Lesson One:
{Warning: Please Step Away From that Flash!}
Dear flash-loving-friends:
I've receiced a lot of emails about flashes over the past couple of weeks.... So this is for those of you that love shooting indoors...(you know me, I'm an outside kind of girl!).
My two cents:
The flash on your current camera stinks...(it does, really, sorry if this is a shock to you). It's bright, it gives a scary, artificial glow to most of your pics, and it can give your subject the dreaded "red eye"... With all these Zombie attacks in the news, you want to avoid this at all cost.
So what's an indoor-picture-taking-fan to do if their nice, expensive camera has a crappy built in flash? Read on my friends....
Option one:
Don't use your flash at all. Get a great lens that can shoot in low light (f1.4 is a nice choice for aperture). Now if you are wanting to shoot at a wedding, or a night event, you are going to need to combine option one and two (yes, the dollar signs should be floating around your head by now).
Option two:
Buy an external flash (like a Speedlite). These flashes can be moved in different directions to bounce light off different areas. They are a good investment if you really like using a flash.
Option Three:
If you decide to get an external flash... Go with the pros and get yourself a Gary Fong Lightsphere! (or another Gary Fong item) It diffuses light and gives your pictures a nice, even glow. Plus, it looks funky on your camera and people will think you are so cool! It's my next purchase if I continue to get more indoor sessions, and it's very inexpensive. Google it! They have one that's universal now to fit most external flashes for most camera types! Hooray!
Lesson Two:
{F-Stop, profanity, or a powerful tool?}
No, "F-stop" isn't short for a bad word, but learning to to figure out how to adjust your aperture might make you say one.
Let's face it, shooting in any of the manual modes is tricky. This is why most people leave their fancy camera on "auto" and let the camera do the work. I am telling you, you want to learn. It can allow your camera to do some amazingthings. So step one, is learning to adjust your aperture.
Aperture = the amount of light that comes into your camera through the an opening in the lens. People in camera land measure aperture in f-stops. The smaller the f-stop number, the more light will be allowed into your camera.
F/1.4 is a wider opening (more light into your picture, or exposure) than F/22. Depending on what mode you have your camera in, you can adjust your f-stop.
What most people don't realize is that it is your lens that determines how low your aperture can go. Some can go all the way down to F/1.4 (you can find these numbers on the outside of your lens), and some of them start at F/5.6. So your lens is what limits you the most in determining the exposure (or brightness) of a picture. The lower the aperture on your lens, usually the more expensive your lens will be.
So, you may be asking yourself (I bet you are), why not just shoot with the widest opening all the time? Don't you always want your picture to be as bright as it can be? Well, no! Aperture no only deals with light, but it actually messes with the focus of the picture. For instance, if you are shooting at F/1.4, you will get a "shallow depth of field" in your picture. Basically that means that whatever you are shooting, you will have a lot of background blur. So if you wanted to take a picture of three kids hugging, and you used a F/1.4, only one kid would most likely be in focus. In fact, with that setting, most likely only one kid's face, eye, or nose (and not his body) would be in focus. The higher you move up the f-stop, the more of your background will come into focus.
Therefore, low number apertures are great for taking a picture of one subject (Like the fingers of a baby, or a portrait of one person, or a bee on a flower if you want the rest of the flower to be out of focus.) However, if you are shooting a landscape shot like some mountains, or even the picture of the three kids hugging, you want to "up" your aperture to make sure everyone is in focus. Just keep in mind that the larger the f-stop number, the darker your picture will be. (this stinks, I know...which is why you have to quickly learn to adjust your shutter speed and iso to compensate for a darker picture that's more in focus.)
As a rule of thumb, I usually use this:
One subject--lowest aperture (f/1.4-2.8)
Two-three subjects-- (f/4-6)
Four or five-- (f/8-11)
Lots of subjects or landscape (f/11--22)
There is a delicate balance between adjusting your f-stop and your shutter speed (another lesson), which is why people get so frustrated learning to shoot in manual. My suggestion is to put your camera in manual mode (M) once you learn about your settings (iso, shutter speed, aperture), and play around with it. You will find there are some "settings" that work great, every time you are outside, or indoors..... write those settings down, and let that be a starting point when you arrive somewhere to take pictures.
