365project.org

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, loyal readers (all 1.5 of you).  I found a cool new photographic community online and got sucked in!

Go check it out and sign up today!  It's free, unlike most things that will improve your photography...

365project.org

Don't forget the .org, .com is some random guy.

BTW, a "365" is where you take one picture everyday for a year.  It's like committing to jog every morning for a year, you might not make it out every morning, but it sure as hell will make you a better runner.  Same concept, only with photos!  Join up!

"Which Lenses Should I Buy?"

This is one of the most common questions asked by new photographers, and easier to answer than it sounds.

Start with the Kit Lens

What's the kit lens?  It's the one that came with your entry level digital SLR.  99% chance its a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 which is the standard these days.  Why start there?

1. It's cheap (between $100 - $200 on its own, probably less as part of an entry level DSLR kit).
2. It's reasonably sharp.  Since this is the lens most people will start with, it's also how they will judge their camera and the brand as a whole.  Manufacturers know better than to start you off with a total piece of crap.
3. It's good for general photography.  This zoom range is going to cover 95% of your typical subjects.  18mm is wide enough to get decent landscapes and 55mm is tight enough to capture a headshot without being right in someone's face.

Buy a Fast Prime Next

Fact is, the kit lens leaves a lot to be desired in terms of maximum aperture.  In low light situations, you're either married to your pop-up flash (yikes!) or you're forced to jack your ISO through the roof and cope with the horrendous noise.

So what's the solution?  Get a fast prime, something with a maximum aperture like f/1.4, f/1.8 or f/2.  Besides giving you low-light performance, large apertures produce a very shallow depth of field which is great for emphasizing your subject and turning the background into a pleasing blur.

Fast primes come in a variety of focal lengths, but I'd recommend staying around 35mm or 50mm which tend to be the most useful for general photography.  So how do you choose, 35 or 50?  Try taping down the zoom ring on your kit lens at 35mm for a while, then 50mm.  Which one do you find more natural?  There's your answer.

The good news is they can be relatively cheap (about $200).  If you're worried about not being able to zoom, relax, you've still got your kit lens.  Also, you'll be surprised how often you choose to keep your fast prime on your camera and leave the kit lens in your bag.

Save Some Money, Evaluate Your Limitations


Your next lens purchase might cost you a couple dollars, so save up some money.  While you're doing that, evaluate your limitations.  Which of the following problems do you run into the most?

1. I can't zoom in far enough on distant subjects.  This probably means you're shooting sports or wildlife a lot.  The solution?  Buy a telephoto lens.  There are a number of inexpensive telephoto zooms out there, mostly in the 55-200mm or 70-300mm zoom range.  Don't expect a large maximum aperture, f/4 - f/5.6 is typical.  It's possible to get fast telephoto zooms (f/2.8 and under) but the price tag is always four digits, so you might wanna hold off on those.
2. I can't zoom in far enough / focus on very small subjects.  Then you need to buy a macro lens.  The key spec to look for is magnification ratio: you want "1:1".  This is the realm of true close-up photography.  They tend to come in 50mm, 100mm and 200mm varieties (roughly).  The longer the focal length, the further away you can be and still get 1:1 magnification.  The longer focal lengths also cost more, so unless you are photographing poisonous snakes you'll probably be fine between 50 - 100mm.  Get ready to pay though, a decent macro lens starts at $400.
3. I can't zoom out far enough to get the whole scene.  Uh oh, you need a super-wide angle lens.  The general rule is, the wider the better.  10mm is better than 12mm is better than 14mm, etc.  You can always crop in later, and the whole reason to buy a super-wide angle lens is to get a SUPER wide view!  Keep an eye out for fisheye lenses when you're shopping, they are a different animal.  If you don't mind a distorted perspective, fisheyes are fun, but they aren't going to give you straight lines like a traditional wide-angle lens.
4. I keep having to change lenses.  Maybe you need a super zoom.  They can encompass a very large zoom range (such as 18-200mm) and give you the flexibility to capture a lot of different shots quickly without stopping to change gear.  Be warned, you get what you pay for.  The cheap super zooms are pretty junky, I suggest you spend a bit more to get real quality.

See, buying a lens isn't that hard!  There are a million choices out there, and it's easy to spend a crap load of money, so do your research before you buy!  Happy lens shopping everyone!

