3 Exposure Techniques for Beginners By Gary Tindale

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "3 Exposure Techniques for Beginners By Gary Tindale"

Transcription

1 3 Exposure Techniques for Beginners By Gary Tindale Introduction You are the proud owner of a DSLR, and it s full of features that can be disconcerting, several of which are geared towards controlling exposure. Yes, you could play it safe and use auto, hoping the clever electronics in the camera will do the job and maybe do a bit of extra tweaking in post-production, but if you do that you are not making the most of your camera and whilst the internal exposure systems of modern DSLR s are very clever, they are not foolproof. In this tutorial I will go through three ways to control/override exposure, some of which would be considered advanced techniques by some, techniques that a beginner doesn t really need to know when starting out. However, I m not of that opinion and believe that adding these tools to your photographic arsenal early on in your photography days can really give you an advantage and will improve your ability to capture the image you want. These techniques and the associated discussion will also help you understand how your camera meters the image it sees and why it sometimes gets it wrong.

2 Your DSLR camera is built with the ability to meter the image in the viewfinder in several ways: - 1. Evaluative. Where the electronics looks at key areas of the image to get an overall view of the varying exposures from which it calculates what it considers best. 2. Centre Weighted. A method similar to evaluative, but with the exposure chosen by the camera tending towards the exposure of the subject in the middle of the image. 3. Spot Metering. Using only a small reference area around the centre of the image to choose the exposure. Using any of these methods, the camera can be very clever and will more often than not give you an accurate exposure and an excellent result. Unfortunately, the camera can be fooled by certain conditions and this is where the Exposure Lock function can really help The first trick is to understand when the cameras exposure meter may be fooled and the second is to know what to do about it! 01 - Exposure Lock One of the simplest ways to override the exposure setting chosen by the camera is to make use of the Exposure Lock button. The Exposure Lock button, which may be labelled AE-L or AF-L depending on the make and model of your camera, is generally on the back of the camera body, within easy reach of your right thumb. But when will you use it?

3 Let s say you are shooting indoors and there s a window in the frame and it s a bright day outside, so there is a lot of light coming through the window. With the high volume of light from the window, the camera would most likely expose for the window and under-expose the rest of the shot where the main subject is. You could move your subject away from the window, but that may not be what you want, you may want the natural light on your subject. It may not even be possible because your subject is fixed in place next to the window. Either way, you need to find a way to correct the exposure. This is where Exposure Lock can help. Point the camera away from the window, so that the window is out of the frame. Now half-press the shutter release to activate the light meter you can release it as soon as the meter has switched on. Next, while the camera is still metering press and hold the AE-L / AF-L button to lock the exposure for your current view. Reframe your shot whilst still keeping the AE-L / AF-L pressed and once reframed, take the picture. Once the picture has been taken you can release the AE-L / AF-L button. Warning: - 1. In many cases, as a default action, pressing the exposure lock button will also lock your focus, so you may need to make some changes to your cameras settings to prevent this (see below). The AE-L / AF-L button is probably the simplest and quickest way for you to override the camera s natural exposure reading and is thus very useful AE-L / AF-L button options Often, by default, the AE-L / AF-L button locks both the exposure and the focus, but this may not be what you want, especially if when you move the frame to meter the key area items are at a different distance. You want the focus to be correct for the final shot, not the area you used to correct the exposure setting. Fortunately, this is one problem that is usually easy to overcome and is fixed by making a change in your cameras Custom Functions menu. On a typical DSLR there are usually three options for the AE-L / AE-F button setting. 1. Default, where the button locks both the exposure and the focus. 2. Exposure Lock only. 3. Focus Lock only. Just choose the option you find most useful.

4 02 - EV Compensation As I said in the introduction, your DSLR has a very complex and clever metering system that works extremely well in most cases, but it does have one weakness. No matter how complex the system, it does not really interpret what you are looking at and whether it happens to be predominantly light or dark, it just assumes there is a balance and it calculates its exposure based on that. In assuming an average gamut of colours and tones, light and dark, highlights and shadows, the camera s metering system can be easily fooled if one light, or dark tone dominates the image. So if you want to take a picture in the snow and for the snow to come out white, or take a picture of a black cat in a coal cellar and for the cat to come out black you will need to take control of the cameras exposure meter and tell it to adjust what it sets. This is Exposure Compensation If a scene is predominantly white, say a snow scene, your cameras exposure meter will have a tendency to under expose the image. This may at first seem a bit counter intuitive, because logic would say that the scene is very bright, so I need to reduce the exposure right? Wrong! Because the scene is so bright, the cameras exposure meter is fooled and actually cuts down the light it lets through, trying to make it an average (grey), therefore under exposing the shot. The camera has been fooled into compensating for something it shouldn t have, so you need to compensate for the error by telling the camera to increasing the exposure to where it really should be. The same thing happens in reverse with dark subjects, the camera measures lower than usual light levels, so it increases the exposure to compensate, again trying to get to that average grey. The camera doesn t realize that you are shooting a dark subject, so you have to give it a nudge and tell it to reduce the exposure to keep the black bits black

