Beyond Megapixels » exposure

Lock in the Light

Tiffany Joyce — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:00:28 +0000

I was standing at the top of a mountain when I took this picture (click to enlarge). The wind was blowing, my hands were freezing (even in Arizona, it’s cold at an elevation of 7600 feet in January), it was about 4:30 in the afternoon, and I was completely blown away by this LIGHT.

This extremely tricky light.

I’m standing in the shadow cast by the peak of the mountain. The sky is overcast. Beams of light are hitting the landscape from mid-frame all the way to the horizon. There are reflections on the water (that’s Roosevelt Lake there, by the way). All the time my eyes are soaking it all in, my brain is thinking, “Now how the heck is my camera going to translate THIS?”

Pretty darn well, actually, with a little know-how applied by yours truly.

My Canon 7D locks in the exposure when I press the shutter half-way. If I achieve the exposure I want but need to recompose (which often times will change the exposure), I simply press the * button on the back of the camera, and compose away. The exposure remains locked for multiple shots if I hold down the * button while pressing the shutter (which is handy for panoramas when you don’t want obvious changes in exposure from frame to frame).

In the case of this photo, I wanted to meter for the sunlight hitting the landscape. Generally, Evaluative Metering works just fine but I wanted to make sure I nailed the exposure (it was hard to tell if I was capturing it just right on the image preview). In this case I used Center Weighted Average, as the brightest point I wanted to expose for was at the center of the frame. Then just to make REALLY sure, I bracketed the shots at -1 stop, 0, and +1 stop. This shot just happened to turn out just fine with no exposure compensation. But, you know, it’s always good to be sure.

I did a bit of color and contrast correction (darn haze) and sharpening in Lightroom, and this was the result! Taken with a Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS at f/16, ISO 400, 1/125th.

Has there been a shot recently that you REALLY wanted to get right, and took extra steps to ensure that you did so? We’d love to hear about it, and see your results! Please share with us in the comments or on our Facebook Page.

Photo copyright Tiffany Joyce.

Ten Attributes of a Good Photograph

Steve Russell — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:00:18 +0000

All of the attributes I’m going to discuss in this article have been discussed at one time or another in an article, or in multiple articles, on Beyond Megapixels. Aside from reminders being a good thing, we thought it would be helpful to have all of the attributes in one article in case some of our readers wanted a single reference.

None of the attributes I’ll list are applicable for every photo but they all are for most photos. Also keep in mind that if it’s your photo it can be however you want it to be. Still, striving to make sure your images have these attributes will help you create images that are pleasing to a much broader audience.

1. Exposure is correct

Nothing ruins a great shot more than being over or under exposed. Frankly, with today’s automatic cameras and incredible post processing software there’s no excuse for under or over exposed images. Yet, I see them all the time. There are times when I purposely over and under expose and image but I’m going to combine them with a correctly exposed image to make an HDR image. Most other times I can fine tune the exposure plus or minus one stop in Light Room or Photoshop.

2. The subject is in focus.

It’s amazing how many photos I see where the subject is out of focus, even with modern cameras that have auto focus. The subject may look in focus when it’s viewed online but a practiced eye can see the softening caused by the subject not being in sharp focus. In nearly all instances when photographing people or animals the focus point should be the eyes. If the eyes are “tack sharp” a viewer will see the photo as being in focus. I realize that there are times when you, as a photographer, want the image somewhat out of focus for artistic purposes, but those occasions should be the rare exception rather than the norm.

3. The background complements the subject, not detract from it.

I don’t think there’s anything more distracting in a photo than a cluttered background that is completely extraneous to the image. If you’re photographing someone working in the kitchen preparing a big holiday meal, you would expect to see pots and pans as well as other kitchen items. However, if you’re photographing your daughter dressed up for her prom, a cluttered background would be completely inappropriate.

4. The horizon or horizontal lines in the image are level.

Have you ever seen a photo of a boat sailing up hill? I have and it was a result of the photographer not holding the camera level. Granted, a certain amount of camera tilt can be corrected in Photoshop, but it’s easier to visually check and determine if what you see through the view finder or on the view screen is level. I’ve seen some very interesting photos where the photographer purposely turned the camera about 30 – 45 degrees for a certain effect, but it’s also something that’s been way over done.

5. Rule of thirds is utilized.

Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with the subject being centered in a photograph. Always having the subject centered in photographs produces uninteresting images. While the subject of a portrait will generally be centered left to right, the eyes of the subject should be on an imaginary line that is one-third of the distance from the top. This is true for human subjects and animal subjects.