Mrs. Davis Speaks: Let's talk editing!

Hi everyone.  My sweet husband and I have agreed to do a little switcheroo, and while he's posting on my blog today, I am posting on his.  Today I get to discuss my favorite thing about photography and that is editing!

Before my husband flips out let me say this, and you should adhere to this like the DH and I do: you should not not NOT rely on editing to save your photographs from mistakes that could have been fixed in-camera.  In fact, working and correcting mistakes in-camera is what makes you a photographer.  See honey, I do listen to you :-)

So let's get cracking!  While everyone thinks that editing (in the photographic sense) and Photoshop are synonymous these days, that couldn't be further from the truth.  Today there are a wide variety of programs out there from beginner to advanced, and you certainly don't need to start with Photoshop.  In fact, I barely use Photoshop and try not to unless I'm touching up a blemish on someone's skin.

If you have a Mac of any variety, then you've got iPhoto and at least until you get very familiar with photographic editing, you're all set.  This program has slider bars that allow for adjustments in exposure, contrast, saturation, color temperature, and a few extras.  I think the sliders are useful for beginners because they allow a lot of control and you can visibly see the difference you're making in the photo and adjust accordingly.  After experimenting over time, you will be able to know what every control does and what your photo needs.  From my personal experience, I feel that this program is absolutely fantastic for beginners and even allows a great means of importing, exporting, and storing your photos in an organized way.  I love organization, yes I do!  So you've got a Mac?  New to photographic editing?  Start with iPhoto.  Done.

Now while I'm unwilling to admit this (and find it an absolute travesty!!!!) most people are using PC's.  That's a Windows-based operating system, for the record.  I'm not an expert on PC's and don't pretend to be, but there are plenty of photo programs out there to get the job done.  So I will only discuss programs I am familiar with.  That said Picnik.com, Photoscape, and even Adobe Photoshop Elements (the intro version of Photoshop) are great programs that all run on PCs and have rave reviews all over the internet. Two of those are free and Elements is only 99 dollars.

Adobe Lightroom is my favorite program and I use it on my Mac, but it is designed for both Windows and Mac users alike.  This is definitely a "professional" program but I found it easy to use from the beginning.  Like iPhoto, it has slider bars for editing and is fairly self-explanatory.  When I first began using it, I had no clue what I was doing, but it didn't take long to figure out the concepts, how they applied to my image, and grasp the awesomeness that is Adobe Lightroom.  My highest praise is for this program because of one reason:  you can never outgrow it.  The simplest thing it does it edit photographs into beautiful masterpieces but it can also help you with a photographic website layout, printing, watermarking, you name it.  It's my personal Gold Standard.  You can tag photos by keyword,  organize them neatly, flag, rate, you name it.  But, of course, it's not free.  The going rate for the newest version is 299 dollars and while slightly steep, if you've outgrown your free program, I suggest this.  Why?  Because the workflow is easy and I am a self-professed lover of this intuitive and amazing program!

Now I know you want to know the scoop about Adobe Photoshop right?  "Photoshop" is a term used so often it makes me laugh.  I hear it used in all sorts of contexts--always a verb and never a proper noun.  So here's the skinny.  Photoshop is truly a photographic professionals' program.  Most would say it's the industry standard and maybe it is.  But honestly, it's pretty advanced.  Okay, extremely advanced.  And if you're reading this blog, I know you're not in that category just yet and I also suspect you don't want to spend $699 on this program when you've just dropped your first wad of cash on a dSLR.  Am I right?  So is it cool and can it do amazing things?  Absolutely!  But trust me when I say, it is not for you.  Not now, at least.

So now that you've read all that, I bet you're still confused.  Buying the right software is just as confusing as buying the right intro dSLR.  Here are my final choices, but feel free to do some research if you don't believe me.

• Just starting out? GO FREE!

-iPhoto (if you have a Mac, you're set)
-Photoscape
-Picnik.com

• Outgrown both those programs?  

-Adobe Photoshop Elements (99 dollars!)

• Going a little more pro?

-Adobe Lightroom



Editing software is great, because no photos ever have to look like this:

Or this:

Instead, they can look like a better version of how they are:

Isn't editing awesome?  And we've only just begun!

Since I do all the editing in our family, I'm sure I will be doing more guest posts on editing in the future.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming with my husband....