5 So, now comes the difficult part. How much exposure compensation should you apply? For snow scenes, I would suggest a value of EV +1, it should be sufficient to make most snow scenes have white snow without over exposing and burning out the real highlights. If your camera has 1/3 rd stop EV adjustments, EV +.7 or EV may be better Black subjects can be a bit more awkward, depending on the background and how dark that is as well, but normally between EV -.5 and EV -1 will give you the right results. Of course, using a DSLR, you can always take a shot, review it in the LCD and if necessary adjust the compensation and take another shot. What I would not recommend though is taking a shot at every possible value between the + & - limits that your camera has. Applying EV compensation Applying an exposure compensation value to your shot is fairly straight forward. Press the EV compensation button and while the button is pressed turn the control wheel left for EV- and right for EV+ and the camera will adjust its calculated value accordingly. Depending on your camera, each step in the compensation will be either 1/3 rd or ½ stop increments Notes: - 1. On most DSLR s, the step value for exposure compensation can be switched between 1/3 rd and ½ stop increments in the Custom Functions. 2. Usually on a DSLR there will be a bar in the viewfinder and LCD that shows the exposure compensation value set, with the centre of the bar meaning EV +/- 0 (cameras exposure value unadjusted), to the left shows steps in EV- (under exposure) and to the right, steps in EV+ (Over exposure) Warning: - 1. Once set, EV changes remain active. Remember to reset the Exposure Compensation to EV +/- 0 after taking the shot.

6 03 - Exposure Bracketing Correct Exposure from Camera Light Meter Exposure Bracketing is an emotive subject within photography, purists insist that a good photographer should be able to calculate the correct exposure and adjust correctly based on their knowledge and understanding of photography. Others insist that the photo is what matters and that any tool available to help you get it right is worth using, after all, in the wet film darkroom photographers often over, or under exposed images to create that finite control over the end result. Now don t get me wrong, working out the correct exposure is a great idea and something every photographer should learn to do, the trouble is, in some situations it is not so easy to achieve, especially when you only have your camera s light meter to rely on and as I have already shown, even the most sophisticated camera light meter can be fooled.

7 2 Stop Under Exposure Whichever side of the argument you are on, with the advent of digital cameras and capacious storage for images bracketing is a reliable solution for situations where you are uncertain of the correct exposure, or in those situations where you do not have time to work out the perfect exposure. Exposure Bracketing is itself a simple process on a digital SLR, you set the degree of exposure bracketing (and in some cameras the number of shots), then take three shots (or 5 on some cameras). One at normal exposure, one under exposed by the amount set and the final one over exposed by the same amount. You just have to pick the best shot. You can set the degree of over/under exposure from within the cameras menu system and whilst it is hard to set a benchmark of how much exposure bracketing is needed, I would suggest a minimum of +/- 0.7EV as a general baseline, although high contrast scenes may benefit from +/- 1EV or even +/- 1.3EV.

8 2 Stop Over Exposure With exposure bracketing set, each time you press the shutter release you will take on the sequence of exposure bracketed shots until you have taken the last. Warning: - 1. If you forget that you have exposure bracketing set and only take one or two of the shots in the set before moving on, the next shot will be taken with settings as per the exposure bracketing sequence, so always remember to take all 3 shots before moving on. Alternatively, set the cameras drive mode to continuous and hold the shutter release down. In this instance the camera will take all 3 shots sequentially Really, when exposure bracketing, continuous shooting mode is the preferred solution, the only time you would really use single shot mode is when there are people walking in and out of the shot and you have to wait for the right moment to take each shot.

9 Bracketing and HDR OK, now I am going to really upset the purists. There is one other reason for using Exposure Bracketing and it s a reason many modern photographers always bracket their shots regardless of subject and the cameras exposure meter accuracy. This is so the shots can be used in the field of High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. This is a post processing technique for photographing subjects with a much higher dynamic (brightness) range than the camera can record in a single shot. For the purpose of HDR photography, the Exposure Bracketing range is often set much wider than you would just to balance a photo, I typically set +/- 2EV. The reason for this is to gather as much brightness and tonal range across the set of images to ensure I have clarity and detail from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights. When working in HDR, the real tricks occur post processing where the 3 images are combined through software to produce a single image with the correct exposure as the baseline, but the dark areas and blown out highlights replaced with those sections from the bracketed images resulting in a single image with a much broader dynamic range than normal. Previous images combined to HDR

10 Conclusion Every DSLR is a sophisticated piece of engineering in many ways, one part is a very complex internal exposure meter that can be so clever that it almost works out what you are photographing, exposing the scene correctly most of the time, thus allowing you to concentrate on other things so you end up with a great shot. Unfortunately, because of the way exposure meters work, they do have some fundamental limitations and can be fooled by predominately light, or dark subjects which cause the camera into over, or under expose the image resulting in an image where blacks and whites become washed out and grey. You could spend $100 s on a separate light meter and recalculate every dark or light shot to get the best results, or you could use some simple techniques that are available to overcome the limitations of the in camera light meters. Experience will tell you which technique to use and when, but knowing how and what exposure lock, exposure compensation and exposure bracketing are is the first step and will definitely help you on your way to better control your camera and capture the essence of the image you are photographing. Beyond these techniques there is a world of opportunities open to you and you may even step into the world of HDR, but that is a whole different workshop. One last thing. If you really want to learn about your cameras exposure meter and how much YOUR camera s meter may need to be adjusted on occasions, try the following. 1. Set up a table with a white table cloth. 2. Now, take a picture of a white egg on a white plate on that table cloth using natural light. 3. Use your cameras exposure compensation (EV+/-) to adjust the shot until you get the most natural rendition of the picture you have set up. 4. When you can see the egg on the plate on the table cloth properly exposed and coloured you will have a good indication of the maximum exposure compensation your camera needs for most shots.