The eyes of subjects in motion should be, as much as possible, on a vertical line that is one-third of the distance from the side of the photograph that is behind them. This gives the subject someplace to go. If the subject’s nose is the part of its body that is closest to the edge of the photo, it gives the viewer the impression that the subject is trapped. This approach works best if the image is made in a landscape orientation.

A lot of people like to argue about the need to follow the Rule of Thirds. But look at what sells. Look at magazine cover photography and content photography and observe how the subject is oriented in the image. On occasion you will see the Rule of Thirds not followed, but in the vast majority of images the rule is followed because it’s more pleasing to the eye.

6. White balance/color temperature is correct.

Most photographers shoot in automatic white balance (AWB) mode. In fact, most photographers probably never change the white balance setting from the AWB it was set on at the factory. Guess what, that’s okay. Except for the fact that the camera isn’t as smart as you are. Just like the camera tries to set the exposure based on 18% gray as the mid-tone, thus rendering snow as 18% gray instead of white, the AWB setting renders an average temperature based on what the sensor reads. This is especially true when you have multiple light sources, all with different temperatures. For example, using an on camera flash in a room where there are both bright incandescent and florescent lights. Fortunately, you can correct this in post processing as seen in the two images below.

I should add that it’s about 20 times easier to correct if you’re working with a RAW image instead of a jpeg but both can be corrected.

7. The picture tells a story or communicates an emotion.

I said this in an article last week. A picture is worth a thousand words, or at least it should be. If the image doesn’t do this then it’s really just a snapshot. I like to be nice and call them documentary photos. You know, “I was there and I saw this” kind of photo. No art, no composition, no interest.

8. The overall composition of the photo is pleasing to the eye (viewer).

Composition is the culmination of all the above. Exposure, focus, where the subject is placed is the frame, background and surroundings, story, etc. Score well on all these elements and you’ll have good composition. Take short cuts on a couple and you’ll have an image that very average or worse. An interesting thing about composition is that good/great composition usually isn’t noticed until the viewer starts trying to figure out why they like an image so much. Bad composition comes through immediately, loud and clear like a stadium full of people blowing on vuvuzelas.

9. The subject is pleasing to the viewer.

Unless you’re on a commercial photography assignment for Waste Management, why would you take a photo of an active landfill? I doubt that anyone is going to get very excited over it regardless of how good it is technically. Now, I don’t particularly care what people photograph, but I’m surprised at what photographs people will post so they can be viewed publicly.

10. You, the photographer, think it’s a good photo.

Photographers are usually their own harshest critics. If you’re trying to improve your photography skills and the images you capture and if you’re trying to learn as much as you can about photography, then you’ll know whether or not you have a good image.

Good luck with your photography.

Photo Credits:

All photos by Steve Russell with, in some cases, a little help from Photoshop.

Photography 101 – Exposure Bracketing

Tiffany Joyce — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:00:35 +0000

The term “exposure bracketing” refers to taking a photograph at a baseline exposure, then “bracketing” that shot with one that is slightly under-exposed, and one that is slightly over-exposed. This method is used to increase the odds that you have captured the shot with the best exposure, which is especially helpful in tricky lighting situations where the light conditions are variable. Exposure bracketing is also used to create High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos.

There are also “white balance bracketing” and “flash bracketing” techniques which I’ll talk about in a later article, but for the purposes of this discussion I’ll be referring to exposure bracketing whenever I use the term “bracketing”.

There are two ways to achieve bracketing – one is manually using a combination of ISO, aperture and shutter speed. The other is automatically, using the Auto Exposure Bracketing capabilities of many current digital camera models.

Here is the manual technique that I usually follow for bracketing:

1. Set the camera to aperture priority mode, and set the aperture to the desired value.

2. Set the ISO to the desired value.

3. Take a photograph of the subject and note the shutter speed. The camera’s automatic metering will baseline the exposure indicator at “0″.

-3—2—1—0—1—2—3+

4. Now put the camera on manual mode, and set the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture to those values. Take another shot to ensure they’re set correctly, noting the exposure meter (it should still be at zero).

