Tutorial & DIY: DIY Soft Box Example Pic

There are several reasons I love this photo. Why, I think I’ll count the ways…

1. It’s of Isla, and I’m biased when it comes to her cuteness.
2. It’s the first photo in a long time where I instantly thought, “that’s being blown up.” Normally, I have such a hard time narrowing them down and then I get stuck and then another day strikes and, before I know it, I’ve got folders upon folder to sort through.
3. It was really easy to take and get this result instantly.

Manual | f/3.2 Aperture @ 1/125 Shutter Speed, ISO 400, Exposure Bracket +1.5

This was taken in a part of the room where the sun doesn’t easily reach. (It was also taken on a part of the carpet that needed vacuumed and in front of a hallway that needed decluttered. But that’s neither here nor there, right?) 

It’s a problem lots of us face if we’re hanging out playing in an area where natural light doesn’t easily filter in. In order to get this setting to the level I would need to get this nice, bright picture with a smooth complexion. I solved this by busting out my DIY Soft Box lamp which I posted about the other day.

I carefully placed the soft box lamp on its side and ensured the cords were well out of reach as well as the bulb as it tends to get hot. The front was covered with a piece of winter white heat safe non-flammable fabric and clipped on with office supply clips.

The lamp was then placed securely on a side table which brought it to the same height as me, sitting on the floor, and aimed directly at her. If you look closely at Isla’s eyes, you can see two squares in each one; one of those squares is the window and the other is the soft box.

Has anyone else tried a DIY soft box?!

8 November 8 Permalink

Tutorial & DIY: Fall’s First Portrait @ Home

There is something about the approach of Fall that makes me think of portraits on the front stoop. Maybe it’s the whole “back to school” notion or the fact that the cooler weather makes backyard play less appealing and front yard bike-riding and exploring the absolute thing to do.

This week, we should all nab a picture of our little jam-faces at the front door, no matter how big or little they may be. I mean, why not, right? Point and shoot or DSLR or camera phone, a quick stop on the stoop before heading out for the day makes for a great place marker in any memory book.

Manual | f/3.2 @ 1/320, ISO 200

I wanted lots of bokeh/background blur so, because of that, I needed to control how sunny it was. With a wide aperture of f/3.2 the shutter speed went way up to 1/320 to reduce the flood of light, even though Isla wasn’t exactly on the move.

Manual | f/3.2 @ 1/320, ISO 200

Just by changing perspectives, see how much more bokeh there is? By tightening the frame to show just Isla, I lose the detail in the background as well as parts of her sweater. Sweet. But the 1/320 at this closeness was overexposing her face a little and her sweater a lot, so I quickened the shutter speed to 1/400 for the next round.

Manual | f/3.2 @ 1/400, ISO 200

I came in at a slight 45 degree angle and followed the rule of thirds to fill out the frame making a picture of her not looking at the camera hold more interest.

Manual | f/3.2 @ 1/400, ISO 200

Remember to mind your backgrounds (like if there is any clutter on the landing, etc.), keep tight but also grab a full body shot, rule of thirds for composition with just the head shot and, most importantly, to keep it safe if there are stairs. I was able to get away with this by using my 17-55mm lens rather than a 50mm which would have required me to be further back for the first and last photos and well out of arm’s reach. It meant I gave up a much lower aperture (could have done say an f/1.8 @ 1/640 or 1/800) with extra dreamy bokeh, but I’m a safety nut so there you have it.

Have fun!

xo Tamara

20 September 9 Permalink

Tutorial & DIY: High Contrast Colour Pop (Photoshop)

Today’s tutorial is yet another one about photo editing. It seems that’s all I’ve been thinking about this month, so next week we’ll be back on cameras, swearsies!

In the meantime, this is for Photoshop users to apply with layers. Again, I’ll reiterate in Photoshop there are a million different ways to arrive at the same result. I received a few emails asking why I did *this* and not *that* - there are no right or wrong ways to do something so long as you get the effect you’re looking for. I’m just showing a few tricks from my Mary Poppins-esque bag that I use, and it wasn’t meant to cause doubt on what techniques others use.

