite often – I love mine too. But do you ever use wide angle lenses for your outdoor portraits? If so, which one?

Thank you!
Chris
Cori Derksen on September 7, 2010 at 1:27 pm

thanks for your comment. i use diffusers now and then when i’m in spotty shade outside. check out the post on spotty shade by searching with those key words. i use reflectors now and then indoors when i want to bounce natural light, but not on a weekly basis. i don’t have an assistant i just tweak my body to hold things and find creative ways of propping things up (or i use the dad or someone else standing around). i’ll post more on this maybe soon. i don’t have an professional wide angle, but that’s actually next on my list. :)
Amy on October 14, 2010 at 4:22 am

I have had this question forever thanks for this! I am having trouble shooting my constantly moving 1yr old. The camera takes too long to focus on him and by the time it does he’s gone. How can I get it to focus faster and stay focused on him? I even tried the sports option but the problem isn’t exposure so much as focus. (I have a canon t2i w/ 50 mm). Thanks your awesome! I wish I lived close enough for a workshop.
crissy on October 14, 2010 at 10:16 pm

is my camera broke?? this manual thing is killin me will my camera not focus because im using a factory lens?? also in manual mode on my canon right under my shutter speed, f stop, and iso is the exposure compensation it wont let me set it lighter or darker all it does is move them in equal spots on both sides it wont let me just go all the way right or left, sorry this is hard to explain..