Focal Length and Angle of View Illustrated

When it comes to angle of view, seeing is believing, so let's look at some example images:


Fisheye.  Probably a bad one to start with, since this is the only situation where focal length does NOT translate directly to angle of view.  A fisheye is as wide as you can go, in this case a 180 degree angle of view (when measured diagonally across the frame).  Still, it makes sense to start here since this is as wide-angle as you can get...

Ok now on to normal "rectilinear" lenses that won't distort the world like a fun house mirror!  I'm going to label these starting with the actual focal length of the lens, followed by the equivalent focal length for 35mm film that would produce the same angle of view.  Remember, 35mm film is still used as the "gold standard" when comparing angle of view (see the last post if you need a refresher).


10mm (equivalent to a 15mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  This is about the widest you can go without a fisheye and is considered a "super-wide angle" lens.

12mm (equivalent to a 18mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  Still "super wide-angle", but you can see we lost a lot of real estate in just two millimeters.  Compare the edges of this photo to the one above.

16mm (equivalent to a 24mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  This is the end of the "super-wide angle" range.  Coincidentally, our cat Ping jumped up on the wall in the exact center of the frame.  You'll see her more later.

18mm (equivalent to a 28mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  This was the beginning of the traditional wide-angle range before super wide-angle lenses were developed.

24mm (equivalent to a 35mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  This is the end of the wide-angle range and the beginning of the "standard" or "normal" angles of view.

35mm (equivalent to a 50mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  This is the middle of the standard / normal angles of view.

50mm (equivalent to a 75mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  This is basically the end of the standard / normal angles of view and the beginning of the telephoto range.

70mm (equivalent to a 105mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  This is in the beginning of the telephoto range, sometimes called a "short" telephoto.  Ping is really coming in handy at this point, good cat, please stay put!

105mm (equivalent to a 160mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  We're starting to get pretty far into the telephoto range.  I am literally on the opposite end of the house from Ping.

135mm (equivalent to a 200mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  This is the end of the traditional telephoto range and the starting point for "super telephoto".

200mm (equivalent to 300mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  Ok, now we are in super telephoto land.  I also cannot BELIEVE Ping is still sitting there.

300mm (equivalent to 450mm focal length on a 35mm film camera).  This is the end of the road for me kiddies.  I can't afford a telephoto bigger than this.  They don't make amateur lenses longer than 300mm right now, and I have no intentions of spending $5000+ on a 400mm or longer telephoto lens!

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP PING!!!  GOOD CAT!!!

Learning Lens Basics

You know what the best part is about having a SLR camera?  Interchangeable lenses!!!  This is a HUGE advantage over the fixed lenses that are on almost all consumer cameras.  Why?  Because lenses need to specialize in order to truly be great.  Even today, there is not a perfect "one lens solution" that can shoot every type of shot well.  However, before we can talk about different kind of lenses, we'll need to get familiar with a couple of basic concepts:

Zooms vs. Primes

There are two types of lenses, the kind that zooms in and out (zoom lenses), and the kind that don't (fixed-focal length or "prime" lenses).  If you just thought, "Why in the hell would I buy a lens that doesn't zoom?!?!" then keep reading.

Zoom lenses can be wonderful things, but they are tricky to engineer.  That can result in some compromises on sharpness, weight, cost, and other specifications.  On the other hand, primes are simpler to design and have less moving parts.  This can result in lower cost, lighter weight and often increased sharpness, although you sacrifice the ability to zoom.

Angle of View

Angle of view describes how wide an area the lens can "see" at one time.  A wide-angle lens is what nature photographers use to show sweeping landscapes.  The opposite of this is generally referred to as a "telephoto" lens (not a "narrow-angle lens" as one might expect).  The same nature photographer might use a telephoto lens to capture a tight shot of a bird in a faraway tree.  In the middle of this range are "normal" or "standard" lenses.  They are well suited for general photography and are often said to approximate the natural angle of view of the human eye.

Angle of view is specified in degrees, but you don't often see this written on camera lenses.  Instead, they give you focal length, which is a little more complicated.

Focal Length

A full definition of focal length is complicated and not that helpful (go see Wikipedia if you don't believe me).  What you need to know is, focal length affects angle of view.  The shorter the focal length, the wider the angle of view.  The longer the focal length, the narrower the angle of view.  Focal length is pretty much always given in millimeters, so a 28mm lens is much wider than a 105mm lens.