Funded from the Scottish Hydro Gordonbush Community Fund. Metering exposure

Funded from the Scottish Hydro Gordonbush Community Fund. Metering exposure Funded from the Scottish Hydro Gordonbush Community Fund Metering exposure We have looked at the three components of exposure: Shutter speed time light allowed in. Aperture size of hole through which light

More information

FOCUS, EXPOSURE (& METERING) BVCC May 2018

FOCUS, EXPOSURE (& METERING) BVCC May 2018 FOCUS, EXPOSURE (& METERING) BVCC May 2018 SUMMARY Metering in digital cameras. Metering modes. Exposure, quick recap. Exposure settings and modes. Focus system(s) and camera controls. Challenges & Experiments.

More information

A Beginner s Guide To Exposure

A Beginner s Guide To Exposure A Beginner s Guide To Exposure What is exposure? A Beginner s Guide to Exposure What is exposure? According to Wikipedia: In photography, exposure is the amount of light per unit area (the image plane

More information

Camera Exposure Modes

Camera Exposure Modes What is Exposure? Exposure refers to how bright or dark your photo is. This is affected by the amount of light that is recorded by your camera s sensor. A properly exposed photo should typically resemble

More information

SPOT METERING. Copyright Hairy Goat Ltd 2015 Ä

SPOT METERING. Copyright Hairy Goat Ltd 2015 Ä How to fine tune your exposure with spot metering Metering is often something that leads to great confusion in newbie photographers (and often in more experienced ones, too). Basically, metering refers

More information

High Dynamic Range Photography

High Dynamic Range Photography JUNE 13, 2018 ADVANCED High Dynamic Range Photography Featuring TONY SWEET Tony Sweet D3, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8g ED. f/22, ISO 200, aperture priority, Matrix metering. Basically there are two reasons

More information

Take Control of Your Camera

Take Control of Your Camera Take Control of Your Camera With all of the technology packed into our cameras, it is easy to hand over control & blame our equipment when our images don t meet our expectations.. In this workshop we will

More information

CHAPTER 7 - HISTOGRAMS

CHAPTER 7 - HISTOGRAMS CHAPTER 7 - HISTOGRAMS In the field, the histogram is the single most important tool you use to evaluate image exposure. With the histogram, you can be certain that your image has no important areas that

More information

Photography Help Sheets

Photography Help Sheets Photography Help Sheets Phone: 01233 771915 Web: www.bigcatsanctuary.org Using your Digital SLR What is Exposure? Exposure is basically the process of recording light onto your digital sensor (or film).

More information

An Introduction to Histograms in Photography

An Introduction to Histograms in Photography An Introduction to Histograms in Photography Histograms are a graphical representation of all the pixels that make up an image, and are plotted by 'Luminance' or brightness. Every pixel, regardless of

More information

The Essential Guide To Advanced EOS Features. Written by Nina Bailey. Especially for Canon EOS cameras

The Essential Guide To Advanced EOS Features. Written by Nina Bailey. Especially for Canon EOS cameras The Essential Guide To Advanced EOS Features Written by Nina Bailey Especially for Canon EOS cameras Introduction 2 Written, designed and images by Nina Bailey www.eos-magazine.com/ebooks/es/ Produced

More information

Photo Workshop. Make better pictures on your trip Photo tips from Oceanwide Expeditions

Photo Workshop. Make better pictures on your trip Photo tips from Oceanwide Expeditions Photo Workshop Make better pictures on your trip Photo tips from Oceanwide Expeditions Protect your gear During your trip in the Arctic or Antarctic you and your camera equipment will be exposed to a variety

More information

AF Area Mode. Face Priority

AF Area Mode. Face Priority Chapter 4: The Shooting Menu 71 AF Area Mode This next option on the second screen of the Shooting menu gives you several options for controlling how the autofocus frame is set up when the camera is in

More information

Understanding and Using Dynamic Range. Eagle River Camera Club October 2, 2014

Understanding and Using Dynamic Range. Eagle River Camera Club October 2, 2014 Understanding and Using Dynamic Range Eagle River Camera Club October 2, 2014 Dynamic Range Simplified Definition The number of exposure stops between the lightest usable white and the darkest useable

More information

Photomatix Light 1.0 User Manual

Photomatix Light 1.0 User Manual Photomatix Light 1.0 User Manual Table of Contents Introduction... iii Section 1: HDR...1 1.1 Taking Photos for HDR...2 1.1.1 Setting Up Your Camera...2 1.1.2 Taking the Photos...3 Section 2: Using Photomatix

More information

Understanding Histograms

Understanding Histograms Information copied from Understanding Histograms http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml Possibly the most useful tool available in digital photography

More information

Zone. ystem. Handbook. Part 2 The Zone System in Practice. by Jeff Curto

Zone. ystem. Handbook. Part 2 The Zone System in Practice. by Jeff Curto A Zone S ystem Handbook Part 2 The Zone System in Practice by This handout was produced in support of s Camera Position Podcast. Reproduction and redistribution of this document is fine, so long as the

More information

This has given you a good introduction to the world of photography, however there are other important and fundamental camera functions and skills

This has given you a good introduction to the world of photography, however there are other important and fundamental camera functions and skills THE DSLR CAMERA Before we Begin For those of you who have studied photography the chances are that in most cases you have been using a digital compact camera. This has probably involved you turning the

