Here are 8 things you should learn about your camera.

1. Where does unacceptable noise begin on your ISO range?

Your manufacturer says your camera can shoot a wide ISO range, but you won’t always want to do that. As you select a higher ISO setting, your images show more noise – bigger pixels. At what point in your camera does the noise become unacceptable? Take a series of pictures progressing to a higher ISO setting and compare. Find out before it really matters.

2. Where’s the sweet spot on your lens?

Just because the camera says 70 mm – 300 mm doesn’t mean it is sharp for that entire range. That inner limit where your lens performs best is generally referred to as your sweet spot. Do you know what that range is on your favourite lens? The only way to find out is to experiment.

3. What’s the fastest way to change your settings?

In many cameras, there is more than one way to change your metering, focus type, or white balance. If you are shooting and need to make quick adjustments, what’s the fastest way to do it? You never know when you might need to react without thinking, check your user manual.

4. Should you calibrate exposure?

Is your camera consistently shooting over or under exposed? Do you always have to dial in exposure compensation? This might be a good time to grab a grey card, (available from most camera shops) and practice getting your exposure correctly. Your default might be 1/3 stop under or over exposed.

5. How do you adjust your flash?

Yes, sometimes you will actually have to use your flash. With most DSLRs, you can adjust how the flash fires – normal, red eye, or rear curtain – or with what intensity. Do you know where to make those adjustments? It’s possible when you need them, you could be in the dark. Always good to know where to begin fumbling.

6. Do you have a reset routine?

When you finish shooting for the day, do you return the camera to any default settings? Do you check those settings when you pick up your camera for the day? You might come up with your own “start” settings that will work if you ever need to grab and go.

For instance, at the end of a shoot, you might return your camera to ISO 400, Aperture Priority f/9, Evaluative Metering, Exposure Compensation set to 0, and Auto White Balance. If you pick up the camera and run out in a hurry, you’ll be set to get most basic shots. The last thing you want to do is start shooting and find that your camera is still in last night’s extreme set up. Establish your own routine. Is it before the shoot, after, or both? When will you reset and what?

7. What’s your accessories routine?

When do you recharge your batteries? How frequently? What’s the routine for the tripod plate? When do you empty your memory cards? Simple organization routines can help you from ending up on a shoot with a dead battery or full memory card…or worse yet, a tripod with no plate.

8. What’s your workflow system?

What’s your organization system for your pictures?

 As you collect more and more pictures, a good tagging and filing system will save hours of searching later. That’s a good mindless exercise for a slow day.

 Knowing your tools is often a skill that makes the difference in your photos

Take the time to learn your camera when there is low pressure or expectations, like a weekend or over the holiday break. When you’re shooting high impact events, everything should flow naturally.

Shooting Through A Wire Fence

When standing behind a wire fence, trying to shoot an interesting subject can be a problem. It’s a challenge often faced when you’re at the zoo but you can also come across it when shooting at some sporting events car racing for example, or in some other random situations.
So how do you minimise the impact of the fence in your shots? Here are a few tips:
1. Switch to Manual Focusing, one challenge you may face shooting through any kind of fence is that your camera may not know what to focus on, the fence or the object behind it. Switch to manual focus mode and you’ll be in complete control of what is in and out of focus.
2. Get close to the Fence, ideally the best bet is to try to make the fence so out of focus that it can be barely seen in your shot. To do this, one strategy is to get up very close to the fence, so close your lens has no chance of focusing on it. It may not be possible to be right up against a fence an example could be photographing a lion at the zoo may mean you have other barriers in place for your own safety, but the closer the better.
3. Use a Large Aperture, choose a large aperture (making the number of your aperture as small as possible) will help to narrow the depth of focus and will hopefully through the lens even further out of focus.
4. Wait until your Subject is away from the fence, if for example your subject is moving around behind the fence; wait until they are a little further back from the fence to take the shot. The closer they are to the fence the more the fence will be in focus.
5. Position Your Lens to shoot “Through Larger Gaps” if the fence has largish openings you’ll do better to position these gaps in the middle of your frame.
6. Avoid Reflections, if shooting through a part of a fence where there are reflections from the sun or other lights coming off the fence you’ll find the fence will become even more noticeable. As a result try to find a part of the fence that is shaded, or get someone to stand in such a way that they cast a shadow on the fence.
7. Incorporate the fence into your composition; it may be that the fence can become an important part of your composition, so consider breaking all the above rules to also try that out!