It's almost that simple.  The only complication is, angle of view is also affected by the sensor size of your camera.  I really have to use an example to explain this.  Nikon's digital SLRs have one of two sensor sizes: FX or DX.  The larger FX size is the same size as a frame of 35mm film.  The smaller DX sensors are 2/3rds that size.  As a result, a 28mm lens on the larger FX sensor gives the same angle of view as an 18mm lens on the smaller DX sensor.

To try to simplify things, 35mm film is used as the standard.  Lenses often say "equivalent to such-and-such focal length on a 35mm camera".  To keep with our Nikon example, a 18-55mm zoom lens designed for a DX camera may also say "equivalent to 28-80mm on a 35mm camera".  Not the best system, but its what we're dealing with.

Maximum Aperture

Back to something easier and more familiar!  Maximum aperture is the largest available aperture setting for a lens.  This is important because a large aperture can let in more light and therefore works better in low-light situations.  A f/1.4 maximum aperture is about the largest you'll see.  f/2.8 is the standard maximum aperture for expensive professional lenses.  f/4 to f/5.6 is typical among more affordable amateur lenses.

Minimum Focus Distance & Magnification

These are the important specs for close-up photography (flowers, etc.).  Minimum focus distance is just what it sounds like: the closest distance you can focus at.  This can be anywhere from a few inches to a few feet.

Magnification is how large the subject appears in the image compared to in real life.  A "1:1" magnification ratio is basically like you laid the object right on the image sensor.  So if your sensor is the size of a postage stamp, you could take a picture of a postage stamp and fill the entire frame with it.

Compatibility

Make sure the lens you buy is compatible with your camera!  Different brands of cameras have different types of lens mounts, so you need to make sure the lens will actually attach to your camera.  Sometimes that is only lenses with the same brand as your camera, but there are also manufacturers who make lenses for multiple different brands.  Even within a brand, some lenses are not compatible with certain cameras, or limit the features you can use (such as auto-focus, metering, etc.).  Do your research before you buy so you don't get a nasty surprise!

Vibration Reduction (VR)


This feature helps minimize vibration and reduce the dreaded "camera shake" at low shutter speeds.  Also called image stabilization (IS).

Recap

Here's an example of a lens you might see for sale online:  Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR AF-S DX lens.  Confusing right?  Let's break it down:

Focal length: 18-55mm (this is a zoom)
Maximum aperture: f/3.5 - f/5.6 (this means the maximum aperture changes over the zoom range: f/3.5 zoomed all the way out, f/5.6 zoomed all the way in)
VR: Has vibration reduction.
AF-S and DX:   Two examples of compatibility specs, which differ from brand to brand.  Some Nikon cameras have to have AF-S lenses in order to auto-focus.  The DX means this lens is only designed to work on DX-sized sensors.

Up next, real talk about the types of lenses you want to buy.

Exposure in 7 Shots

Got 2 minutes?  ...like literally, 120 seconds?  Sweet.  Grab your camera, we're going to take 7 quick shots and demystify this exposure setting stuff once and for all.

Shot #1:

Pick up your camera and walk outside onto your front steps, breezeway, or whatever.  Just get outside.  Set your camera's Exposure Mode to Aperture Priority (for most cameras, this means turning the dial on top to "A").  Now, set your aperture to f/5.6.  Find something nearby to focus on, about 3 or 4 feet away.  I used the broken flag bracket on my front porch.  Make sure that whatever's in the background is decently far away, like your neighbors house or a tree across the street.

Next, look at your shutter speed.  To avoid screwing with more settings later, we want it to be about 125 right now.  If its lower than that, gradually increase the ISO setting on your camera until you end up somewhere between 100 - 160 on shutter speed.  If your shutter speed is higher than that, gradually step down your ISO until you get in that range.  Just to get you in the ballpark, if its bright and sunny outside your ISO will probably be 100 or 200.  If its cloudy or moving on towards dusk, it might be 400, 800 or maybe even 1600.

Reframe your shot, focus on the nearby object you chose, and pull the trigger.

Shot #2:

Change your aperture to f/16.  Reframe, focus on the same nearby object, shoot again.  That's it!