More information

HDR. High Dynamic Range Photograph

HDR. High Dynamic Range Photograph HDR High Dynamic Range Photograph HDR This is a properly exposed image. HDR This is a properly exposed image - if I meter off the mountain side. HDR If it s properly exposed, why can t I see details in

More information

Bristol Photographic Society Introduction to Digital Imaging

Bristol Photographic Society Introduction to Digital Imaging Bristol Photographic Society Introduction to Digital Imaging Part 16 HDR an Introduction HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and is a method for capturing a scene that has a light range (light to dark) that

More information

METERING FOR A BETTER PHOTOGRAPH

METERING FOR A BETTER PHOTOGRAPH METERING FOR A BETTER PHOTOGRAPH By Janet Steyer 2 8 15 INTRODUCTION This program is geared toward the photographer who has a camera with manual controls. Most of this information is based on the controls

More information

Impact With Smartphone Photography. Smartphone Camera Handling. A Smartphone for Serious Photography?

Impact With Smartphone Photography. Smartphone Camera Handling. A Smartphone for Serious Photography? A Smartphone for Serious Photography? DSLR technically superior but photo quality depends on technical skill, creative vision Smartphone cameras can produce remarkable pictures always at ready After all

More information

The Fundamental Problem

The Fundamental Problem The What, Why & How WHAT IS IT? Technique of blending multiple different exposures of the same scene to create a single image with a greater dynamic range than can be achieved with a single exposure. Can

More information

L I F E L O N G L E A R N I N G C O L L A B O R AT I V E - FA L L S N A P I X : P H O T O G R A P H Y

L I F E L O N G L E A R N I N G C O L L A B O R AT I V E - FA L L S N A P I X : P H O T O G R A P H Y L I F E L O N G L E A R N I N G C O L L A B O R AT I V E - F A L L 2 0 1 8 SNAPIX: PHOTOGRAPHY SNAPIX OVERVIEW Introductions Course Overview 2 classes on technical training 3 photo shoots Other classes

More information

CAMERA BASICS. Stops of light

CAMERA BASICS. Stops of light CAMERA BASICS Stops of light A stop of light isn t a quantifiable measurement it s a relative measurement. A stop of light is defined as a doubling or halving of any quantity of light. The word stop is

More information

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SETTINGS ON YOUR CAMERA!

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SETTINGS ON YOUR CAMERA! Chapter 4-Exposure ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SETTINGS ON YOUR CAMERA! Exposure Basics The amount of light reaching the film or digital sensor. Each digital image requires a specific amount of light to

More information

Home Search Gallery How-To Books Links Workshops About Contact The Zone System 2006 KenRockwell.com INTRODUCTION Zones are levels of light and dark. A Zone System is a system by which you understand and

More information

Improve Your Photography by using Simple Camera Settings and Techniques

Improve Your Photography by using Simple Camera Settings and Techniques Improve Your Photography by using Simple Camera Settings and Techniques Francis J Pullen 2012 +44 (0)7768 364 567 images@francispullen.co.uk www.francispullen.co.uk Introduction Digital Cameras offer tremendous

More information

Digitizing Film Using the D850 and ES-2 Negative Digitizer

Digitizing Film Using the D850 and ES-2 Negative Digitizer JULY 23, 2018 INTERMEDIATE Digitizing Film Using the D850 and ES-2 Negative Digitizer The ES 2 can be used with both strip film and mounted slides. Digitizing film is the process of creating digital data

More information

OUTDOOR PORTRAITURE WORKSHOP

OUTDOOR PORTRAITURE WORKSHOP OUTDOOR PORTRAITURE WORKSHOP SECOND EDITION Copyright Bryan A. Thompson, 2012 bryan@rollaphoto.com Goals The goals of this workshop are to present various techniques for creating portraits in an outdoor

More information

Photographic Exposure Colin Legg

Photographic Exposure Colin Legg Why does Auto sometimes get it wrong? Photographic Exposure Colin Legg Correct exposure is subjective judgement Predominantly white subject camera will tend to under-expose Predominantly dark subject camera

More information

Basic Camera Craft. Roy Killen, GMAPS, EFIAP, MPSA. (c) 2016 Roy Killen Basic Camera Craft, Page 1

Basic Camera Craft. Roy Killen, GMAPS, EFIAP, MPSA. (c) 2016 Roy Killen Basic Camera Craft, Page 1 Basic Camera Craft Roy Killen, GMAPS, EFIAP, MPSA (c) 2016 Roy Killen Basic Camera Craft, Page 1 Basic Camera Craft Whether you use a camera that cost $100 or one that cost $10,000, you need to be able

More information

Until now, I have discussed the basics of setting

Until now, I have discussed the basics of setting Chapter 3: Shooting Modes for Still Images Until now, I have discussed the basics of setting up the camera for quick shots, using Intelligent Auto mode to take pictures with settings controlled mostly

More information

1. This paper contains 45 multiple-choice-questions (MCQ) in 6 pages. 2. All questions carry equal marks. 3. You can take 1 hour for answering.