5. Increase the shutter speed until the exposure indicator is stopped down to the desired level (for the purposes of this demonstration I chose two stops). Increasing the shutter speed decreases the amount of time that light is hitting the sensor, thereby underexposing the photograph. Take the shot:

-3—2—1—0—1—2—3+

6. Decrease the shutter speed until the exposure indicator is stopped up to an equal number of stops as it was decreased. Decreasing the shutter speed increases the amount of time the light is hitting the sensor, thereby overexposing the photograph. Take the shot:

-3—2—1—0—1—2—3+

Here are three shots that demonstrate this concept (note the changing shutter speed):

Base exposure: ISO 400 | 55mm | f/2.8 | 1/80

Under-exposure: ISO 400 | 55mm | f/2.8 | 1/400

Over-exposure: ISO 400 | 55mm | f/2.8 | 1/25

Auto Exposure Bracketing works similarly in many camera models. Here are two examples (consult your owner’s manual for the technique specific to your camera):

Canon 7D: Press the MENU button and select the Shooting 2 Menu. Choose AEB and press the SET button. Rotate the Main Dial and highlight the number of increments you wish the exposure bracketing range to be. Press the SET button. The next three photos that are taken will be the base exposure, over-exposed and under-exposed increments. You can take three individual photos using shingle shooting mode, set the camera on the timer which will automatically take three photos after the delay, or set the camera on burst mode to take rapid shots in succession (just be careful to count how many shots you capture).

Nikon D300: Press and hold the Fn button and rotate the main command dial to set the number of shots. Then while holding the Fn button rotate the sub-command dial to set the exposure increment. The next number of shots will be at the base exposure, over-exposed and under-exposed. Then to cancel bracketing, hold the Fn button and rotate the main command dial until the number of frames shows 0.

Give exposure bracketing a try this weekend!

Intermediate Tips for Better Photography

Tiffany Joyce — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:00:29 +0000

Continuing where the first article, Beginner Tips for Better Photography, left off, now we’re on to Intermediate tips! For this article Steve and I will be combining our knowledge to give you a broader spectrum of advice.

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Now that you’ve mastered the basics of photography and have gained a good amount of experience, you may find yourself ready to move on to the next level. Perhaps you’d like to learn how to give your photographs that little extra “something” that makes them stand out. You could be thinking about establishing a portfolio and investigating a career in photography. Or maybe the process of learning the basics has only whetted your appetite for more! Here are some tips to get you started in the right direction.

Tiffany’s Top Five Tips:

One – Get your flash off of your camera. A whole new world of nuance, contrast, and style will be opened up to you as soon as you learn how to direct light. The only way to accomplish that is to get the flash off of the top of your camera! That front-facing, single-direction light has very little flexibility and you’ll soon find yourself limited in the kinds of images you can create. So, invest in an external flash and learn how to sync it with your camera. Many current model DSLR’s have wireless sync capabilities between an external flash and the camera. Barring that, products such as the PocketWizard lineup have a wide variety of flash sync products, both wirelessly and with a cable. To kick things up a notch, get an inexpensive but sturdy stand for your external flash, and pick up a couple of different types of light modifiers. Here are some products that I personally own and recommend (and will be reviewing on this site in the near future) to get you started:

- Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
- Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras
- Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
- Nikon SB-700 AF Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
- Cowboystudio 9 ft Heavy duty Cushioned Premium Black Light Stand for Video, Portrait, and Product Photography
- CowboyStudio Photo / Video 24in Large Speedlite Flash Softbox with L-Bracket, Shoe Mount & Carry Case
- CowboyStudio 40in White Satin Umbrella with Reflective Silver Backing and Removable Black Cover
- Manfrotto 026 Swivel Lite-Tite Umbrella Adapter – Replaces 2905
- Fotodiox 40×60″ 5-in-1 Collapsible Reflector Disc Pro Kit, with Stand and Holder Arm, Soft Silver/Gold/Black/White/Diffuser

Two – Learn how to use bracketing and exposure compensation. Bracketing refers to taking several shots of the same subject at slightly different exposures in order to ensure you’ve captured the correct exposure. I’ll be posting about this specific subject in tomorrow’s article. Essentially, a subject is photographed three times – once at “normal” exposure, once at a stopped-down exposure level, and once at a stopped-up exposure level. This ensures that at least one of the shots will be exposed correctly, which is especially helpful under variable light conditions. Exposure compensation has been discussed in a previous article – it is used to manually adjust the exposure to something different than what the camera’s meter is suggesting. The photographer can tell the camera to allow more light in (positive exposure compensation) or to allow less light in (negative exposure compensation). Exposure compensation is extremely helpful when balancing ambient light with a speedlight. Both of these techniques will assist you considerably in advancing your skills and improving the outcome of your photographs.