Now compare Shot #1 vs. Shot #2.  Notice that the nearby object (my flag bracket) is equally in focus in both images.  But look at the difference for the far away objects in the background.  They are blurry in the first shot, taken at f/5.6 (shallow depth-of-field).  They are much sharper in the second shot, taken at f/16 (deep depth-of-field).  Congrats, you now understand aperture's effect on depth of field!

Shot #3:

Turn around, open your door, and take a shot into your house.  Its much darker inside, so you should hear your shutter take its sweet time opening and closing.  Look at the picture and zoom in.  See how blurry everything is?  This is because you are hand-holding the camera at a very slow shutter speed.  What you're seeing is the dreaded "camera shake"!

Shot #4:

Walk back outside.  Set your camera's Exposure Mode to Shutter Priority ("S").  Set your shutter speed to 500 (1/500th of a second).  Hold out your free hand and focus on it.  Now pull your hand back, and swing it slowly through the frame.  Shoot when you see your hand in the middle of the viewfinder.  Check your shot.  See how your hand is frozen in place?  (If it's not, you were pretending to pitch a fastball, so slow down and try again.)

Shot #5

Set your shutter speed to 125 (1/125th of a second) and do that thing with your arm again.  Swing it the same speed, shoot when it hits the middle.  See how your hand is all blurry?  Now you understand how shutter speed effects moving objects.  Fast shutter speed = frozen in place.  Slow shutter speed = movement looks blurry.  Two more to go!

Shot #6

Set your camera's exposure mode to Program Mode ("P").  Change your ISO to 1600.  Shoot something, subject isn't as important this time.

Shot #7

Dial your ISO down to 100.  Reshoot the exact same shot.

Compare shots #6 and #7.  Zoom in allll the way on the same area in both shots.  See the grainy speckles in shot #6 (ISO 1600)?  That's noise.  See how much smoother everything is in shot #7 (ISO 100)?  Now you understand the affect of ISO on image quality!

DONE!

Exposure Compensation

Bad news... I've been holding out on you.  Now that I've made you learn all this stuff about metering and manually exposing your images I'm going to give you a shortcut.  An awesome shortcut you will use all the time like I do.  Nothing wrong with it, because sometimes saving time is the difference between getting the shot and missing it.

So what is it?  It's exposure compensation.  It's the quickest way to make an image brighter or darker and it works in every exposure mode except manual (so that would be aperture priority, shutter priority, program or any "scene" mode).

Here's how it works: exposure compensation starts set at "0.0".  All this means is that the camera will use whatever exposure settings the meter would normally come up with.  If you turn exposure compensation UP, i.e. set it to any positive value, the camera will automatically overexpose the image by that much.  "+1.0" will overexpose by a full stop, "+0.7" will overexpose by two thirds of a stop, etc.  On the other hand, if you turn exposure compensation DOWN, i.e. set it to any negative value, it will underexpose by that much.  "-2.0" would underexpose by two stops.  "-0.3" would underexpose by a third of a stop.  You get the idea.

So here's how you use exposure compensation.  Let's say you are taking a picture of a light-toned scene, say maybe snow or my light yellow dining room.  Since we now know how our camera's meter works, we know it will suggest exposure settings that would make the scene medium-toned (i.e. 50% gray).  To render our light-toned subject the way it actually looks, we will need to overexpose the image.  So, you just crank exposure up a stop or two ("+1.0" or "+2.0") and shoot.  Now hit play and check the results.  Two bright?  Crank it down a little.  Too dark?  Turn it up some more.

That's it.  It works for dark-toned objects too.  If you are taking a picture of your black desk, the meter is going to suggest exposure settings to make it gray.  If you want it to actually look black, turn exposure compensation down.  Check the results on the back of the camera, tweak the exposure comp and reshoot until you like what you're looking at.

THAT'S IT!  Its incredibly convenient, and fast, and easy to understand.  The more familiar you get with your camera's meter, the fewer times you will have to adjust and reshoot.  After a while, you will actually be able to predict how much or how little you need to over/under expose for a given scene.  It's also a great way to experiment with exposure.

Now, just for the hell of it, lets look at an example.  In this case the metered value (i.e. "0.0") was probably the closest to right, but you see how it works.  Exposure is somewhat subjective anyway, so maybe you like the one on the right better.  Click the image to enlarge for a better view.

Now I'll admit, the far right image is a little blurry due to camera shake, but you already know how to fix that, right?