February 4, 2013

day one::photography this and that.....

today is day one of answering your questions regarding photography. i'll start with a little disclaimer if you don't mind, that will hopefully prevent anyone from thinking i know everything about photography, because i don't. anything that i'll be sharing here is based on what works for me, what someone has told me, or is what i have found while searching for answers myself.
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to answer some of vicky's questions, i am self taught. granted, the men who work at our local camera store have been more than patient with me and have taught me so many things that my camera can do for me, but for the most part, i learn by practicing, making lots of mistakes and googling anything i get stuck on. i also rely heavily on other photographers for inspiration. from the day i started shooting and wanted to soak in everything photography related, tara whitney has been my go-to girl. i love how she sees life through her lens. i also love james and katie.
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okay
let's do this
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i'm a natural light photographer {and pride myself on that} which means i never use flash. well almost never. mark and marilyn asked if it's necessary to use flash to prevent blurriness in photos and my answer is no.
let's talk a little bit about what i think are the three main things that let me and hopefully you, take a photo with minimal lighting and without any blurriness.

1. one is your ISO. most of us don't want to go above 1600 ISO and that's fine, but many cameras are now made to push your ISO higher and higher. so push it a little and see what happens. for most of us, our photos will come out a little noisy, but i'd rather have a noisy photo then one taken with a flash any day. besides, i like those old fashioned, grainy "looks like film" photos and if you do any photo editing, then you know you can always remove that noise. {more on that later}

2. your aperture setting is so important. oh shoot, let's back up a second. i only shoot in aperture mode and by the end of everything that i'll be sharing during the month of february, i hope you will be, too. with that said, let's talk a little bit about why your aperture is so important. aperture {also known as f-stop} is basically the hole in your lens that lets light into your camera. if your aperture is set wide open {which is a small number like f/1.4 to f/2.8} you will be letting in as much light as possible and your depth of field {we'll come back to that later} will be greater. a larger aperture like f/8 to f/22 will put all of your subjects on a level playing field with little to no depth of field and is letting in very little light.
if i've confused you, no worries, as i'll talk more about aperture later on when i share why lenses are so important and we talk a little more about depth of field.



3. one thing i will do when i'm really in a pinch and my light is disappearing {and i've got my aperture on 1.4 and my ISO on 1600 or higher} is to overexpose the photo. if you don't know where that setting is on your camera, find it. it might become your new best friend. overexposing a photo by just a stop or two can make a huge difference when you're struggling for light.

4. we'll get into shutter speed next time. for those who shoot in shutter priority, well they're probably laughing at me right about now for not starting with that, but for those who shoot in aperture priority like myself...well, they understand my love for it and why it came first.

let's go back to the "almost never" when it comes to using the built in flash on my camera. a few years ago i bought this light bouncer and i have to say, if you really want to use your flash and pretty much ignore everything i just talked about above {when it comes just to lighting} well then this little baby is for you. i have to be honest with you and tell you that this little thing can work miracles.
in our kitchen where the cabinets, counters and walls all have a honey tone to them, the coloring on my photos is always too warm and yellow, but with the bouncer, my photos look perfect color wise. because it's a light bouncer, they say it works best in rooms with a white ceiling, as that's what the flash is bouncing off of, but i have found i can bounce it off almost anything and it works just fine.
with all that said, i have to be honest with you and tell you that i almost never use it. in fact, i pulled it out to just to play with it while getting ready for these photography notes and i hadn't seen it for at least year. i think it missed me.
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so i think this is it for day one, since sometimes just reading can feel overwhelming. i'll be trying to split things up the best i can, based on questions i received. don't hesitate sending me a note saying help, even it there is a "whining" undertone to it.  really, you can. OR wait...how about i just have everyone hop on a plane and let's do all this photography stuff in my kitchen for a few days while we drink tea and stay up too late, laughing?