Three – Use a light meter. Your camera’s built-in light meter only measures reflected light – that is, it measures and exposes for the light that is bouncing off of the subject and directly back towards the camera. If you want to measure ambient or continuous light, or if you want to spot meter when using studio lighting, a light meter is essential to achieve correct exposure and adds a very valuable level of control. When using a light meter, the photographer provides two of the elements of the exposure triangle and the light meter provides the third. For example, if you know the shutter speed and ISO (typical for studio lighting situations, where the shutter speed is the camera’s sync speed), the light meter will recommend the precise aperture value for your shot. You will get the exactly correct exposure every single time. The light meter can also help average the output of multiple sources of light to help you balance the light according to your wishes. I recently used the Sekonic L-758DR Light Meter and I highly recommend it.

Four – Use custom white balance. Your camera has multiple white balance settings – auto, fluorescent, tungsten, daylight, shade, and the like. However, sometimes your camera’s interpretation of white balance can be incorrect. Use your camera’s custom white balance functionality to achieve the correct white balance. The typical steps to set your camera’s custom white balance (which vary from camera to camera, so check your manual) are to set a white balance card in the scene, take a picture of it, select the custom white balance setting on your camera, select the image of the white card, and confirm the selection to be used as the white balance reference. I also recommend the Datacolor DC SC100 Spyder Cube for correcting white balance in post-production.

Five – Calibrate your colors. Have you ever taken a photo, viewed it on your computer, viewed it on-line, and viewed it in printed format, and noticed that the colors all looked different? Have you ever taken a photo and noticed that the reds looked pink, or the whites looked gray? You may need to calibrate your display, monitor, and/or printer to display true colors. This is KEY for post-processing, as the actions you take in post-processing are dictated by the results that you see on the screen. There are a variety of color calibration tools available – my recommendations are:

- The X-Rite ColorChecker Passport, which can be used in tandem with Lightroom for quick, SIMPLE and extremely accurate color correction.
- The ColorMunki Photo – Monitor, Printer & Projector Profiler, which is used to calibrate colors between devices (multiple computer monitors, projectors, printers).
- The Datacolor DC S3X100 Spyder 3 Express, a less costly yet still effective solution for hobbyists and enthusiasts.

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Steve’s Top Five Tips:

Before I start my Tips, I wanted to add to one of Joyce’s. The Sekonic light meter she recommended is an awesome piece of equipment. However, if you click on the link she provided you will see that it costs about $600. If that’s a little steep for your budget check out the Sekonic L-358 Flash Master Light Meter. This is also a really good light meter and is roughly half the price of the L-758. Of course, the lower price for the L-358 means that it doesn’t have all the functionality of the l_758. Also, note that if you want to remotely fire flash or studio strobes with the L-358, the Sekonic 401-621 Transmitter Module for L-758 Cine and L-358 must be purchased separately.

Okay, now for the tips-

1 – Composition. To take a really good photograph there are three things that are required – subject, light and composition. To move from beginner to intermediate, learning and understanding composition is critical. Good composition has a lot of rules. However, there is no rule that says you can’t break rules of composition. Still, you should know and understand composition inside and out. When you break a rule, know that you’re doing it and know why you’re breaking it. You can have the aperture spot on, the shutter speed can be perfect for what you’re trying to accomplish, but if the composition sucks, so does the photograph.

2 – Let the photo tell a story. Think about what you want the photograph to say to the viewer before you press the shutter. The green heron in this photo was feeding when I captured the image. It was a lot of fun just watching the bird’s antics as it chased and snapped at dragonflies. How do I let the viewer of the image know what was happening. Look closely and you’ll see the wings of a dragonfly on either side of the bird’s beak. Unfortunately, it’s not a good photograph because the compensation is off. Actually the bird’s tail is cut off. Of course, when you’re using a 500mm lens and you’re too close for the lens to “see” all of the subject that’s going to happen.

3 – Practice. You can’t become a better photographer with your camera and lenses sitting on a shelf in the closet. A creative writing professor once told me that until you’ve written at least a million words you won’t really “grok” writing. That’s a lot of words and I now understand what he was saying much better than I did when he first told me. I don’t think you need to take a million photographs to “grok” photography but I do think that after ten thousand or so you start to get close. Practice allows you to have enough successes and failures that you begin to understand the difference between the two and what causes each. With experience and practice, you’ll get to the point where you know what the photo is going to look like before you take it.

4 – Know your subject. It is very important to know your subject so that you can anticipate what is going to happen. This is especially true when photographing animals and children. It’s critical when photographing sports, dancing and other activities where the subjects are in constant motion. If you know, you can anticipate. If you can anticipate, you will capture better images like this great egret displaying during the mating season. Knowing your subject is also important when photographing an inanimate object, like a building for example. Being familiar with the building will guide you to the best angles and views.