These five ingredients make up the basis of all photographs,

 

Colour: The arrangement of colours in a photograph will help you create the illusion of depth or a three dimensional composition.
Warm colours (Red, Yellows) will ascend from a photograph while cool colours (Greens, Blue) will resend in a photograph.
Colours and their relationships to one another is a very powerful tool when it comes to organizing your photograph.

Horizontal Lines: imply, restfulness, tranquillity, peacefulness.
Low horizon lines emphasize the sky, spaces, and distance.
High horizons emphasize close proximity, and objects in the foreground.

 
Patterns: are made up of Lines and Shapes.
In colour photography, lines and shapes are often
formed entirely by colour.
Patterns exist almost everywhere. You only have
to open your heart and mind to discover them.

Texture: An implied texture,  dried mud, weathered wood, soft grasses, sandstone etc., all have textures that can be photographed. Texture is most commonly brought out with an oblique angle of light, (sidelight) which, in skimming the surface of the object, records the pockets of contrast, and picks up the hairs, cracks, curls, and ridges to create the textured effect.
Soft, diffuse light also works well, if there is enough contrast to define the texture. 

Understanding White Balance

White Balance is a part of photography that many digital camera owners don’t understand or use, but it’s something worth learning about as it can have a real impact on the shots you take.

So for those of you who have been avoiding White Balance? Let me introduce you to it, I will keep it as simple as possible.

At its simplest – the reason we adjust the white balance is to get the colours in our images as accurate as possible.

Why would you need to get the colour right in your shots?

You might have noticed when looking through your shots after taking them that at times images can come out with an orange, blue, yellow, etc. look to them – despite the fact that when viewing them through your viewfinder to your naked eye the scene looked quite normal. The reason for this is that the images different sources of light have a different colour (or temperature) to them. Fluorescent lighting adds a bluish cast to photos whereas tungsten (incandescent/bulbs) lights add yellowish tinges to photos.

White-Balance

The range in different temperatures ranges from the very cool light of blue sky through to the very warm light of a candle.

You won’t generally notice this difference in temperature because our eyes adjust automatically for it. So unless the temperature of the light is very extreme a white sheet of paper will generally look white to us. However a digital camera doesn’t have the smarts to make these adjustments automatically and sometimes will need us to tell it how to treat different light.
So for cooler (blue or green) light you will tell the camera to warm things up and in warm light you will tell it to cool down.

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Adjusting White Balance

Different digital cameras have different ways of adjusting white balance so you will need to get out your cameras manual out to work out the specifics of how to make changes. That said – many digital cameras have automatic and semi-automatic modes to help you make the adjustments.

Pre-set White Balance Settings

Here are some of the basic White Balance settings you’ll find on cameras:

    Auto – this is where the camera makes a best guess on a shot by shot basis. Will work in many situations but it’s worth venturing out of it for trickier lighting.

    Tungsten – this mode is usually symbolized with a little bulb and is for shooting indoors, especially under tungsten (incandescent) lighting (such as bulb lighting). It generally cools down the colours in photos.

    Fluorescent – this compensates for the ‘cool’ light of fluorescent light and will warm up your shots.

    Daylight/Sunny – not all cameras have this setting because it sets things as fairly ‘normal’ white balance settings.

    Cloudy – this setting generally warms things up a touch more than ‘daylight’ mode.

    Flash – the flash of a camera can be quite a cool light so in Flash WB mode you’ll find it warms up your shots a touch.

    Shade – the light in shade is generally cooler (bluer) than shooting in direct sunlight so this mode will warm things up a little.

Manual White Balance Adjustments

In most cases you can get a pretty accurate result using the above pre-set white balance modes – but some digital cameras (most DSLRs and higher end point and shoots) allow for manual white balance adjustments also.

The way this is used varies a little between models but in essence what you do is to tell your camera what white looks like in a shot so that it has something as a reference point for deciding how other colours should look. You can do this by buying yourself a white (or grey) card which is specifically designed for this task – or you can find some other appropriately coloured object around you to do the job.

Custom-White-Balance

This manual adjustment is not difficult to do once you find where to do it in the menu on your camera and it’s well worth learning how to do it.

Like everything with photography it is up to you to experiment with the different settings on your camera, and above all have fun and enjoy yourself.

Digital Camera Maintenance Tips

Whether you are a beginning hobbyist with a digital point and shoot type camera or someone who has taken years to build their knowledge and equipment, taking care of your camera gear will help you take better pictures longer. Many photographers tend to buy extras for their photography, but rarely do they take the time to care for all of the gadgets they acquire. Maintenance not only gives your gear longer life, but it enables your gadgets to work at their optimum. Our biggest and most expensive piece of gear is our camera. Here are some tips that will help you get the most out it for years to come.

