As suggested by my colleague Trilok, joined the photography group F8 couple of months back and took a beginner session on DSLR today conducted by the experienced professional photographer Joe Federico who is the owner of the group.
The session had so much of information but I have not clearly grasped the concepts deeply.The session was more on the techniques of photography and not the art of photography.Need to work on field to learn the concepts well.
As the class progressed, I realized more and more that taking a perfect photograph has lot of challenges and people are looking for perfect photographs, not just mediocre snaps that has some value.You don't really get points for having some of the things right - you need to get everything right.It is no cakewalk.For example, you could take a well composed profile snap of another student but get no points as you did not set the white balance right.Your picture did not capture his skin tones truly and you would not have realized it but for a class like this one.
Joe is an expert with lots of practical wisdom.The concepts are slightly unintuitive. For example shutter speeds are in fractions of seconds - 1/60 1/120 etc but when we talk about it, we say shutter speed of 60 / shutter speed of 120. For 18mm-55mm lenses, you need to keep your shutter speed lesser than 60. As I write it , there is an increase in clarity that 1/120 is faster than 1/60. It is counter counter-intuitive I guess. Higher the number, faster the shutter.It was difficult to follow the match as Joe kept loading in more and more information.I was looking at focussing completely on taking in the information from the teaching. the questions, any other insights, experiences etc but I could not keep pace - the math of 1/60 shutter speed and 1/22 aperture kept coming in the way.
As I re-read, I realize that I have already confused myself. You need to shoot with shutter speeds faster than 1/60 and not slower as I mention in the paragraph above.
Exposure triangle
-----------------------
There are three things that determine the exposure
1 - The ISO
2 - The Aperture
3 - The Shutter Speed
When you are about to shoot something, the first thing to set is the ISO.
Lens : Lens selection will influence the ISO.
ISO in film versus ISO in digital
-----------------------------------------
In film, ISO determines the grain size/count - Higher the ISO, more the number count.
In digital, ISO creates noise
Lower the ISO number, smoother the picture
Strobe : Light in the studio with knobs to control the lighting.
--------
Wide angle lens lets in more light and hence traditionally use lower ISO
Shutter speed is responsible for 99% of blurry pictures.
Av Mode(Aperture priority mode)
-------------------------------------------
You pick the F stop , the camera picks the shutter speed
Tv Mode(Shutter priority mode)
------------------------------------------
I select the shutter speed, the camera picks the aperture.
Shutter speed is in the body , Aperture is in the lens
-------------------------------------------------------------------
More light is less F number
Manual Mode
------------------
Set shutter speed
Set aperture
Aperture and FStop are the same thing.
With variable lens, you have variable FStop
When you zoom, the FStop automatically changes.
Lens and range of F numbers
--------------------------------------
The lens focal length ranges from 18mm to 55mm.
The F number ranges from (18mm)F3.5 - (55mm)F5.6.
More the F number , more the depth of field, less the light let in.
Lenses have a range of Fnumbers that they work in and even within this range, there is a subrange where the results are perfect
Shoot a graph picture across various F numbers and see how the results vary.
F8 as the sweet spot
----------------------------
F8 is the sweet spot that works for most lenses.
When you zoom , the Fstop automatically changes.
Lens with zoom 55-200
-------------------------------
Does not let lot of light in.
Wider the lens , more the area in focus.
You have good DOF when you have a wide lens
One eye in focus
----------------------
Joe narrated an incident where while doing portraits, he ended up with one eye in focus and one eye not in focus. Disappointed, on getting the DOF value, he sees that it is just 10th of an inch and that was the reason, the focus was off.
DOF calculator application
-----------------------------------
Very good application for calculating the depth of field.
Lens Blades
-----------------
In front of the lens, there are blades that close in as we change the aperture.
Sensor
-------
Sensor is behind the shutter. Based on how much the shutter is open , the sensor senses the light.
Aperture priority mode - Shutter speed changes as you focus on various points in the room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch the shutter speed on the left when you look through the view finder - half clicked and make sure it is faster than 1/60.
Shutter speed faster than 1/60 for F18-55 handheld no flash
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shutter speed should be one stop higher than the focal length : that is if the focal length is 55mm , it is best to put shutter speed faster than 1/120(1/60's next one).
Joe does not like shutter priority as a mode for shooting - Why?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shutter priority functionality is a functionality of the camera. The camera program does not know anything about the lens attached. So oblivious of the effectiveness rage of Fnumbers for the lens , the camera sets the Fnumbers a per it's math. The resulting Fnumbers can end up being out of range for the lens used but the camera keeps shooting and you don't know that your photos are incorrect.