5 – Learn, observe, listen and learn. I can’t stress enough how important it is to learn as much as you can. I’ve been around very accomplished professional photographers enough to know that they are still learning. I’ve listened to conversations between them where one will say I do it this way and the other responds with, “I’ve never tried that before. I need to do that.” Learn through experimentation. You know how to achieve a certain effect. Try to do it differently. Change perspective, angle, exposure, etc., and learn what happens when you do. Photographers that believe they know all there is to know and that every shot they take is exactly what they were looking for are stuck where they are.
Have you moved up to Intermediate photography, and would like to share your experiences? Do you wish to share your own tips about what helped you advance? Please share with us in the comments or on our Facebook page.

Photo credits (in order of appearance):
- “8″ by Jose M Izquierdo Galiot on Flickr Creative Commons.
- Flower by Jason Bache on Flickr Creative Commons.
- Green Heron by Steve Russell
- Great Egret by Steve Russell

Balancing Ambient Light with a Speedlite

Tiffany Joyce — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:00:34 +0000

Sometimes it is necessary to compensate for a background that is over-exposed, especially when shooting in bright light (as in outdoor photography). When using a speedlite as a fill flash, this is very easy to do. Different camera brands achieve this in different ways, so here is how to balance ambient light with light from the flash using a Nikon and a Canon.

When shooting with a Canon camera, turn on the High Speed Sync on the flash itself. Put the camera in Aperture Priority Mode (Av). Since Canon cameras have the ability to control background and foreground exposures separately using exposure compensation, simply dial down the exposure compensation in increments until the background light is at the desired level. The exposure of the flash and the exposure of the ambient light operate independently of one another, so the subject is consistently exposed while the background exposure adjusts up or down accordingly.

When shooting with a Nikon, go into the camera’s controls and turn on FP sync (Auto FP). In Nikon cameras changing the exposure compensation on the camera also changes it on the flash. So, you will need to shoot in Manual mode. Expose for the background by aiming the camera just past the subject to the background and pressing the shutter halfway to get an exposure reading from the camera’s meter. Set the aperture and shutter speed accordingly, take a shot, then adjust the shutter speed on the camera to change the exposure of the background. Increasing the shutter speed stops down the exposure, and decreasing the shutter speed stops up the exposure. Just remember that shutter speed controls ambient light and aperture controls the flash, and you will find extraordinary flexibility in controlling your photograph’s exposure.

This past weekend, I used my daughter as a model in order to demonstrate this concept for you all. We went out into the backyard at about 4:00 in the afternoon – it was about 110 degrees outside so we made it quick! I used my Canon EOS 7D and EF 50mm f1.4 lens (here is the equivalent Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor Lens), and attached my Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash (here is the equivalent Nikon Speedlight).

This shot was taken at f/4.0, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/320, with no exposure compensation:

For this shot I kept the same aperture and ISO, but dialed down the exposure compensation by one stop, which set the shutter speed at 1/640:

For this shot I again kept the aperture and ISO the same, and dialed down the exposure compensation by two stops. This resulted in a shutter speed of 1/1250:

As you can see, the background in the first shot was somewhat overexposed, while the background in the third shot was somewhat underexposed. The middle shot, which was dialed down a full stop, seems to strike the right balance between the flash and the ambient light.

I love this handy little trick and I hope you find it to be useful in your own outdoor photography!

Depth-of-Field In Depth

Steve Russell — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:00:22 +0000

For the beginning photographer, especially when using a DSLR, depth-of-field can make absolutely no sense. For the accomplished photographer it’s an invaluable tool for creating the desired result when photographing landscapes, portraits, wildlife, etc.

In its simplest form, depth-of-field is the area, or depth of area, in front of the lens that will be in focus when the photo is taken. Depending on the focal length of the lens and the aperture being used, it begins a determinable distance from the lens and ends at a determinable distance from the lens. Okay, for all you “Picky Patty’s” out there, it’s actually measured from the sensor or in film cameras from the film plane. Knowing that it’s actually the distance from the sensor instead of the front of the lens can be very important in macro photography; in landscape photography not so much.

You might ask, “Why do I care about depth-of-field if my subject is in focus? Because there are times when you want or need part of the environment to be out of focus or blurred. Knowing and understanding depth-of-field gives you the ability to manipulate it and create the image you desire.

For example, the photographer capturing this image of a village nestled in the landscape of central Malawi was able to keep both the mountains on the far horizon and the boulder in the foreground in focus.