Grit, Grime, & your Camera

Today’s digital cameras are full of moving parts that will not operate properly if they are filled with grit and grime. The best thing you can do is be very careful when shooting in areas that are sandy or dusty. Take special care when you are changing lenses. You have to consider your camera sensor and internal components and the lens. The quicker you can make the swap the better. Always have the lens you are planning to switch to handy and ready to go before you take the lens you are using off the camera body. Keep the opening to the camera body out of the wind while making sure to keep the opening pointed downward. This will help keep falling and blowing bits of debris out of your camera body. Put the new lens on as quickly as you can without damaging anything.

No matter how hard you try to keep dirt out of the camera and off the sensor, it is going to happen. If you are making your shots happen, instead of letting them happen, you will want to change lenses in the field. This means you are going to expose the interior of your camera body to the elements and it will need cleaned. Some attempt to clean their DSLR sensor themselves. I do not recommend this at all. Unless you are a trained professional, you really do not know what you are doing. One of the best maintenance tips I can give you is this: Leave the techno stuff to the pros! You can damage your camera badly enough that you would end up needing to replace a very expensive piece of equipment. Do your best to keep it clean, and when it gets dirty, take it to a professional and get it cleaned. If you are not sure if it is dirty or not, then it might be a good idea to find a good local pro camera shop, take it in, and see what they will charge for an inspection and cleaning.

Proper Care and Cleaning of Lenses

First, most of you are using filters right? If you are not, then you should be. At the very least, every lens you use should have a UV filter on it? The UV filter not only helps with glare, but it also protects your actual lens surface. When you get a new lens, the very first thing you should do is ensure it is clean and scratch free and the second is apply the proper UV lens. Keeping this filter on at all times reduced the chances of dirt and other foreign matter obstructing or damaging the coating on your lens. When the filter gets dirty, you can clean it with a normal cleaning kit much easier than you can clean a lens. If something happens that causes damage to your filter, it is much easier and less expensive to replace than getting a new lens. If your lens is not protected by a filter, go buy one and use it. If your lens in dirty, make sure you follow the recommendations outlined in your user manual for cleaning your lens.

Damage and Abuse

A good photographer goes where the shots are. This means (sometimes) exposing ourselves and our gear to harsh conditions. Make sure you use all of the straps possible in order to keep your gear safe. It is not uncommon for people to drop expensive gear while trying to get a shot. Make sure you are aware of obstacles and other hazards if you are moving during shooting. You don’t want to end up like the guy in the video and possibly ruin thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment because you didn’t look behind you.

Corrosion is BAD

We rely upon batteries to power our gear. Make sure you regularly check your batteries and you charging unit for signs of corrosion. If you begin to see the signs of corrosion, you can clean the corrosion away with some rubbing alcohol and ear swabs. If the condition persists, you may have a bigger problem with your battery. Check for cracks or other signs of wear. It might be time to replace the battery.

Basic common sense is your best tool in keeping your gear up to par. You probably already know that you should not point your camera directly into the sun. You probably already know that temperature extremes are hard on your camera. If you use your brain and take your time, you will find that the best maintenance for your digital camera is prevention and common sense. Keep these things in mind while you are out shooting, and you will be sure to continue to practice the art of photography for years to come.

P (Program Mode)

What is the P (Program) Mode in Digital Cameras?

Most amateur and novice digital camera users don’t know the difference between Auto (usually represented by a green camera symbol) and P mode on their camera, or simply don’t use the P setting because they don’t know what it does or means.

 Placing your camera in Auto, is the equivalent to the Point & Shoot mode, this is fine for many situations, but this blog is for those who are interested in finding out what the Program (represented by the letter P), setting is for and what is does – or doesn’t do!

If you want to take more control over, or experiment with your ISO settings, the White Balance settings, the pop-up flash, and to some extent the aperture or shutter speeds, etc. then the P setting may be what you should look at.

The P mode will switch off the automatic flash, automatic ISO settings, will usually keep your auto white balance, but mostly what the P mode does is it tries to find the optimal combination of shutter and aperture to reach the optional exposure (plus the automatic ISO value in some digital cameras). This is usually done by taking matrix measurements and deciding “intelligently” what total exposure will deliver the optimum results, and then sets the Aperture and Shutter Speed accordingly.

