PHOTOGRAPHY Tips AND IDEAS In this book most of the information was learned from other photographers over many years. I just want to share to you what they have shared with me. I do want to thank them all by sharing what I have learned from them. I do think as a photographers we all should try to teach,offer new tips and tricks! Photography is an art. My camera is like a paint brush with unlimited colors, shapes, and textures. My eyes are used to see the art and to find the subjects. Over the years of learning photography and understanding different techniques is a must for my art. Yes anybody can take a photo or a snapshot using the cheapest or the most expensive camera. However You must be able to see the art in your subjects. Also have the skills to create your artistic vision. You can learn the technical part of photography. Understanding all the rules is very easy. Seeing the art can be learned but it much harder. You will never please every Critic. Photograph what you love and enjoy your work. Take the positive with the negative but do not dwell over the negative. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas
Learning Techniques
Start using Raw. Raw will give you the best photo after you process the image, and raw can bring back a poorly exposed image. JPEG just cannot do that as well because you have less data to use.
With digital cameras there is no reason not to practice. How much does it cost to take a photo? Nothing unless you print it. Its always free not like the days of film. By all means shoot in auto. If you are new and do not have the confidence yet to get out of auto. To shoot in auto is better than not to shoot at all. You should take the time and practice to understand Aperture,Shutter, and Manual modes. ISO Measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain or noise. 100 ISO is the best in image quality. Higher ISO will give you more grain or noise in your image which reduces the quality of your image. Each brand of camera and model will perform differently so test your ISO to see how hight you can set your ISO and still get a usable image for your taste. Lets Say your camera ISO will goto ISO12800 will it at that setting give you an image that you like or is useable. Probably not, sorry to say.
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Here are a few way to get out of auto and to understand what it take to make a correct exposure. Going from auto to manual super fast. Use any auto mode you want to try. Set your camera to one of your auto modes. Use Full auto,portrait,landscape,close-up,sports, or night portrait. In one of your auto modes take a picture, look at the info of that picture. Now copy all those setting in manual mode. Take the shot in manual mode. If the lighting did not change or the speed of your subject did not change. Your auto mode should look just like the manual mode photograph. By practicing each mode out will help you to understanding your settings needed for the different types of photography subjects. As a bonus now your image can be in Raw instead of JPEG. This is great for someone who is brand new to photography. The best tip to get out of auto mode is just take time to learn by practicing each mode. I recommend starting with aperture mode. Your camera will have ( A or AV ) on your camera dial depending on your brand of camera. This mode you might be using most of the time. Next mode to learn would be Shutter mode ( T or TV ). After learning Aperture and Shutter mode head over to Manual Exposure mode ( M ). This will be so easy to understand and learn after learning Aperture and Shutter modes. Once you learn all three mode you will be able to handle any subject to photograph with ease.
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Use a tripod and fix your lens about 50mm. Use a non moving subject for Aperture. Make sure you have objects in your background. I recommend doing this in your house. Start with your widest Aperture f4.5 take a shot ,change your aperture to f5.6 take a shot ,keep changing your aperture till you go all the way to f22. Do not use auto ISO! Set your ISO to your lowest setting and keep that setting for all your shots. What did you learn without even looking at any of the images you took? What did you learn by looking at the f4.5 image compared to the f22 image?
Do you see how blurry the background is at f4.5 compared to the f22 background. 100 ISO was used for both of these images. Did you notice the shutter speed difference? With the aperture of f4.5 lets more light in so your shutter speed is way faster than using f22. At f22 very little light is let in so you need a much slower shutter speed. If you understand ISO, you could increase your ISO to get a faster shutter speed at f22 but this will increase the noise of your image.
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Lets move onto Shutter mode. Use a tripod and fix your lens around 50mm. You going to need a moving subject. Try running water in a sink with a spoon sitting under the running water to make a splash. Start with a fast shutter speed of around 1000. Take a shot . Go slower and take another shot. keep going slower and take shot till you get a 1 seconds shot. Use auto ISO! . Do not use flash. Tip extra lighting is needed for higher speeds. What did you learn?