This trick in particular has been my go-to for quick (and I mean quick) and easy colour pops since I first started working on layout and designs at a magazine ten years ago. I still turn to it because a) I’m a creature of habit and b) have I mentioned it’s easy? And quick?

Av (Aperture Priority Mode) | f/3.2 @ 1/200, ISO 400, 17-55mm lens @ 35mm

This is a portion of the original image as opened up in Photoshop. I’ve had a few questions about what version of PS I use; I’m on CS5 but previous versions will definitely do the same work we’re about to examine here. As for light, it was a bright sunny day and the windows and back door were all open and behind me.

So, you’re going to go to the window that shows your layers and right click on ‘Background’ to reveal this menu. Select ‘Duplicate Layer…’

Je suis lazy bones and I don’t rename the layer, and so mine is called ‘Background copy’. Anywhoodles, you’re then going to click on the dropdown menu that is just under that ‘LAYERS’ tab. At the get-go, it should say ‘Normal’ but you’re going to ultimately select ‘Soft Light.’

Then, flatten the layers together and it should look a little something like this. All of those layer merging methods are worth playing around with, as well. This one just happens to be my default.

And, of course, it’s a method not without it’s faults. The skin tones can get oversaturated and need adjusting, and the colours may need fiddled with. But it’s a great starting point and an instant eye catcher.

Have fun!

xo, Tamara

If you’d like to see more examples, there’s a whole post devoted to this series on my baby blog here.

14 September 7 Permalink

Tutorial & DIY: High Contrast Black & White (Photoshop)

Howdy! Let’s keep playing with our pictures! One of my favourite ways to finish a photo is in a strong black and white with a lot of contrast, depth and a dash of sepia toning. And I get a lot of questions on how to do it, too. So, here we go!

This tutorial is for Photoshop users at this time.

Some colleagues and I were joking recently that, if there’s something you want to do in Photoshop, there are no fewer than 600 ways to get there. Yes, we’re a witty, fun and insatiable bunch! No ‘nerd alert’ required here, eh?!

But it’s true, and arriving at a nice black and white photo conversion is no exclusion. This is my preferred way for my personal photos; I find it fast, easy to remember and extremely visual and hands on, which is perfect for finessing the final details before saving.

We’re going to go from this (left) to this (right). Er.. I hope you don’t fall asleep like Isla did.

We’re going to work in Fill / Adjustment Layers, which is the ying/yang looking circle at the bottom of your layers window. It also looks like an Oreo dipped and milk and makes me hungry every time.

Click on that (yummy, delicious double stuffed-I-bet) Oreo and that menu will pop up. My easy faves to hang out in are in the second and third section down. Start by clicking ‘Black & White’ to get the above. I leave the settings as they are, but sometimes I play. Every photo is different. If you wanted to play, you would adjust those sliders under ‘ADJUSTMENTS’.

Next, click Brightness/Contrast.

It is here where I reveal myself to have OCD; I typically adjust to base increments of five, and I typically double my contrast as a rule of thumb to whatever my brightness was at. I’m also mentally capable of adjusting this practice should the photo need it. Swearsies.

The point is to adjust the sliders to increase or decrease the light and contrast as you see fit.

Next you’re going to want to play with curves. I typically make a little ‘S’ with my curve bar. Rather than start in the middle, I pick two points on either end and gently adjust them up or down. Here’s where the depth starts to fold into the batterrrrrr… (Clearly, I have baked goods on the brain. My apologies.)

You could stop here, and that would be just dandy. But if you’d like a little colour wash to your image, click Photo Filter and get playing with the various tones available. I’ve selected Sepia and changed it to a 30% opacity. Just enough to warm the walls and heart alike.

The finishing touch is to flatten your layers and touch up your lines. Before you flatten (see Layer>Flatten Image), you can always go back through to make further adjustments.

Ta-da!

Now, please excuse me while my heart explodes and/or I go find a snack…

xo, Tamara

31 August 16 Permalink

Photo Tutorial + DIY: Quick Picnik 101

We’re all still having a blast playing around with our cameras, but the resulting bounty is no fun if stuck on a hard drive all day.