In this image of a thistle, I was able to keep the subject in sharp focus while the entire background is completely blurred and only provides background color and some texture to the image.

There are three variables for determining the depth-of-field in a specific situation, the aperture you’re using, the focal length of the lens and the size of the sensor in your camera.

Let’s get sensor size out of the way first. What the sensor size actually does is affect the apparent focal length of the lens. For example, if I use an 85mm lens with my Canon 5D Mark IIcamera, the apparent focal length of the lens is 85mm. However, if I attach that same 85mm lens to my Canon 7D(Body Only)camera, because the sensor is smaller in the 7D, the apparent focal length of the lens becomes 136mm. Therefore, if I’m using my 7D and want to calculate the depth-of-field, I have to use 136mm instead of 85mm.

Next is the focal length of the lens. This is relatively simple because the focal length, in millimeters, is indicated on the lens. If your lens has a fixed focal length, like the Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II Lens, all you have to do is apply the sensor multiplier, if applicable, and you know the focal length you’re using. It’s a little more complicated if you’re using a zoom lens, like the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L Lens, but if you know the depth of field at either extreme then you can make a reasonable guess. I’ll come back to this later. The important thing to remember here is that longer lenses (telephoto lenses) have less depth-of-field than shorter lenses (wide angle lenses), all other settings being the same.

Aperture is the last variable in depth-of-field. The smaller the aperture (opening of the diaphragm of the lens that allows light to reach the sensor) the greater the depth-of-field; the larger the aperture the smaller or narrower the depth-of-field. This becomes more confusing for relatively inexperienced photographers because the indication of the size of the aperture is counter-intuitive. The larger the number or f-stop, the smaller the aperture. In other words, at f/16 the aperture opening is small, while at f/1.8 the aperture is very large.

Here are two examples using the 85mm lens:

• Using my Canon 5D Mark II or a full frame sensor camera, with the camera 25 feet from the subject and using an aperture of f/1.8, the depth-of-field (or the distance between the near focusing limit and the far focusing limit) is 2.8 feet.

• Using the same equipment and distance from the subject but an aperture of f/16, the depth-of-field is 33.4 feet.

As you can see, the depth-of-field can vary greatly when only one of the variables is changed.

I’m going to add one more bit of confusion before I try to make it clearer. Using the second example above with the depth-of-field of 33.4 feet, if you focus on a particular subject the depth-of-field begins at 8.3 feet in front of the subject and extends to 25.1 feet beyond the subject or focus point. Thus, if you focus on a subject and without changing anything except your position, you can move up to 8 feet closer to your subject and the subject and everything 33.1 feet beyond your subject will be in focus or conversely, if you move further away from your subject more of the depth-of-field is in front of the subject and less is behind. In other words, once the focal length, aperture and focus are all set on the camera, the depth-of-field is fixed and moves with you and the camera as you move. Knowing and becoming comfortable with this can be invaluable

I recognize that this seems really complicated to most beginning photographers and many intermediate ones as well, but here are some things to keep in mind that should help.

• Most DSLR cameras have a depth-of-field preview button. Refer to your owner’s manual to find where it’s located. By pressing or releasing the depth-of-field preview, the lens diaphragm is stopped down to the aperture you have set on the camera which will allow you to see what’s in focus and what isn’t. I’ve never been a great fan of depth-of-field preview because the image you see is really dim at smaller f-stops and it’s difficult to see clearly. This is because when taking a photo, the sensor collects additive light as long as the shutter is open. When you’re looking through the viewfinder, the light your eye sees isn’t additive so it doesn’t get brighter the longer you look.

• With experience you’ll become more and more familiar with depth-of-field and as you do you’ll be able to capture the effect you want by guesstimating. Except for sometimes in macro-photography, you almost never have to be accurate down a foot or a fraction of a foot. Most of the time “close enough” works and as long as you’re familiar with depth-of-field and how it works you can develop a comfort in working with it.

• I believe that if you know a subject somewhat in depth, then it’s easier to generally apply the principles and with practice you can become very proficient with it. With that in mind, I want to refer you to a web site I found that has a depth-of-field calculator, tables, and more information than the vast majority of photographers will ever need. There are many websites and books that will provide the same information but I found this one entitled DOFMaster to be very helpful.

While it may seem that way to some of you, this article isn’t intended to be a Master’s Dissertation on photography optics and the effects of defocus blur and diffraction blur. There is much more to the subject than is presented here. Hopefully, there is enough information contained herein to help you understand the subject and to help you become a better photographer.