Why is that this problem is not present for the aperture priority?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For aperture priority, the photographer sets the aperture. He knows the Fnumbers that work for his lens and there is no restriction on shutter speed functioning. The camera can close the shutters in it's full range where as lens cannot support exposure in full range of the camera
Flash freezes the subject
--------------------------------
Flash freezes the subject and hence for a 18-55 lens, shutter speeds as slow as 1/30 works fine.
When you shoot vertical, be aware that left on top vertical and right on top vertical have flash light coming from different directions.
For flash photography, canon allows a max shutter speed of 1/200.
Exposure compensation
------------------------------
Based on your settings of ISO,Shutter speed and aperture, you may not have got everything exposed. If you want to increase your exposure, set exposure compensation to +1/+2 etc.
Silhouettes
--------------
If you want to take silhouettes , expose for the bright background , set exposure compensation as -2/-3 etc and get your silhouette
Flash exposure compensation
--------------------------------------
When you shoot with flash and if you want to change the exposure on the result, use the exposure compensation.
Auto focus points
----------------------
This was another interesting topic to learn. The camera lets you select points on the frame that you want the camera to autofocus on.
Servo motion focus
-------------------------
You focus on a moving subject and if the subject moves, keep pointing at it half pressed and the camera would continually focus on the subject.
Exposure : The challenge of getting exposure right for the entire scene
-----------------------------------------------
The light condition that the various points on a frame are in are different outdoors. The camera's light metering would do a weighted average and arrive at a value that as a whole works for the scene but there are points on the scene where the resultant exposure is far off.
Landscape as HDR
------------------------
High definition resolution photography is required to address the above challenge. You expose for clouds in a landscape and take your snap.
You expose for the trees and take another snap and then merge these snaps into one.
Flash for outdoor portraits
---------------------------------
For outdoor portraits, use flash so that the shadows go off / raccoon eyes go off etc.
**********************************
Raw unedited notes
The session had so much of information but I have not clearly grasped the concepts deeply.The session was more on the techniques of photography and not the art of photography.Need to work on field to learn the concepts well.
As the class progressed, I realized more and more that taking a perfect photograph has lot of challenges and people are looking for perfect photographs, not just mediocre snaps that has some value.You don't really get points for having some of the things right - you need to get everything right.It is no cakewalk.For example, you could take a well composed profile snap of another student but get no points as you did not set the white balance right.Your picture did not capture his skin tones truly and you would not have realized it but for a class like this one.
Joe is an expert with lots of practical wisdom.The concepts are slightly unintuitive. For example shutter speeds are in fractions of seconds - 1/60 1/120 etc but when we talk about it, we say shutter speed of 60 / shutter speed of 120. For 18mm-55mm lenses, you need to keep your shutter speed lesser than 60. As I write it , there is an increase in clarity that 1/120 is faster than 1/60. It is counter counter-intuitive I guess. Higher the number, faster the shutter.It was difficult to follow the match as Joe kept loading in more and more information.I was looking at focussing completely on taking in the information from the teaching. the questions, any other insights, experiences etc but I could not keep pace - the math of 1/60 shutter speed and 1/22 aperture kept coming in the way.
As I re-read, I realize that I have already confused myself. You need to shoot with shutter speeds faster than 1/60 and not slower as I mention in the paragraph above.
Exposure triangle
-----------------------
There are three things that determine the exposure
1 - The ISO
2 - The Aperture
3 - The Shutter Speed
When you are about to shoot something, the first thing to set is the ISO.
Lens : Lens selection will influence the ISO.
ISO in film versus ISO in digital
-----------------------------------------
In film, ISO determines the grain size/count - Higher the ISO, more the number count.
In digital, ISO creates noise
Lower the ISO number, smoother the picture
Strobe : Light in the studio with knobs to control the lighting.
--------
Wide angle lens lets in more light and hence traditionally use lower ISO
Shutter speed is responsible for 99% of blurry pictures.
Av Mode(Aperture priority mode)
-------------------------------------------
You pick the F stop , the camera picks the shutter speed
Tv Mode(Shutter priority mode)
------------------------------------------
I select the shutter speed, the camera picks the aperture.
Shutter speed is in the body , Aperture is in the lens
-------------------------------------------------------------------
More light is less F number
Manual Mode
------------------
Set shutter speed
Set aperture
Aperture and FStop are the same thing.
With variable lens, you have variable FStop
When you zoom, the FStop automatically changes.
Lens and range of F numbers
--------------------------------------
The lens focal length ranges from 18mm to 55mm.