One of the top inquiries I receive is how to quickly and easily edit photos in a post production manner to give them that extra pop and zing. We’re going to start taking a look at various programs and what to do. You may know it, you may not. You may need a refresher, or you may need reminding. Either way, it’s all about the fun of it.

We’re starting with the free version of Picnik today, and I dug out one of my favourite photos of Isla’s first few months to prepare it for her birthday album.

Picnik is so easy to use that, when I started, I actually thought I was missing something. Compared to other high function photo editing software apps, this is a wonderful tool for both entry-level photogs and experienced but time-crunched picture fiends alike.

Here is the photo straight out of the camera. Taken on my Canon 20D with a 50mm lens, and all I remember is that it was Aperture Priority mode around the 3.5 mark. Forgiveness on the memory front: it was eight months ago!

Picnik has a feature in which you can ‘auto correct.’ It never hurts to try it out, but it turned the pic rather cool in temperature. It’s all about your personal style, however. There is nothing wrong with stopping right here.

I decided to go in by hand to fix the main elements as best I could. This is auto exposure setting.

This is where I would have landed had I corrected the exposure manually.

And again with colour correction, I decided to let Picnik show me it’s robotic judgment.

Vs. By Hand. I warmed it up 13 points by increasing the temperature, giving it a warm tone rather than a cool one.

Oh, sharpening tool. Such a tempting treat. This is such a handy function to really crisp up an image or forgiving the odd lost focal point or aperture misjudgment. The problem is, you can really overdo it and fast. Increasing the sharpening mask too much can really sullen a baby’s complexion, age a mama’s skin or really pixelate a photo and well, we don’t want that! It’s important to exercise restraint on this one.

In the photo above, I went all the way to 40 to show what I mean about adding noise to the image.

Here? I hung out at 4.5. Restraint. If only I could apply the same practice to chocolate pudding…

And finally, filters. We’ll get into them much more soon but the number one favourite of mine that should be yours too is ‘boost.’ Again,  practice restraint. Here I’ve come in at 7% to just give an oomph of saturation. But, as you can see, her skin has swayed to the redder side of things, looking almost ruddy and overdone. And that’s just at 7%!

The art of editing a photo well is knowing when to stop, and I should have one step before the filter. But they’re so fun!!! They are! Yes! On the right photo.

Ooh, I’m a killjoy, I know. It’s important to remember, however, that editing shouldn’t be about fixing images, but enhancing them. This is why it’s key to master the image in camera first, rather than hoping for the best later. Keep that in mind, and you’ll be fine!

* Picnik has not contributed in any way nor form to this post. I’m just enthusiastic about their product and wanted to share! All opinions, views and steps expressed are my own.

23 August 11 Permalink

Weekly DIY | 7 Tips for Quick Pics with Elders

For those of us blessed to have a network of grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles and close family friends, we can never forget how important it is to include them in photos with our children. True, we could snap pics of our little jam faces defining every facet of cuteness all day, every day, but these memories… they’re not going to make themselves! Legacy photos will forever be images that encourage us to stop for a moment and take us back: to the person, to the time and to the love.

Manual | 1/125 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Those photos of everyone gathered and smiling at the camera are fine n’ dandy. But why not take it a step further, and document all those little times in between when everyone gathered to enjoy together, and not just for that one obligatory group shot. 

*Notes on photos below: All are SOOC in a room featuring a full-wall of windows, taken at about 4:30pm, with no external flash. I have edited versions of these photos for my own personal use, which can be seen here on Isla’s baby blog. 

1. Let them be. 

Manual | 1/125 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

When we first arrived, Isla’s Gran was on the phone securing some appointments. Even though Isla is very comfortable and loves being around her Gran, I plopped her on the floor with some toys anyway, letting her get used to the room and us all being there. This is especially key with children who “play strange” or adults who are easily flustered by the whirlwind activity of toddlers. If you want photos of them together, a casual, stress-free warm-up period can go a long way than an instant “shove in your face” smooch session. 

2. Catch the action. 

Manual | 1/125 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

If you wait too long for that so-called perfect shot, babe(s) on Gran’s knee, everyone looking at the camera smiling, you could find yourself out of luck. While it’s not impossible, there are so many other opportunities you could have missed along the way. Keep shooting. Worst case scenario? You can delete bad ones later. 