1. This paper contains 45 multiple-choice-questions (MCQ) in 6 pages. 2. All questions carry equal marks. 3. You can take 1 hour for answering. UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA, SRI LANKA FACULTY OF ENGINEERING END OF SEMESTER EXAMINATION 2007/2008 (Held in Aug 2008) B.Sc. ENGINEERING LEVEL 2, JUNE TERM DE 2290 PHOTOGRAPHY Answer ALL questions in the answer

More information

Digital Photography for Rail Fans By David King

Digital Photography for Rail Fans By David King Digital Photography for Rail Fans By David King A Little History The world of digital has affected almost everything thing that we use in today s world and that is very true in photography. Over a hundred

More information

Love Your Camera (Introduction to D-SLR)

Love Your Camera (Introduction to D-SLR) Love Your Camera (Introduction to D-SLR) Photography Workshops and Tours in New York City Phone: (646) 736-3231 Email: info@rememberforever.co Web: www.rememberforever.co Copyright 2009-2013 - Remember

More information

Capturing Realistic HDR Images. Dave Curtin Nassau County Camera Club February 24 th, 2016

Capturing Realistic HDR Images. Dave Curtin Nassau County Camera Club February 24 th, 2016 Capturing Realistic HDR Images Dave Curtin Nassau County Camera Club February 24 th, 2016 Capturing Realistic HDR Images Topics: What is HDR? In Camera. Post-Processing. Sample Workflow. Q & A. Capturing

More information

To do this, the lens itself had to be set to viewing mode so light passed through just as it does when making the

To do this, the lens itself had to be set to viewing mode so light passed through just as it does when making the CHAPTER 4 - EXPOSURE In the last chapter, we mentioned fast shutter speeds and moderate apertures. Shutter speed and aperture are 2 of only 3 settings that are required to make a photographic exposure.

More information

Digital camera modes explained: choose the best shooting mode for your subject

Digital camera modes explained: choose the best shooting mode for your subject Digital camera modes explained: choose the best shooting mode for your subject On most DSLRs, the Mode dial is split into three sections: Scene modes (for doing point-and-shoot photography in specific

More information

Autofocus Problems The Camera Lens

Autofocus Problems The Camera Lens NEWHorenstein.04.Lens.32-55 3/11/05 11:53 AM Page 36 36 4 The Camera Lens Autofocus Problems Autofocus can be a powerful aid when it works, but frustrating when it doesn t. And there are some situations

More information

! 1! Digital Photography! 2! 1!

! 1! Digital Photography! 2! 1! ! 1! Digital Photography! 2! 1! Summary of results! Field of view at a distance of 5 meters Focal length! 20mm! 55mm! 200mm! Field of view! 6 meters! 2.2 meters! 0.6 meters! 3! 4! 2! ! 5! Which Lens?!

More information

OTHER RECORDING FUNCTIONS

OTHER RECORDING FUNCTIONS OTHER RECORDING FUNCTIONS This chapter describes the other powerful features and functions that are available for recording. Exposure Compensation (EV Shift) Exposure compensation lets you change the exposure

More information

The Focal Point t. The EXPOSURE Issue, featuring the inspiration of Gordon Risk, Gary Faulkner, Ansel Adams & Fred Archer. The. November December 2007

The Focal Point t. The EXPOSURE Issue, featuring the inspiration of Gordon Risk, Gary Faulkner, Ansel Adams & Fred Archer. The. November December 2007 The Focal Point t November December 2007 The The EXPOSURE Issue, featuring the inspiration of Gordon Risk, Gary Faulkner, Ansel Adams & Fred Archer The Zone System is a method of understanding and controlling

More information

Working with your Camera

Working with your Camera Topic 6 White Balance Learning Outcomes In this topic, you will learn about the role of white balance in your photography and what this means for you when working with colour on your DSLR. Light Light

More information

Infrared Photography. John Caplis. Joyce Harman Harmany in Nature

Infrared Photography. John Caplis. Joyce Harman Harmany in Nature Infrared Photography John Caplis & Joyce Harman Harmany in Nature www.harmanyinnature.com www.savingdarkskies.com Why do infrared photography? Infrared photography offers many unique creative choices you

More information

PHIL MORGAN PHOTOGRAPHY

PHIL MORGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Including: Creative shooting Manual mode Editing PHIL MORGAN PHOTOGRAPHY A free e-book to help you get the most from your camera. Many photographers begin with the naïve idea of instantly making money

More information

Black and White Photoshop Conversion Techniques

Black and White Photoshop Conversion Techniques Black and White Photoshop Conversion Techniques Andrew Gibson on Jan 27th 2011 Final Product What You'll Be Creating A quick glance through any photography or fashion magazine, or at the photos on social

More information

Realistic HDR Histograms Camera Raw

Realistic HDR Histograms Camera Raw Realistic HDR Histograms Camera Raw Wednesday September 2 nd 2015 6:30pm 8:30pm Simsbury Camera Club Presented by Frank Zaremba Gcephoto@comcast.net 1 There are no bad pictures; that's just how your face

More information

Aperture Priority Mode

Aperture Priority Mode Chapter 3: Shooting Modes for Still Images 23 The Program Shift function is available only in Program mode; it works as follows. Once you have aimed the camera at your subject, the camera displays its

More information

Your World 60D. The Still Photographer s Guide to Operation and Image Creation with the Canon EOS 60D. by Douglas J. Klostermann

Your World 60D. The Still Photographer s Guide to Operation and Image Creation with the Canon EOS 60D. by Douglas J. Klostermann 0 Your World 60D The Still Photographer s Guide to Operation and Image Creation with the Canon EOS 60D by Douglas J. Klostermann Full Stop. good writing for better photography 1 All rights reserved. This

More information

High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is a combination of a specialized image capture technique and image processing.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is a combination of a specialized image capture technique and image processing. Introduction High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is a combination of a specialized image capture technique and image processing. Photomatix Pro's HDR imaging processes combine several Low Dynamic Range

More information

Dynamic Range. H. David Stein

Dynamic Range. H. David Stein Dynamic Range H. David Stein Dynamic Range What is dynamic range? What is low or limited dynamic range (LDR)? What is high dynamic range (HDR)? What s the difference? Since we normally work in LDR Why

More information

HDR is a process for increasing the range of tonal values beyond what a single frame (either film or digital) can produce.