Some cameras offer a flexible program mode where once it has determined the optimum shutter and aperture setting you have the choice to dial the shutter speed or aperture up or down a few notches without becoming over or under exposed, given the lighting conditions and the selected ISO.

I would like to encourage you to test your digital camera by selecting the P setting and experimenting with changing the ISO settings then taking and reviewing pictures (on your computer screen for best results) at the various ISO settings to see the difference.

Try experimenting with your flash settings too, especially fill in flash, by altering the + or – stops to see what gives a better fill in result. You may find that reducing the power of your flash fill in, could give a more subtle, flattering result.

If it all gets too confusing, you can always revert back to Full Auto. Full Auto sets everything, including the ISO and flash settings.

Festive Season Tips

It's amazing how many of us photographers are reduced to taking snapshots on Christmas morning. For some reason we're not in photographer mode, so when we review or get our pictures back from the lab we're less than thrilled. So here are some simple tips for Christmas and New Years that will help beginners and the more advanced enjoy the holidays a little more.

1. Get Down!

How many times have you seen Christmas photos where you get a great view of the top of the kid's heads or their faces are frozen into fake smiles? How do you get candid professional looking photos?

First set your camera to its widest aperture (smallest f-number) or choose portrait mode if you're shooting in one of your camera's auto modes. When the kids start tearing into the presents get down on the floor so you're on their level. Now you can capture the looks on their faces as they open their presents - and those looks are priceless!

Catch them now. They grow up way too fast.

2. Use a little fill flash

Very few homes are so brightly lit that you'll get great detail on your kid's faces as they're tearing into those presents. A little flash will go a long way toward filling in the shadows so you can see detail in their faces.

The pro tip here is that if you have flash exposure compensation as one of your camera (or flash) options you can get more natural skin tones by dialling down the flash by one stop ( -1 flash exposure).

3. Stay quiet!

As a parent it's easy to fall into the trap of yelling at your kids to "look here!"

After they look up and get a face full of flash a couple of times you'll start getting photos of scowls instead of smiles. If they're not looking directly into the camera the flash won't be blinding and the kids will learn to ignore their parents with their camera - and you'll get better shots as a result.

Remember Christmas is about the kids not the camera. Capture the moment quietly and let the kids take centre stage - after all it's their day.

4. Red eye reduction

It sounds simple but you'll need to remember to turn on red-eye reduction so your kids and pets don't look like aliens.

5. Choose a faster ISO setting

Many digital camera owners forget that they can change the ISO setting on their cameras. Choosing a faster (numerically higher) ISO setting means faster shutter speeds and fewer blurry images. That means that there will be a lot more images that will be suitable for your desk and for grandma's fridge!

6. Digital shooters, choose the right White Balance

White balance is a term that scares a lot of new digital camera owners. And most will want to leave their digital cameras on auto white balance. But in most digital cameras, especially the point and shoot cameras, auto white balance won't always correctly balance indoor lighting.

Pull out the manual and change the white balance setting to incandescent or indoor lighting. It's usually represented by a little light bulb symbol. Now the skin tones on those smiling little faces will look natural and you'll look like the great photographer that we know you are!

7. Get the kids involved

Get the kids to take some pictures of you and of each other. This works especially well with digital cameras. You might be surprised at what they come up with. Kids literally have a different perspective on the world and their images may surprise you.

This works especially well with digital cameras where they can see the results of their efforts immediately.

8. Hook your digital camera to the TV

Want to capture the moment for when Mum-Pop and Gran-Grandad arrive?

Get all those great shots of the kids and then hook the video connection on your digital camera to your TV (or VCR/DVD player). Now when the grandparents arrive you can put the camera in play mode and let it cycle through the images from the morning's festivities. This is a lot faster than getting prints made and waiting until New Year’s Eve to share them.

9. Batteries

Make sure you have fresh batteries for your camera. If you have a separate flash unit make sure you have fresh batteries for it as well. If you're using a digital camera with rechargeable batteries make sure you put it on charge the night before Christmas.

10. Do a Pre-event Check

When you're putting the toys together the night before pull out your camera and get it ready to go. Add fresh batteries, make sure red-eye reduction is turned on, and all the camera's settings are what they should be. Do it the night before when things are quiet and it's a lot less likely that you'll forget something or accidentally choose the wrong settings.

11. Watch for the Quiet Moments

The kids will have their motors running on high for most of the day. Later on when their bellies are full and they're winding down you'll find some great moments hiding in the quiet times.

Have a Safe & Happy Christmas.

Peter