3. Don’t say “CHEESE” *every* time

Manual | 1/125 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

You know what your child looks like. You know what your grandmother looks like. So get pictures of what they look like when they’re together. And I don’t mean side by side, smiling for you. I mean interacting, engaging and enjoying each other’s company. 

4. Keep moving. Quietly. 

Manual | 1/125 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

They may not be side by side, but they’re both in the frame, without question. By moving from one side of the room to another, a new perspective was found without distracting from their playing. 

5. Still think like a Mamarazzi

Manual | 1/125 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Mind your backgrounds and details. Here I saw her hospital bed and cords were hanging about. If you want the environment of the room to add context, that’s one thing, but don’t be afraid to zoom in tighter (see below) or crop in post-production. 

6. Keep everyone comfortable. 

Manual | 1/125 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Kids can be overwhelming energy zappers. One thing hard for elders to accommodate is the busy nature of children, especially if there are lots to go around. Our own matriarch on my husband’s side is the proud great grandmother of six, soon to be seven little ones under the age of six. But they’re an active bunch and, while she’s tough and ready for them every time, many in her position are not. 

If this had been a photo a few months ago after Gran had surgery on her wrist, we would have propped Isla up beside her, or had someone hold her close. Respect everyone’s limitations and you’ll go far in lengthening the shoot, rather than cutting it off abruptly and not getting those pictures you want for your frames.

7. Don’t fret the small stuff. 

Manual | 1/125 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

This photo may be blurry, but it’s a keeper nonetheless. A bad photo taken yesterday is better than none taken at all. If you don’t snap what you’d like to this time around, what a great excuse to get together again soon. 

Have a question for me? Send it to Ask Mamarazzi here!

13 July 6 Permalink

Weekly DIY | Pop-up / On Camera Flash Diffusers

Problem? On-camera flashes that wash out the subjects and details. 

Need? Something to diffuse the light, forcing it to weaken, bounce and reflect/deflect and provide even exposure, flattering skin tones and attention to detail. 

Solution? A diffuser! 

This can be used for both DSLR users as well as point and shoot cameras. It can even be modified and used on an external flash. 

-

We’ve all been there: Low light, flash needed, but the results are truly dreadful. Even with post-production correction, the photos are often tinged with all the wrong tones and just don’t look how our mind’s eye saw them. 

Even Miss Dolly’s been a victim of bad lighting…

Auto | w/ flash disabled.

Auto | w/ pop-up flash.

Auto | w/ pop-up flash diffused by a sheet of 8.5x11 scrap paper. Yuh-huh!

Cool, eh? 

You can buy diffusers for every kind of flash, whether they be on-camera or external. On-camera ones aren’t very expensive, such as:

This one from LumiQuest for $13.95 USD. 

Or this Gary Fong Puffer on Amazon for about $20 USD.

See? Hardly a major financial commitment. And they do wonders for skin tone and shadows, especially on faces. But they will more or less do the same job as my cheapie “in a pinch” solution, if you must know. 

Yes, folks. Taping a piece of paper around the flash of your camera will help diffuse the light like above. Look at the difference it made in Dolly’s complexion. Her detail. Worth digging into the soon-to-be-shred pile, no?

You can experiment with leaving the sides open for the light to escape, or going origami-style and folding the paper into a box to completely surround the flash. 

You can even, if you’re feeling ambitious, cut the paper to size. Novel, isn’t it?

Other options include paper towel, bubble wrap, used dryer sheet or two, a piece of a plastic soft 3-ring binder, an old empty white film canister like these Photojojo guys, or get real fancy like these Instructables guys with a wire hanger… Basically, you want something that’s semi-opaque and white so that the light is gently bounced and made weaker before it hits your subject. 

For a point and shoot camera, go with the more flexible options (paper towel, paper, dryer sheets, etc.) and be sure to leave a bit of room, not fixing the diffuser directly to the flash. Rule of thumb is to bounce the light, not smush it. 

Have fun!

Tamara

29 June 15 Permalink

Starting some storyboards

I’ve been really bossy lately with all the technical talk. Taking a break from buttons and dials, let’s do something visual.