Hope you thought this was helpful!
Lesson Three:
{Shooting Fireworks: Click....Click.....Boom!}
With the 4th of July just days away, you might be ready to attempt some firework shots. To be honest, nothing scares me more than firework shots.... I'm talking shaking-in-my-converse-scared!
Fireworks can cause serious havoc to the digital sensors of your camera. It's night, but these is light, things are exploding.... Your camera basically can get stressed out at these crazy conditions. In fact, if you are shooting with film (doubtful this applies to anyone) you are better off. Fireworks are unpredictable. You can't determine where exactly they will be, when they will go off, and you sure as heck don't have time to figure out where to focus!
Here's your best bet, I think....
1. Apparently some fancy cameras have a firework mode (check your instruction manual). If your camera has it, lucky you! Use that mode, and hopefully you will be home free, and you can show up the rest of us with your amazing pictures!
2. Use a tripod..... you don't want any movement from your camera. If you don't have one, try to find something to rest your camera on to stabilize it.
3. Once you figure out where you think the fireworks might go off, adjust you lens to capture a wide shot. Try to get all the fireworks in the frame. Avoid close up shots and zooming in. You can always crop your pictures and adjust the scale in editing.
4. Take as many pictures as possible. Make sure you have a lot of memory on your card, and that your battery is charged!
5. Most importantly.... Do not use your flash!
Now on to the settings... This might make your head hurt. Get the aspirin ready...
!! Shoot in manual so you can adjust your settings, or try landscape mode
!! Try shooting between an F/5-F16.
!! Your shutter speed is going to need to be long (you would think you would need a fast one, but you will miss the long trails of light that fireworks give off.) Try a shutter speed between 1-4 seconds long. Since you have a long exposure, this is where the tripod becomes super handy.... If your hand moves during that shot, it will ruin and blur your picture. Be careful friends!
!! You'll also want to take your camera off auto focus mode. Your camera will have to work too hard to try to constantly focus. Set your camera to infinity mode for focus.
!! Set your ISO to its lowest setting (probably 100). This will keep the noise out of your picture.
!! Lastly, good luck! Fireworks are so short lived that if your settings are wrong, you might not figure it out until the show is over. Then you will have to wait until New Years for a second shot.
Lesson Four:
{I shutter at the thought: a mini-lesson
on shutter speed}
It is just what it sounds like....shutter speed is simply how quickly the shutter on your camera moves. It is measured in fractions of a second...for instance 1/50 means one 50th of a second.
When your shutter speed is slow, more light enters your lens.
When your shutter speed is fast, less light will enter your lens.
My rule of thumb (and I have a big thumb)...
If you plan on shooting a moving object, lets say your kids are playing around in the yard... you want to keep your shutter speed above 1/50. (I personally like mine above 1/100, but that is just me). If it is a super fast moving object (maybe someone running), you need to bump it up to maybe 1/200. If movement is not going to be an issue.... like if you take landscape pictures, then you can go below 1/50..... but this is when you want to bring a tripod out. If your camera shakes, you will get blur in your photo.
Think about a waterfall... If you want to freeze the water in your picture....the drops, the splashes, etc...you want to have it on a higher shutter speed. If you want the water to look like it is flowing and moving, you will increase your shutter speed.. maybe to even something like 4" seconds so you can get the long trails of the water.
Shutters speed and Aperture and a married couple! They go hand in hand. If you raise or lower your shutter speed, you might need to adjust your aperture due to the darkness or brightness of your picture. When you learn to shoot in manual, you must learn to adjust both of them at the same time.
Anytime I shoot outside, I like for my SS to be at least 1/100. It is just the amount of light I prefer. If it is a cloudy day, and the most light I can get is 1/50, then if kids start moving in my picture, I am more likely to get blur in my photos. If you put your camera on AV (or the aperture priority setting on your camera) and you lightly press the button you hold to take your pictures, your camera will read what the shutter speed setting should be based on the light in that area. So if your outside, you can "look around" for the best light by reading the shutter speed number on your camera. Sometimes I am surprised at what areas pick up more light.
So don't shutter next time you try to adjust your shutter speed. Just practice by adjusting it, and see what results you get! :)