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High shutter speeds need lots of light. Even using 85 watt cool light your ISO is very high also. Slower speeds need less light and low ISO. Also some window lighting help light this setup. A quick note on freezing motion. If you want to freeze motion, a speed light is the way to go. A few facts: Aperture controls Depth of field & Amount of light. Shutter controls Motion & Ambient light. ISO controls how sensitive your cameras sensor is to light & quality of image If you learned and understand how Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO works together. Thats the exposure triangle. Your camera uses all three to get a correct exposed image based on what the camera thinks it is.
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The real scoop on P Mode! P mode means Program Mode not Pro Mode or Professional Mode. Program mode is kind of like full auto mode with a few differences. One you can now shoot in raw, thats a plus. Also you can freely set your Auto focus points,Drive Mode,and your built-in Flash. This is part of the advance operations mode on the mode dial. This mode is very limited and I don’t think it give you enough for a creative exposure. My take on calling Advance Operations modes could scare new photographers away from using them. Yes they are more advanced then auto modes but the name could be scary for new photographers. I would like the camera manufactures to call this Creative Exposure Mode. This sounds less way less scarier than Advance Operations. A simple name change could make a big difference. What mode do you need to be in to take a creative photograph? It depends on your subject and how you want your image to look. Ask yourself whats more important in your image. Is Depth Of Field more important than Motion or lack of motion by freezing motion. Lets say Depth of field is more important than Motion! You would use Aperture Mode or on the other hand Motion is more important than Depth Of Field! You would use Shutter Mode. Here is the tricky one: You need a certain Depth Of Field and a certain Shutter Speed for the image you are trying to capture! This is when you use Manual Mode. Manual Mode will give you the most flexibility to capture the image the way you want it to look. Depending on the situation you may have to give up some Depth Of Field or Shutter speed even after setting them to get the shot in manual.If you have all the time in the world to get the shot. Manual mode is the way to go. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas
Depending on the type of photography you shoot will depend on what mode you use the most. Aperture mode may be the mode you use the most or Shutter mode could be goto mode. Maybe Manual mode is the one you use the most. Understanding all the mode is in your best interest for that just in case moments. I am not going into depth about Exposure Triangle. For your camera to make an exposure. your camera uses three things! Your camera uses ISO,Aperture,and Shutter to make an exposure. These are the elements used in the Exposure Triangle.
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Do it yourself gear! One gallon plastic ziploc bags are a must for your lenses and camera. The ziploc bags are used to stop condensation on the inside of your lenses and camera because of humidity especially going from very cold to very hot areas. Also great in emergency situations to protect from rain and dust.When traveling light one camera and one lens keep one with you that you can fit your camera and lens just in case of bad weather or have to cross a stream to protect your gear. You can Fill a bag up with dry beans or dry rice for a homemade camera support bean bag.
Cheap but works great camera and lens is safe!
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Above finished bean bag ,you can cover with fabric with a zipper on back side for easy cleaning.
Clear sandwich bags are also great to have for in-camera effects. Go old school and do it in camera instead of Photoshop. Here are two effects using a plastic bag. Tear a hole into the bag place the bag over your lens. Use a rubber band to keep the bag on the lens. The bag now will give you a soft focus look.All around your photo but your main subject is sharp. Another great effect before you tear the plastic bag. Color half with a permanent Blue marker, and the other half with a red marker. Now tear a hole in the bag like before. Now your edges of your photo will have a tint to them.
Also you can color the bag before you tear a hole in it!
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Rubber bands have many uses. One to hold things in place ( Plastic bags). Do you have an old but favorite lens that creeps out when you are walking or shooting down on a subject. One or two rubber bands will stop the creeping. Also the rubber bands creates friction that helps with macro shots. Use it as a prop( rubber band ball ) cover a model face to warp with rubber bands.
Duck tape has 1,001 uses so Google it. Here is one. Duck tape can be use to keep cords on the floor to stop models or your assistant from tripping on the cords at a photo shoot.
Keep an emergency blanket in your camera bag for safety on any hiking trips. You never know what could go wrong and be stuck over night it will keep you warm. Also in a pinch or on a budget you can use it as a reflector make a large frame and glue it, tape it, or clamp it with clothes pins. This was just a few sample pages! stay tuned for the full book.