I’m a late bloomer, but I’m starting to play around with story boards. I can never pick just one photo when it comes time to print and frame, and I love how symmetrical storyboards can be. If you’re familiar with a photo editing software that allows you to work with layers, boards can be built that way and printed at whatever final size you like. Or you can get crafty with scissors and a matte board and go custom. My favourite is saving photos in groups for future photo books to detail milestones or events succinctly.

Options abound. You can have as many images in a board as you like, but I tend to run in multiples of three or four. Don’t know why, just seems to happen over here at Chez Isla. 

Here’s a set I did earlier this month when Isla first really discovered Baby Mum Mums…

And here’s one I did tonight after Isla took so much interest in our dinner (homemade veggie lasagna, can’t blame her) and pulled herself up on the coffee table for the first time. 

As you can see in the first frame, it was like something out of Jaws. Eep! You can see the full story of baby goodness here. 

There was a lot of cropping going on with these sets. The one from today alone had me cropping 90% of the photo out so that she would fill the square frame. It’s all personal preference, but I… well, I prefer the subject not just be front and center, but INYOFACE. 

Here’s one of the pics straight out of the camera (SOOC):

1/320 at f/2.8, ISO 800

As you can see, I cropped tight for the board and eliminated much of the visual clutter to bring the focus onto Isla and her creeping on our dinner. Cropping does wonders for pictures, even if it’s only slight. Just remember (here I’m getting technical again) to shoot high resolution shots or else you won’t be able to print the photo, much less blow it up, after it’s been cropped and adjusted. 

25 May 7 Permalink

More on BOKEH with a pinch of auto focus

Here are some notes connecting bokeh with auto focus and how the two can become trademark tools. I should add that I rarely manual focus anymore and only do when my subject is stationary. With a baby, nuh-uh. Hasn’t happened yet. But it’s a personal choice, and an option most lenses afford you with. 

Auto focus is when you half-press the shutter to reveal focus points. The camera will usually beep or the focus point may even blink telling you your focal point is locked. It’s then you press the shutter fully and the picture is snapped. With a large f/stop (small aperture), many focus points will show up as everything in the foreground and background will be sharp. With a small f/stop (large aperture), you may only get one or two. And even then, your camera will need to determine something of contrast before it locks a focal point. 

For example, the camera auto focused on Isla’s eyes, nose and lips. Once it locked, I clicked and got this shot featuring blur on both arms and down onto her romper. 

1/320 at f/2.8, ISO 800

See? A closer look…

Now, if you hold your finger in the half-press, you can lock the focus and reposition the camera, therefore recomposing the shot. This is key when using a small f/stop to get a large aperture for lots of yummy bokeh blur. 

That’s how I got this while we were just hanging on the couch:
1/320 at f/2.8, ISO 800
When I first half-pressed the shutter, the focus points rested on her toy. I then shifted the entire camera to point directly at Isla, half-pressed so her eye and ear were highlighted, kept my finger half-pressed on the locked focus and turned back to frame the shot this way. 
A closer look…

Even if bokeh is beyond old news to you and all “Camera 101” that has you rolling your eyes in the back row, take this week to play around with aperture either in manual or aperture priority. Once you know inside and out your sweet spots of blur, taking pictures on the fly without scratching your head over f/stops is in your future. Totally. A little birdie even told me so.

25 May 5 Permalink

Aperture priority. In a word: HANDY.

Ahhh. Aperture. Friend. Occasional frenemy. It’s the backwards, confusing mechanism of technical photography that usually has people reverting back to auto. It works like your eyes in terms of letting light into the camera: when it’s dark, your pupils are wide open and when it’s bright and sunny, they’re snapped tight.

Some notes on aperture:

• bigger f/stop (number) = the more your aperture is closed
• smaller f/stop (number) = the more your aperture is open

Aperture has a very intimate relationship with depth of field (DOF) which gives those dreamy, blurry shots with lots of bokeh or makes sure everything is in focus. 

Some notes on depth of field:

• what the heck is ‘bokeh’? it’s the (deliberate) blur in a photograph
• keep everything sharp/in focus = small aperture / large f/number
• make things blurry/bokeh = large aperture / small f/number

The easiest way to control exposure but take control of aperture is to put your DSLR into aperture priority mode (Av for Canon and A for Nikon). You set the aperture based on your lens and the camera will do the math on the rest. Good deal. 