The F number ranges from (18mm)F3.5 - (55mm)F5.6.
More the F number , more the depth of field, less the light let in.
Lenses have a range of Fnumbers that they work in and even within this range, there is a subrange where the results are perfect
Shoot a graph picture across various F numbers and see how the results vary.
F8 as the sweet spot
----------------------------
F8 is the sweet spot that works for most lenses.
When you zoom , the Fstop automatically changes.
Lens with zoom 55-200
-------------------------------
Does not let lot of light in.
Wider the lens , more the area in focus.
You have good DOF when you have a wide lens
One eye in focus
----------------------
Joe narrated an incident where while doing portraits, he ended up with one eye in focus and one eye not in focus. Disappointed, on getting the DOF value, he sees that it is just 10th of an inch and that was the reason, the focus was off.
DOF calculator application
-----------------------------------
Very good application for calculating the depth of field.
Lens Blades
-----------------
In front of the lens, there are blades that close in as we change the aperture.
Sensor
-------
Sensor is behind the shutter. Based on how much the shutter is open , the sensor senses the light.
Aperture priority mode - Shutter speed changes as you focus on various points in the room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch the shutter speed on the left when you look through the view finder - half clicked and make sure it is faster than 1/60.
Shutter speed faster than 1/60 for F18-55 handheld no flash
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shutter speed should be one stop higher than the focal length : that is if the focal length is 55mm , it is best to put shutter speed faster than 1/120(1/60's next one).
Joe does not like shutter priority as a mode for shooting - Why?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shutter priority functionality is a functionality of the camera. The camera program does not know anything about the lens attached. So oblivious of the effectiveness rage of Fnumbers for the lens , the camera sets the Fnumbers a per it's math. The resulting Fnumbers can end up being out of range for the lens used but the camera keeps shooting and you don't know that your photos are incorrect.
Why is that this problem is not present for the aperture priority?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For aperture priority, the photographer sets the aperture. He knows the Fnumbers that work for his lens and there is no restriction on shutter speed functioning. The camera can close the shutters in it's full range where as lens cannot support exposure in full range of the camera
Flash freezes the subject
--------------------------------
Flash freezes the subject and hence for a 18-55 lens, shutter speeds as slow as 1/30 works fine.
When you shoot vertical, be aware that left on top vertical and right on top vertical have flash light coming from different directions.
For flash photography, canon allows a max shutter speed of 1/200.
Exposure compensation
------------------------------
Based on your settings of ISO,Shutter speed and aperture, you may not have got everything exposed. If you want to increase your exposure, set exposure compensation to +1/+2 etc.
Silhouettes
--------------
If you want to take silhouettes , expose for the bright background , set exposure compensation as -2/-3 etc and get your silhouette
Flash exposure compensation
--------------------------------------
When you shoot with flash and if you want to change the exposure on the result, use the exposure compensation.
Auto focus points
----------------------
This was another interesting topic to learn. The camera lets you select points on the frame that you want the camera to autofocus on.
Servo motion focus
-------------------------
You focus on a moving subject and if the subject moves, keep pointing at it half pressed and the camera would continually focus on the subject.
Exposure : The challenge of getting exposure right for the entire scene
-----------------------------------------------
The light condition that the various points on a frame are in are different outdoors. The camera's light metering would do a weighted average and arrive at a value that as a whole works for the scene but there are points on the scene where the resultant exposure is far off.
Landscape as HDR
------------------------
High definition resolution photography is required to address the above challenge. You expose for clouds in a landscape and take your snap.
You expose for the trees and take another snap and then merge these snaps into one.
Flash for outdoor portraits
---------------------------------
For outdoor portraits, use flash so that the shadows go off / raccoon eyes go off etc.
**********************************
Raw unedited notes
Exposure Triangle
ISO
Shutter Speed
Aperture
Studio/Head shots
ISO is the first setting
Bright : ISO is 100 to 400
Lens selection will determine your ISO
100 – 6400
ISO : Speed of the film
Light sensitivity
ISO in film versus ISO in
Film : creates grain
Digital : ISO creates noise
Higher the ISO, more the noise
Lower ISO , smooth , less ISO
Every camera does not function the same
White balance is different for different cameras
Strobe : A light as in studio. Know to control the light
To do a sporting event, low lights
I pickup 800.
Wide angle lenses traditionally use lower ISO – more light.
Shutter speed is responsible for 99% of blurry pictures
Av for Canon
- Operator picks the F stop , camera picks the shutter speed
Tv(Shutter speed)
- I select the shutter speed , camera selects the aperture
- I don’t like TV. I would rather shoot manual.