19 comments:

  1. We're pretty darn lucky to have you sharing what you know and how you've discovered what you know. The best advice so far (aside from how you've shown us and explained things for us) is from your own experience...when you wanted to know something and everything about something you became passionate about -- you researched, you asked questions, you read and you played. You played!! xo

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  2. Great post! Although I shoot completely manual now, I did have to return to aperture priority recently to adjust the exposure compensation. For some reason you can't control that feature in manual only. I'll have to check out some of the sites you listed.

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  3. Oh, and I agree that a little grain is better than missing out on a great shot. I'm fortunate that my full frame sensor can go up to 3200 ISO with very little grain and what little there is can be removed I'm Lightroom.

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  4. i never use my flash .. ever ... no exceptions ... hate how it colors the shots .. thanks for a fine tutorial

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  5. Thanks so much, Beth. I would LOVE to spend some time in your kitchen, but it's too cold there so this is a great second option. I am looking forward to all your tips.

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  6. Thank you for sharing your secrets, and I'm looking forward to learning more.

    Quick question: when you're shooting a group of people (animals, objects, ect.) what aperture would you suggest using and where do you focus? Just curious.

    Hope you have a happy day! Katie

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  7. Ahhh- this is going to be great! So one of the big conundrums in my mind is - I always equate "light" with sunshine- is it possible to shoot with the results you want with the kind of gloomy and grey light we have right now? Do you know why "natural" light is the choice of so many right now?

    Thanks for breaking it down like this- I have so much to learn!

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  8. I guess i know i'm in trouble when i go 'What is ISO?" LOL! Ah well most of this probably won't pertain to me anyway as i just have a Kodak East Share...... Hugs! deb

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  9. Great post beth. Thanks. I am realizing how much I don't know! It only further causes me to respect your work. This was just the right amount of info in this post... Otherwise, I would be feeling completely overwhelmed right about now. Many would charge for this kind of info (another blog I follow~she does), and we get it for free! yeah for us! and how generous of you! thank you.

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  10. I had to speed through this, so I could get on the road tonight... Attending a conference bright and early tomorrow morning. But I can't wait to come back and take all of this in at a much less frenetic pace. I can't wait to learn more about my camera, thanks to you! You really are sweet to share.

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  11. I love shooting in A mode and am glad to hear you do as well. Thank you for the link to the pop-up flash bouncer thing. So cool! Not that I enjoy using flash, mind you. But a couple of weekends ago, I was at a baby shower and the natural light was minimal on that gray day - no windows in the room where we were, and I was forced to use that darn flash on the camera. I had to edit each and every photo because of it. I mean, I would have edited them anyway, but had to do more to them because of the garish flash.

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  12. I would love playing in your kitchen. Thanks for the lesson. I think I would like that bouncer and much cheaper than an external flash attachment. Now for the rest I am going to read it several more times before it is absorbed. I have heard alot of this, but it hasn't sunk in, I think your descriptions will help. I mostly shoot without flash and in aperture mode, but have been playing with Manual mode a bit.

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  13. Sound advice. Practice, experiment and discover how camera options work with light.

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  14. I've read tutorials on the darn F stop over and over again, I had the jist of it......but the way you just explained it, higher F stop puts "everything on a level playing field", So easy to remember that way. I just knew THIS would be helpful to me. Gotta go play with my ISO now. Thanks Beth.

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  15. Yay! Your first lesson! Loving the example shots too.

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  16. Wow -- very meaty. I will probably revisit this post with camera in hand. Lots of good info and even those of us with our little old handheld pocket cameras have manual settings. Loving this!

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  17. I always (well, almost always) shoot in aperture mode now and do whatever I can to avoid using a flash. I'm so grateful to you for telling me about the flash bouncer!

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  18. I just stumbled onto your blog and what a wonderful place. I Love your tips here on photography. I never ever use my flash either. It drives my hubby crazy. But it drives me crazy when he wants to use it. I'll be back for more tips..

    Hugs~

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  19. i'm so grateful and thankful for your willingness to share your skills, tips, and your love of photography~

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**I love reading the comments you leave, as they make me feel like we're sitting in my kitchen, having a cup of tea, discussing life and wondering where all the time has gone ...beth