For landscapes, group shots or times when you want everything in focus, etc. I tend to start at f/11 and adjust from there. Here, everything is in focus from the baby to the table to her highchair. 

1/250 at f/11, ISO 400

For up close shots or to get more creative, I drop to the lowest f/number available (f/1.8 on my 50mm, for example) and adjust from there. Here, you’ll see the foreground and background are blurred with only the elephant sharp. 

1/125 at f/1.8, ISO 800

For lil’ faces, I stick to a sweet spot around f/5.6 or close enough to give their face and full body focus but add some bokeh to the background. Here, you’ll see her main facial features are sharp but it starts to blur out as it hits the ears and bedspread. 

1/125 at f/5.6, ISO 100

Keep in mind that bokeh — however much or little of it — is a personal choice and artistically subjective. Have fun with it and experiment! Take a picture of a toy propped up on a table using a few different f/stops and compare the results for yourself!

25 May 4 Permalink

Comparison: Manual + Program

Howdy! A few comparisons from this afternoon of manual (first two) vs. program mode (last two). All photos are straight out of the camera with no post-processing.

These are meant to show:

• how two different equations can equal similar exposure
• how to use EXIF data (the recipe, if you will, your camera stores with the image on how it was taken) to your future advantage for determining manual settings
• how adorable my daughter is when she’s trying to kiss her teddy bear

Manual (M) > 1/125 at f/2.8, ISO 400

Manual (M) > 1/125 at f/2.8, ISO 400

Program (P) > 1/60 at f/4, ISO 400

Program (P) > 1/60 at f/4, ISO 400

20 May 2 Permalink

Week Two: Program Mode

(Took this in P mode yesterday, but yes, it has been post-processed. The photos below are straight out of the camera. The rest can be seen here.)

Turning off auto can be a harrowing experience when you’ve just picked up a new camera. It really doesn’t have to be, and the best way to learn is to practice until you’re just shy of blisters. Or the school calls and somebody needs picked up to get out of a test.

This week we’re going to hang out in the Program mode of our cameras. There are three (to five) program modes, depending on your model with the most popular being P, Tv and Av on your dials.

• P = Program
• Tv = Shutter Priority
• Av = Aperture Priority

We’re going to hold our horses and really get to know the first two, P and Tv, leaving aperture for its very own week. Trust me. The lil’ Av deserves it.

Simply put, automatic mode is when the camera makes all the decisions regarding exposure, including flash. In program mode, the camera remains chief on primary decisions but defers to you on the use of flash, ISO and white balance.

Program mode is my favourite of the automatics; I find it easier to get a dreamy look like here:

The flash on your camera will never engage automatically in P mode. Instead, you’ll have to search out available light and keep a steady hand unless you pop it up yourself using the little lightning button on the front/side of your camera body. Let’s try. Twist that body ‘round. Find it? See it? If your dial is set to P, pushing that button should make the flash pop up.

The best way you can avoid needing a flash is by changing your ISO. Outdoors, consider yourself fine anywhere from 100 - 200. Indoors with lots of natural light, I tend to enjoy 400 but it’s a personal thing. If you’ve got limited light indoors, you’re going to need 800 and as the light shrinks from there, the number rises.

Keep in mind, however,  the higher the ISO, the higher the chance of noise. No, not the noise from the cheers of self-victory for mastering P mode, but rather little fuzzy specks that are apparent when you download to your computer or worse, invest in that 20x40 stretched gallery canvas. There are post-production tricks to reduce or minimize this pesky problem, however, but the best way is to prevent it altogether. Always make sure you’re maximizing the light available without altering the mood of the shot (a quiet picture of Timmy and Daddy before bedtime will definitely be ruined by every overhead light beaming in their face!)

Speaking of light, the lower the light and the non-use of flash will increase the chance of blur. A tripod isn’t necessary every time but consider a makeshift one while you quickly frame the shot. Stack the camera steadily on some books or the coffee table, or put your feet shoulder’s distance apart to create a steady stance.