Shutter speed is in the body
Aperture is in the lens
Aperture is like a window. Picture a window with shutters.
More light in allows you to shoot at higher speeds.
Bathroom window : F22
Ceiling window : F2.8
More light is less F number.
Manual
- To set shutter and aperture
- When you have a zoom lens,
- 18mm-55mm : Focal length
- Aperture and FStop are the same thing
- With variable lens, you have variable F stop
- 18(3.5 FStop - 22) – 55(5.6 FStop - 22)
- When you zoom , the FStop automatically changes
- 55-200 : Needs a lot of light
- F36 : Too little light
- Lens have range of
- F8 is the sweet spot of every lens
- Some lenses don’t work well across the Fnumbers
- Shoot a graph and see how the lens performs across Fnumbers
- F8 being the sweet spot, portrait decide what point to focus on.
- The bigger the number, the more in focus
- Smaller the number, less the area in focus
- Wider the lens, more the area in focus
- Big zooms, less the area in focus
Aperture
Smaller number : less in focus
Depth of Fields / Range of focus
When you have wide lens, you have good depth of focus.
One eye in focus
10th of an inch was the DOF : hence one eye is in focus, the other eye is not
Playstore : DOF calculator application
Nifty Fifties
Inside the lens , there are blades that close around the lens.
Shutter speed is in the body itself
You don’t see the shutter
Sensor is behind the shutter
Don’t fall below shutter speed 1/60 for 18-55 lens
70-200 : Shutter speed
Go to 18 and set F number in aperture priority
Metering system of the camera
Av Mode : Aperture priority. As you focus on different points to shoot, the shutter speed automatically changes.
Aim : Leftmost number when you look through the lens represents the shutter speed.
Shutter speed should be higher than your focal length.
Motion needs higher shutter speeds
18 had a higher shutter speed
At 55, shutter speed falls. That is critical. You want to have shutter speed greater than 60.
If it is not, change the ISO.
If it is not moving, you don’t need a higher shutter speed
Another test : Take picture , zoom in and make sure eyes are sharp
Aperture priority does not work always.Four different colors gives different shutter speeds. Camera just knows gray shades.Exposure compensation.
Exposure Compensation : Move to positive to make it brighter.
Shutter priority : Tv
Sports : You want higher shutter speed.
There is only a small range of Fnumbers that camera chooses.
Picture is brighter on the preview of the camera
It takes the picture but it might be dark
Running : 500
Kicking a ball : 1000
If lens is 70 , allowed shutter speed is 70 + 1 ( 100)
Exposure compensation :
You took a picture, not bright enough, press exposure compensation and do +1. You get a brighter picture
Sky : Do exposure compensation of -2.
Sunsets : -2 / -3
Meter mode :
Spot metering
Flash freezes the subject : So you can go to 30
Flash photography
1/60
F5.6
ISO 400
When you go vertical, keep in mind which side the flash is coming from.
Flash diffuser : Buy for specific camera model
Portrait 60
Walking 120
Doubling factor : 1 stop
60 to 30 one stop
60 to 125 one stop
125 to 250 one stop
Tripod : Keep shutter open for long at night time.
Bulb : Manual shutter : You hold it open.
Bulb is good for lightning : Hold , wait for the lightning, let it go
Use timer to not shake the camera
2 second timer
55 5.6/8 get as close to her. Have her far away from the background – 4 feet
Flash compensation : Use –ve
Silhouette : Go minus on your compensation
Bright light source behind the subject
Expose for the background : Half click and see the values on shutter speed
Focus Modes :
Most cameras picks up the closest object for focusing.
AF point selection : the magnify button : press hold – choose the point to focus
AI Servo : For motion
Digital cameras are like video cameras
Kelvin : Temparature of life
Inside : Warm
Outside : Cool
Auto : 3000 to 7000K
Auto won’t work outside the range
Custom white balance
Do the white balance test where the subject’s light is.
It is very sensitive. Do it right where the subject is.
Fill the frame with the white light.
18% grey is going to give the best white balance
Use candle to test custom white balance
Blue : Cooler
RAW : Data as it is.
JPEG : Finishes the processing of the raw data.
If you want to use photo editors, RAWs are better
Open , edit save multiple times on jpeg destroys the photo quality.
TIFF/PSD files can’t be destroyed
RGB : Millions of colors
Color Space : sRGB : 256K
sRGB is what Walgreens takes.
RGB : Different tones of reds than sRGB.
Contrast : White to black
High contrast : Black and white – no grey
Shadows