Photo Credits:
Village nestled in the landscape of central Malawi by ILRI on Flickr Creative Commons
Thistle by Steve Russell on Flickr

Back to Basics: Five Tips to Freeze Action and Motion

Tiffany Joyce — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:00:01 +0000

Freezing action or motion in a photograph results in an image in which the subject and the background are “frozen”, sharp and in-focus. This is accomplished by using a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action, while using an aperture that is both tight enough to keep the entire scene in focus, but wide enough to let in enough light. This is a different concept than panning on a moving object and having it focused while the background has motion blur (which I will discuss in a forthcoming article). Here are a few tips to keep in mind when freezing action.

One: Zoom in. Fill the frame with the subject, while leaving enough background to provide context. Shoot portrait as well as landscape, and get shots from above and below the subject.

Two: Pre-focus. Fix your focus in manual mode and then leave it – don’t rely on your auto-focus. Pick the focal position and focus on the area in which the motion is going to enter into the frame or occur. Pick a spot on the track, a point on the field, or a position in the studio. Then after taking your series of shots, reposition yourself and pick a different vantage point from which to focus.

Three: Use flash or strobes. The light will enable a faster shutter speed, which will “freeze” the motion. It will also isolate the subject and pull the subject out of the background while really accenting the action. Put strobes on full power to freeze action, or on a lower power to allow for some motion blur. Use multiple lights to add depth and dimension. Play with it!

Four: Use a long lens. A long lens narrows the field of view, so remember to increase the depth of field to around f/16 to f/22. When changing the depth of field remember to adjust the shutter speed and/or ISO accordingly. Remember the rules of the exposure triangle.

Five: Practice with jumps. Find a likely assistant who will be willing to hop up and down like a fool for an hour or two, so you can try your hand at stopping motion. Or, as with the subjects of the photos in this article, find a public event in which a lot of motion is happening, and practice with that. The first photo featured was taken at 1/800th of a second at f/5.0 and ISO 200. The photographer used exposure compensation to increase the exposure by 1/3 of a stop. In the second photo was taken at 1/640th of a second at f/3.5 and ISO 640. Again, exposure compensation was used.

We’d love to hear about your experiences with this kind of photography, and if you choose to try your hand at it please show us your results on our Facebook Page or Flickr Group.

Photo credits (all): JB London on Flickr Creative Commons.

How To Photograph Fireworks

Tiffany Joyce — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 07:00:16 +0000

Well, my friends in the U.S., it’s that time of year again! Time for the nearly-obligatory post about how to photograph fireworks for your 4th of July celebration.

1. Location. It’s important to get to your location early so you can scout out a vantage point with uninterrupted views. I personally like to be up above and behind the crowd, so I can get shots of them highlighted in the glow of the fireworks display.

2. Gear. Bring a tripod and a remote shutter release to completely minimize vibration and shakiness. I prefer a wide angle lens to get overall shots, but you may prefer a telephoto lens to completely fill the frame with bursting light.

3. Aperture and ISO. Use an aperture that will bring the entire scene into focus, such as between f/8 and f/16. Resist the urge to crank up the ISO just because it’s dark outside – the light from the fireworks renders a high ISO unnecessary, so keep it around 200.

4. Shutter speed. This requires a bit of trial and error. You want to use a shutter speed that is long enough to catch the trails of light as the fireworks burst, but not so long as to overexpose the light from the fireworks. The “bulb” setting works well for this – simply press the shutter release right as the firework is about to explode, hold it down until it’s finished exploding, then release. This might take a bit of practice to get it right. Alternately, try setting the shutter speed to around five seconds and see if that gets you the level of exposure that you’d like.

5. Turn off auto-focus. Most DSLR’s will have a bit of a hard time focusing in dim light, so use the first few bursts to set the focus manually, then you can leave it alone for the rest of the display (unless you change positions or focal length).

6. Try light painting! There’s usually plenty of sparklers around, so to put a different spin on the images of the celebration, try your hand at light painting. With your camera on the tripod (in a dark area), set your shutter speed to between 10 and 30 seconds, ISO around 200, aperture between f/8 and f/16. Focus manually on the backdrop. Press the shutter, hop in front of the camera (or use a timer delay to give you a chance to get into position), and use the sparkler to “paint” words, designs, and shapes. The long exposure will translate the painting as uninterrupted streams of light in the image. Use trial and error to set the shutter speed correctly for your intended image.

Have fun, be safe, and show us some of your images in the Flickr Group or Facebook page!

