Articles tagged with: aperture
Getting Flash Exposure Fast
In this episode of our Friday Photo Tips I answer a common question about how to get flash exposure dialed in quickly when using manual strobes. This will work whether you are using manual speedlights …
Photography Basics: Beginners Guide to Aperture
As part of our Photography Basics series we talked about Exposure already and this time we are going to cover the mystery of aperture. Aperture is probably the least understood setting of everything on your camera. While shutter settings are very easy to understand, to long of a shutter speed and you will get blurring, pretty simple stuff. Same with ISO, too high of ISO and you introduce digital noise. But learning how to use aperture properly can kill brain cells faster than a frat house kegger party.
Understanding Light Stops
One thing that seems to baffle a lot of new photographers is understanding the term “stop” as it pertains to a measurement of light. We see this word used over and over with regards to shutter speed, aperture, film speed, filters, lighting, and other ways that light is used. You may hear a phrase like “you should expose one side of face 1-2 stops under the lit side of the face and expose the background 1 stop under the main subject”. For many people that’s about like asking them to solve a complex calculus problem.
How to Calculate Depth of Field
A big stumbling block for many new camera users is how to figure out how much depth of field a particular image will have it in given the focal length of the lens, the aperture used and the distance to the subject. Trust me on this, trying to do the algebra to figure it out is not something most people want to try to do in their heads. In this article we will cover all of the math involved and then make it real easy with an Excel spreadsheet and some links to some free applications to help you out.
Beginner’s Guide to Exposure (Kindle eBook)
Many people told me that they needed a very simple guide to help them get started with understanding exposure. This prompted me to write The Beginner’s Guide to Exposure. This eBook explains in extremely simple, easy …
All About Light eBook
The All About Light eBook is now available! With over 50 pages of information, All About Light is one of the most comprehensive eBooks available. With a low price of only $4.99, All About Light is an excellent value. This book …
Camera 101 – Understanding the mode dial
The latest cameras can often do an amazing job right out of the box but to really take creative control over your images you will want to learn about some of the other modes your …
RAW vs. JPEG – Deciding which is best for you
Yes, RAW vs. JPEG, the seemingly endless debate, almost as bad as Mac vs. PC or Film vs. Digital and people have been asking me to write up an article on this based on my opinion and experience and I have really put this article off for a long time as I wanted to be as unbiased in how I write this given that this is a very biased topic.
How to: Use long exposures for interesting shots
Using a long exposure can enable some really interesting shots that can convey motion. What happens during a long exposure shot is that the shutter remains open for a long period of time which allows …
Using a Light Meter for Proper Exposure
I have heard the phrase “I don’t need no stinking light meter†more times than I can count, your LCD display and histogram are all you need for a perfect exposure right? Would you be surprised if I told you that your camera was lying to you? We first need to know why our LCD and histogram is wrong before we can believe that using a light meter will be of benefit.
Mastering Your Flash 101 – High Speed Sync
Every once in a while we dredge up a classic post from the past. One of the most popular posts ever was this one on using high speed sync (fp sync on Nikons).
One of my …
GoCast #4 – Learning your gear
In this GoCast episode Kerry Garrison talks about learning your gear inside and out and why this is important. Kerry talks about why you should strive to learn how to use your camera and flash …
Using Neutral Density Filters for DSLR Video Production
During our adventure into shooting video with a DSLR such as the Canon EOS 7D one of the recent things we looked at was that you should maintain a shutter speed of twice the frame …
Photography Basics: Controlling Exposure
We are beginning a series we are going to call photography basics to help explore the basics of digital photography. While the focus is on digital photography, all of the concepts will apply whether you are shooting film or digital. In this first installment we are going to look at how to control exposure by manipulating the different settings on the camera such as ISO, Shutter, and Aperture. Upcoming installments will focus on other areas such as depth of field, motion control, and specific shooting scenarios.
Live Learning Lab Recording – Mastering Exposure
In case you missed this month’s Live Learning Lab, the entire recording is now available. The make sure you don’t miss future webinars, go register now. The Live Learning Lab is presented on the third …
Learning to shoot in manual mode
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While today’s cameras do a pretty good job when in fully automatic mode, in order to make the most of your camera you should learn how to use your camera on the manual setting. To go full manual you will need to have an understanding of shutter speed, aperture settings, and ISO speed. In this article we will get you going and get you shooting like a pro.
Understanding Depth of Field
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When done well, a photograph that has good control over the depth of field can add dramatically to the impact of the picture. When we are talking about depth of field, what we are referring to is a shot were the main subject of the picture is in sharp focus but other elements in the picture are blurred or out of focus. Two key terms to learn here are focal plane which is the area of the image that we want to have in sharp focus and bokeh which is the out of focus sections.
Can Digital Photographers Shoot with Film?
It’s a pretty safe bet anymore that many people who are shooting with digital SLR’s have never shot a film camera outside of possibly an APS cameras or some other mostly point-and-shoot or disposable camera. …