HDR is a process for increasing the range of tonal values beyond what a single frame (either film or digital) can produce. HDR HDR is a process for increasing the range of tonal values beyond what a single frame (either film or digital) can produce. It can be used to create more realistic views, or wild extravagant ones What

More information

HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGING Nancy Clements Beasley, March 22, 2011

HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGING Nancy Clements Beasley, March 22, 2011 HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGING Nancy Clements Beasley, March 22, 2011 First - What Is Dynamic Range? Dynamic range is essentially about Luminance the range of brightness levels in a scene o From the darkest

More information

Digital Matrix User s Guide

Digital Matrix User s Guide Digital Matrix User s Guide Dear Legacy2Digital Customers: Our hope is that you fully enjoy using your modified manual focus Nikon or third party lens on your DSLR camera and that our conversion meets

More information

So far, I have discussed setting up the camera for

So far, I have discussed setting up the camera for Chapter 3: The Shooting Modes So far, I have discussed setting up the camera for quick shots, relying on features such as Auto mode for taking pictures with settings controlled mostly by the camera s automation.

More information

Aperture. The lens opening that allows more, or less light onto the sensor formed by a diaphragm inside the actual lens.

Aperture. The lens opening that allows more, or less light onto the sensor formed by a diaphragm inside the actual lens. PHOTOGRAPHY TERMS: AE - Auto Exposure. When the camera is set to this mode, it will automatically set all the required modes for the light conditions. I.e. Shutter speed, aperture and white balance. The

More information

Understanding f-stopsf

Understanding f-stopsf Understanding f-stopsf When you buy a new DSLR there is a mass of technical information for you to get your head around. Here I will explain what you need to know in order to get an understanding of f-stops.

More information

Drive Mode. Details for each of these Drive Mode settings are discussed below.

Drive Mode. Details for each of these Drive Mode settings are discussed below. Chapter 4: Shooting Menu 67 When you highlight this option and press the Center button, a menu appears at the left of the screen as shown in Figure 4-20, with 9 choices represented by icons: Single Shooting,

More information

FUNDAMENTALS OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR FIRE INVESTIGATORS

FUNDAMENTALS OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR FIRE INVESTIGATORS FUNDAMENTALS OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR FIRE INVESTIGATORS Ryan M Cox, B.Sc. FPET, CFEI, CFI, CFPS Kodiak Fire & Safety Consulting, USA ABSTRACT A photograph is worth 1000 words is a saying that is believed

More information

!"#$%&'!( The exposure is achieved by the proper combination of light intensity (aperture) and duration of light (shutter speed) entering the camera.!

!#$%&'!( The exposure is achieved by the proper combination of light intensity (aperture) and duration of light (shutter speed) entering the camera.! The term exposure refers to the amount of light required to properly expose an image to achieve the desired amount of detail in all areas of the image.! The exposure is achieved by the proper combination

More information

Film exposure speaks to the amount of light that strikes the film when you press the shutter button to make a picture. Correct exposure depends on

Film exposure speaks to the amount of light that strikes the film when you press the shutter button to make a picture. Correct exposure depends on Film Exposure Film exposure speaks to the amount of light that strikes the film when you press the shutter button to make a picture. Correct exposure depends on letting just enough light to enter the camera

More information

èõ Changing Recording Modes Text Mode Continuous Shooting Mode Changing Flash Modes Flash Off Mode Auto Mode...

èõ Changing Recording Modes Text Mode Continuous Shooting Mode Changing Flash Modes Flash Off Mode Auto Mode... 3 ADVANCED SHOOTING Chapter ëêå@å@ èõ Changing Recording Modes... 52 Text Mode... 52 Continuous Shooting Mode... 53 Changing Flash Modes... 55 Flash Off Mode... 56 Auto Mode... 57 Forced Flash Mode...

More information

Photography should be both a process of discovery and a procedure for recording that discovery.

Photography should be both a process of discovery and a procedure for recording that discovery. Camera Techniques Nikon dslr Cameras By Frank Gorga Part 1 3 February 2011 A Bit of Philosophy Photography should be both a process of discovery and a procedure for recording that discovery. In the process

More information

Beginner s Photography

Beginner s Photography Let s Get Started: Beginner s Photography Welcome to Let s Get Started: Beginner s Digital Photography, a brand new, four-week course designed for all those starting in digital (and film) photography,

More information

Winston C Hall Tuner Photography

Winston C Hall Tuner Photography D4s Custom Banks Settings Shooting and Custom Setting Menus Created by: Winston C Hall Tuner Photography 714 D4s Shooting and Custom Settings Banks This guide is an outline of my recommendations for the

More information

or, How do I get this thing to do what I want? Copyright 2016 Paul Fisher

or, How do I get this thing to do what I want? Copyright 2016 Paul Fisher or, How do I get this thing to do what I want? Copyright 2016 Paul Fisher So just what are the basic camera operations we re going to discuss? Set up. How do you have your camera configured ISO setting