Photo credit: Bayasaa on Flickr Creative Commons.

Beach Photography Exposure

Steve Russell — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 04:00:34 +0000

One of the great things about photography in the summer is there are so many mid-tones – greens, blues, reds, etc. – that getting the right exposure becomes less of a challenge. Just point the camera at something that is mid-tone with the light falling on it the same way it’s falling on your subject, lock the exposure, compose your shot and press the shutter release. Actually, it’s a lot easier to do than to write. In the daytime, outdoors, in bright sunshine the old Sunny 16 rule can be your trusted friend. Want a 2-stop shallower depth of field; open the aperture by 2 stops and increase your shutter speed by 2 stops.

Still, there are times where your surroundings will “fool” your camera into an incorrect exposure. This can be especially true at the beach, especially during the day. I know, if you want great outdoors shots take them during the “Golden Hour” but sometimes you have to take the photo when the opportunity presents itself.

To make this more difficult, different beaches have markedly different colors of sand so there aren’t any hard and fast exposure rules that will apply to every beach. For example, if you find yourself on Panaluu Beach on the big island of Hawaii the sand is black, very black. In places like Destin and Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, or the Seychelles, the beaches look like they’re covered with granulated sugar. Both situations may require some exposure manipulation.

If you’re shooting photographs at a beach where the sand is very white, depending on how you have your camera set for exposures, the camera will want to expose the sand as medium gray and your photo will be underexposed. There isn’t anything wrong with the image being underexposed and that may be exactly what you’re trying to achieve, but if you want the beach to look white, you’ll need to increase the exposure, either by opening the aperture or slowing shutter speed. Just as with snow, the general adjustment is to “open up” two stops as pure white is two stops “brighter” than medium (or 18%) gray. However, I find that sometimes has a tendency to “blow out” the sand and I want the sand to have some detail so I usually open up 1 1/3 stops or 1 2/3 stops.

To be truthful, I will usually take a number of different exposures just to make sure but once I have it the way I want it, I adjust the “exposure compensation” by whatever amount I’m increasing the exposure and that usually solves the problem. Then I get white sand like you see in this image.

Of course, all that fancy stuff goes out the window when you’re capturing an image like this one of the man, the dog, the beach and the fog. In some parts of the world, like the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Canada, the light can go from bright sunlight to dense fog in a matter of minutes.

While the beach can present some interesting exposure challenges, there are also a tremendous number of opportunities to capture some great images.

Take your camera to the beach and experiment. Once you become comfortable working with some difficult lighting situations, you’ll be glad you gave it a try. In addition to shutter speed and aperture to adjust your exposure, don’t forget to experiment with Neutral Density and Circular Polarizing filters if you have them.

Photo Credits:
Beach Chairs at Weiße Düne by palestrina55 on Flickr Commons
Cuban Beach by phunko82 on Flickr Commons
Beach, Dog and Fog by colin.jagoe on Flickr Commons
Beach by tricky on Flickr Commons
Beached Out by Weng on Flickr Commons

Back to Basics: Fill Light Two Ways

Tiffany Joyce — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:00:18 +0000

Fill light is used when the subject of the photograph is darker than the background. It is intended to lighten shadows and reveal detail. When you observe a photographer using a flash in the outdoors, during the daytime, often they are using the flash as a fill light. There is also a way to increase the fill light via Photoshop. I’ll be giving examples of both in this article.

First, daylight fill flash. Here is a photo that provides a perfect opportunity for using a fill flash.

The subject’s face is obscured by shadow, and there is a very significant exposure difference between the subject and the background. So I popped my Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash onto my 7D, dialed down the power by a couple of stops, and tried again.

Not the best composition in the world, and the waterfall in the background is kind of distracting, but you get the idea. You can now see the subject’s face, and the exposure difference between the foreground and background isn’t as jarring. Don’t be afraid to use a flash – even your pop-up flash – outside in the daylight.

Now, what do you do if you have a series of photographs that really need some fill light, but you didn’t take any shots with a flash? That’s where Photoshop comes in. Here is the original image:

When opening the RAW image in Photoshop CS5, the Camera Raw editor is displayed. The default “basic” menu contains a setting slider called “Fill Light”. Moving this slider backwards and forwards adjusts the fill light in the image.

Without changing any other settings, I moved the slider from “0″ to “40″. And here is the result:

Detail is immediately revealed and shadows are dissipated. I would probably also increase the vibrance, contrast, and blacks while toying with the Camera Raw settings to further improve this photo.

So there you have it! Two very simple ways to create fill light in your photographs.