Finally, white balance. If you’re shooting in JPG, adjusting your white balance can go a long way to alter the tone of your shot. Auto is a reliable default, but feel free to explore with others such as cloudy or sunny or shade. White balance finds the middle grey tone to your photo so the camera knows to correctly expose all the other colours. It can be the difference of looking like you’re standing under a rainy bus shelter when, really, you’re field-side for your nephew’s soccer team in the middle of sunny July. Creatively, this can be liberating and it’s a matter of personal preference and one that needs experimented with.

Here, the white balance was on ‘sunny’ but could have done to be switched to ‘tungsten’ or even ‘auto’ to minimize the warm glow and make it seem less artificial.

Shutter priority mode (Tv) lets you determine the shutter speed and the camera match the appropriate aperture for the best exposure. Controlling the shutter speed is ideal for freezing action (a high shutter speed) or blurring for effect (a low one as a car zooms by).

You’re going to need to check your manuals on this ones, folks. Every camera body is different in their ways to switch ISO, white balance, etc. But once you’ve doubled checked that, experiment away!

18 May 1 Permalink

Week One Rounder: Auto

A retrospective on auto. There were tears on the inside this week. Tears on the inside. 

I knew it was a given that auto would not be my bessie mate, but I had forgotten about how frustrating its most natural features are. There are times, yes, when auto works wonders. And times when it absolutely deserves to be on the business end of a noogie. Let’s explore. 

Auto is good for impromptu snaps in a well-lit area. (Canon PowerShot SD750)

Auto is bad for impromptu selfies in a badly lit area. See the red eye and mishmashed exposure? Mind, that mishmash of light is due to my thumb encroaching on the flash area. Either way, it’s a hot mess up there. (Canon PowerShot SD750)

Auto is good for quick snaps while out and about. When someone just looks so sweet you think there’s gotta be a magic potion somewhere to freeze this ti… Sorry. I digress. Ahem, good example of auto. Note that the composition helps make this picture, not just the technical make-up. (Canon PowerShot SD750)

I brought the point-and-click out of the diaper bag long enough to play inside the house. With the flash on, you get dark, centralized exposure with a certain guarantee of red-eye. The camera is three years+ old now and I forgot a few features… I read the manual to remind myself how to disengage the flash and voila! No red eye, but now we’ve got blur. (Canon PowerShot SD750)

But, if I steady myself and wait for just the right moment, not to mention make sure the battery is completely charged and at its fastest… it can work. Technically, the one above this frantic shot is just a bit fuzzy on the eyes, and not unrecognizable. (Canon PowerShot SD750)

Switching to the big camera, Canon 7D, clicking over to automatic was a first since I’ve upgraded from the 20D. The flash instantly engaged in my living room and gave me this. (EXIF: 1/60 at f/5, ISO 400, 17mm focal length)

I needed to get back to basics, and I needed to make dinner. The next day, I opened every curtain, turned on all four (don’t worry, energy efficient) lights and even the range lamp above the stove. The flash didn’t engage once with all its newly found light and I was able to get Isla like this, above. (Canon 7D. EXIF: 1/80 at f/2.8, ISO 320, 42 mm focal length)

And like this. Still a bit blurry from movement but getting there. Can we tell she’s teething? (Canon 7D. EXIF: 1/40 at f/2.8, ISO 160, 23 mm focal length)

Similar. Notice the lamp is turned on and the natural light from the windows is adding to the scope of bright. (Canon 7D. EXIF: 1/40 at f/2.8, ISO 160, 17 mm focal length)

And one more. My favourite shot, the aerial. She looks little still. And so relaxed, all chillin’ with her arm on her toy. She was very still at this point as the PVR switched on, and she was watching all the red lights on the screen. That’s how I managed to get (Canon 7D. EXIF: 1/30 at f/2.8, ISO 100, 17 mm focal length) with little to no blur. 

In the end? Auto bites the big one but can be manipulated successfully if you’re willing to experiment. It does wonders for quick shots in an area flooded with light and lots of activity. It’s also great for learning EXIF data (the technical data each camera records to an image), seeing what you like, what you don’t and applying it into your manual practice for a DSLR. 

17 May 2 Permalink