More information

Intro to Digital SLR and ILC Photography Week 1 The Camera Body

Intro to Digital SLR and ILC Photography Week 1 The Camera Body Intro to Digital SLR and ILC Photography Week 1 The Camera Body Instructor: Roger Buchanan Class notes are available at www.thenerdworks.com Course Outline: Week 1 Camera Body; Week 2 Lenses; Week 3 Accessories,

More information

HDR ~ The Possibilities

HDR ~ The Possibilities HDR ~ The Possibilities Dooleys Camera Club 14th March 2014!1 HDR - The Possibilities Steve Mullarkey email: stevemul@ozemail.com.au website: http://www.stevemul.com.au/! A PDF copy of this presentation

More information

E-420. Exceptional ease of use. 100% D-SLR quality. 10 Megapixel Live MOS sensor Shadow Adjustment Technology

E-420. Exceptional ease of use. 100% D-SLR quality. 10 Megapixel Live MOS sensor Shadow Adjustment Technology E-420 World's most compact D- SLR* Comfortable viewing with Autofocus Live View 6.9cm / 2.7'' HyperCrystal II LCD Face Detection for perfectly focused and exposed faces Exceptional ease of use 100% D-SLR

More information

E-420. Exceptional ease of use. 100% D-SLR quality. 10 Megapixel Live MOS sensor Shadow Adjustment Technology

E-420. Exceptional ease of use. 100% D-SLR quality. 10 Megapixel Live MOS sensor Shadow Adjustment Technology E-420 World's most compact D- SLR* Comfortable viewing with Autofocus Live View 6.9cm / 2.7'' HyperCrystal II LCD Face Detection for perfectly focused and exposed faces Exceptional ease of use 100% D-SLR

More information

ISO. In this unit we learn about the sensitiveness of the sensor, its good points as well as its bad points. We also learn about ASA and ISO.

ISO. In this unit we learn about the sensitiveness of the sensor, its good points as well as its bad points. We also learn about ASA and ISO. In this unit we learn about the sensitiveness of the sensor, its good points as well as its bad points. We also learn about ASA and ISO. ISO Recent developments have seen big advances, with many 'smart'

More information

Understanding Your Camera 2: UUU200

Understanding Your Camera 2: UUU200 Understanding Your Camera 2: UUU200 Your 2 Understanding Camera Your Understanding Camera 2 Exposure & Metering Metering & Exposure Objective Objective After completing this class, the student will have

More information

Introduction to 2-D Copy Work

Introduction to 2-D Copy Work Introduction to 2-D Copy Work What is the purpose of creating digital copies of your analogue work? To use for digital editing To submit work electronically to professors or clients To share your work

More information

Suggested FL-36/50 Flash Setups By English Bob

Suggested FL-36/50 Flash Setups By English Bob Suggested FL-36/50 Flash Setups By English Bob Over a period of time I've experimented extensively with the E system and its flash capabilities and put together suggested flash setups for various situations.

More information

Understanding the Controls and Settings on your Digital Camera

Understanding the Controls and Settings on your Digital Camera Understanding the Controls and Settings on your Digital Camera This is a brief guide to the basic controls and settings on a modern DSLR or bridge camera. It cannot possibly cover all the settings and

More information

Introduction to HDR Photography with Brian McPhee

Introduction to HDR Photography with Brian McPhee Introduction to HDR Photography with Brian McPhee What is HDR Photography? What is HDR Photography? HDR stands for High Dynamic Range What is HDR Photography? HDR stands for High Dynamic Range It is a

More information

OTHER RECORDING FUNCTIONS

OTHER RECORDING FUNCTIONS OTHER RECORDING FUNCTIONS This chapter describes the other powerful features and functions that are available for recording. Exposure Compensation (EV Shift) Exposure compensation lets you change the exposure

More information

E-520. Built-in image stabiliser for all lenses. Comfortable Live View thanks to high speed contrast AF** 100% D-SLR quality

E-520. Built-in image stabiliser for all lenses. Comfortable Live View thanks to high speed contrast AF** 100% D-SLR quality E-520 Built-in image stabiliser for all lenses Excellent dust reduction system Professional functions 10 Megapixel Live MOS sensor Comfortable Live View thanks to high speed contrast AF** 100% D-SLR quality

More information

Photographer... and you can too.

Photographer... and you can too. Izzy Learned to be a Photographer... and you can too. A story about photography basics by Bruce Philpott My granddaughter, Izzy, was visiting us when she was eleven years old and she looked at a photo

More information

Lesson 1 Course Notes

Lesson 1 Course Notes 4 Week Online Photography Course An Introduction to Digital Photography A Guide to Getting the Best from Your Digital Camera Lesson 1 Course Notes By David Taylor Click Here to Book Course PAGE 2 Introduction

More information

Sony A6000. Custom Setup Suggestions A professional s perspective

Sony A6000. Custom Setup Suggestions A professional s perspective Sony A6000 Custom Setup Suggestions A professional s perspective Community Support Facebook Google+ Flickr Contents Meet the Author Why customise your A6000 camera? Getting Started Camera Settings Drive

More information

One Week to Better Photography

One Week to Better Photography One Week to Better Photography Glossary Adobe Bridge Useful application packaged with Adobe Photoshop that previews, organizes and renames digital image files and creates digital contact sheets Adobe Photoshop

More information

40 Digital Photo Retouching Techniques COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

40 Digital Photo Retouching Techniques COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL 40 Digital Photo Retouching Techniques COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL C h a p t e r Correcting Contrast If you are a photography enthusiast, you know that light is the defining factor in photography. You probably

More information

Topic 2 - A Closer Look At Exposure: ISO

Topic 2 - A Closer Look At Exposure: ISO Getting more from your Camera Topic 2 - A Closer Look At Exposure: ISO Learning Outcomes In this lesson, we will revisit the concept of ISO and the role it plays in your photography and by the end of this

More information

BLACK CAT PHOTOGRAPHIC RULES-OF- THUMB

BLACK CAT PHOTOGRAPHIC RULES-OF- THUMB Page 1 of 5 BLACK CAT PHOTOGRAPHIC RULES-OF- THUMB These 50+ photo-cyber-tips are meant to be shared and passed along. Rules-of-thumb are a kind of tool. They help identify a problem or situation. They

More information

Introduction to Digital Photography

Introduction to Digital Photography Introduction to Digital Photography with Nick Davison Photography is The mastering of the technical aspects of the camera combined with, The artistic vision and creative know how to produce an interesting

More information

PHOTOGRAPHER S GUIDE TO THE PANASONIC LUMIX LX7

PHOTOGRAPHER S GUIDE TO THE PANASONIC LUMIX LX7 PHOTOGRAPHER S GUIDE TO THE PANASONIC LUMIX LX7 In Intelligent Auto, Creative Control, and Scene shooting modes, ISO is set to Auto and the ISO button has no effect for controlling this setting. You also

More information

Produce stunning. Pro photographer Chris Humphreys guides you through HDR and how to create captivating natural-looking images

Produce stunning. Pro photographer Chris Humphreys guides you through HDR and how to create captivating natural-looking images Masterclass: In association with Produce stunning HDR images Pro photographer Chris Humphreys guides you through HDR and how to create captivating natural-looking images 8 digital photographer 45 masterclass4produce

More information

How to Photograph Fireworks

How to Photograph Fireworks How to Photograph Fireworks Whether you're celebrating Independence Day, Guy Fawkes Day, or Diwali, it's always tempting to take pictures of the fireworks exploding in air. After all, a good firework show

More information

Flash and Natural Lighting Categorical Photography Macro Photography Depth of Field Action Photography Portrait Photography Shooting RAW Photographs

Flash and Natural Lighting Categorical Photography Macro Photography Depth of Field Action Photography Portrait Photography Shooting RAW Photographs Photography Concepts Midterm Project Review your photographs up to this point. Choose six to seven categories to organize your best photographs. For example: Flash and Natural Lighting Categorical Photography

More information

How to capture the best HDR shots.

How to capture the best HDR shots. What is HDR? How to capture the best HDR shots. Processing HDR. Noise reduction. Conversion to monochrome. Enhancing room textures through local area sharpening. Standard shot What is HDR? HDR shot What

More information

To start there are three key properties that you need to understand: ISO (sensitivity)

To start there are three key properties that you need to understand: ISO (sensitivity) Some Photo Fundamentals Photography is at once relatively simple and technically confusing at the same time. The camera is basically a black box with a hole in its side camera comes from camera obscura,

More information

On Camera Flash. Daniel Foley

On Camera Flash. Daniel Foley On Camera Flash Daniel Foley Topics How does E-TTL Flash Work? General Flash Points E-TTL Flash and different Program Modes Flash Techniques Diffuser Options Get the most out of E-TTL How I approach Flash

More information

Photomatix Pro 3.1 User Manual

Photomatix Pro 3.1 User Manual Introduction Photomatix Pro 3.1 User Manual Photomatix Pro User Manual Introduction Table of Contents Section 1: Taking photos for HDR... 1 1.1 Camera set up... 1 1.2 Selecting the exposures... 3 1.3 Taking

More information

4/30/2009. Lighting is the language of photography Light: Science and Magic

4/30/2009. Lighting is the language of photography Light: Science and Magic Bill Bulek How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50 one to change it and 49 to say I could have done that! Lighting is the language of photography Light: Science and Magic The moment

More information

silent seat ecourse & ebook

silent seat ecourse & ebook silent seat ecourse & ebook Heyyyy!!! Welcome to learn manual mode, a momtographer crash course. I am seriously so excited to help you take your camera out of auto and into manual and start getting those

More information

Histograms& Light Meters HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER

Histograms& Light Meters HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER Histograms& Light Meters HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER WHAT IS A HISTOGRAM? Frequency* 0 Darker to Lighter Steps 255 Shadow Midtones Highlights Figure 1 Anatomy of a Photographic Histogram *Frequency indicates

More information

VHT New Photographer Training

VHT New Photographer Training VHT New Photographer Training VHT Photography General Requirements Apply to Signature and Premium Keep aperture between f8-f11 always ISO of 200 Shoot as jpg, Size Large and Quality Fine Always take additional

More information

TAKING GREAT PICTURES. A Modest Introduction

TAKING GREAT PICTURES. A Modest Introduction TAKING GREAT PICTURES A Modest Introduction HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT CAMERA EQUIPMENT WE ARE NOW LIVING THROUGH THE GOLDEN AGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY Rapid innovation gives us much better cameras and photo software...

More information