Free online photography lessons

[Southern Wolf]

Because of some talk on the other thread I started... it got me to thinking. I had been helping folks improve on their photograhy mostly by emails. Why not start a thread so maybe everybody that wants to improve their photography can learn.

Here's what I am going to do.

*Post an image that you would like to improve on.
*Tell me if your camera is a point and shoot (you cant take the lens off) or if its a DSLR.
*Tell me what you'd like to change about it or how you'd like to improve it.

I will then suggest changes to either your camera settings or maybe physical changes like lighting.

Go try those changes..... and then when you get what your after... edit your post and show a before and after shot.

 

[crissabella]

What a great idea!!!!

 

[AbsoluteApril]

very cool Kevin!

 

[AbsoluteApril]

Ok, I got one for you... I would say this is currently one of my best photos. It was taken with an Olympus F150 (if I remember correctly) point and shoot, taken on 'auto' setting, indoors with flash, there's a black sheet hanging as a background.

I know I cut off the very top of the snake, I'm still trying to get good with cropping and how to center the image, usually I just take a wider shot and crop down but trying to avoid that. Her head isn't quite in focus and the flash still washed it out.

Of course, I have a different camera now, one of the lower end canon powershot point and shoots. But any tips on how I could have improved this image would be appreciated. I don't know squat about composition.

I'm hoping with this new camera to be able to actually set the ISO/F-stop, etc but it doesn't say anything in the manual and for now I'm just using the auto setting.

 

[Shadera]

I'd be interested in hearing more about shutter speed, what it does, and how to tinker with it. I'd love to be able to take more shots in natural lighting and have them turn out decently, but it seems like if there's even just a tiny bit of movement the image comes out blurred or just out of focus. Unfortunately I don't have any examples of it because I always pitch them, but I hope this makes any sense.

I would like to start shooting my snakes in natural sunlight on a backdrop, and it seems like if I don't use flash to freeze the frame (my technical term) it's not quite in focus. Tripod doesn't help, and I've tried the timer too.

Tips? The camera is just a little point and shoot Canon Powershot SD900. I've gone through the manual tinkering with settings, but it's all Greek to me and nothing has really improved that I can tell.

And of course, thank you for this generous offer!

 

[Jadenkisses]

Okay: this was taken during the day, the plant light on over the vivarium, and the flash on. The frog is (obviously) supposed to be lime green. Without the flash, its dark and blurry, but with it, this is what I get:

I will try your toilet paper suggestion, but are there any other recommendations you have? (Changing settings and whatnot)

Thanks Kevin!

 

[Southern Wolf]

Ok, I got one for you... I would say this is currently one of my best photos. It was taken with an Olympus F150 (if I remember correctly) point and shoot, taken on 'auto' setting, indoors with flash, there's a black sheet hanging as a background.

I know I cut off the very top of the snake, I'm still trying to get good with cropping and how to center the image, usually I just take a wider shot and crop down but trying to avoid that. Her head isn't quite in focus and the flash still washed it out.

Of course, I have a different camera now, one of the lower end canon powershot point and shoots. But any tips on how I could have improved this image would be appreciated. I don't know squat about composition.

I'm hoping with this new camera to be able to actually set the ISO/F-stop, etc but it doesn't say anything in the manual and for now I'm just using the auto setting.

Lets see if I can answer all your questions.

To start... your talking about centering the image. This may not always be best. In photography there is what is known as "rule of thirds". If you look at a photo you can divide it up into three equal sections both horizontal and vertical. It is said that if you place the eyes of a subject either along one of these planes or at an intersection it makes for a more pleasing photo. Keep in mind this is not a hardened rule but more of a guideline. Personally I let my subject dictate on if its centered or if I utilize the rule of thirds.

Take a look at your photo.... you have the eyes close to the left third line of the photo. There is nothing wrong with this. Another angle to look at this photo. What IF the head was actually centered and you cut off some of the body on the branch. Now it looks like the snake has somewhere to strike.

Like I said.... its just a guideline... nothing more.

As to cropping your images. EVERY image I take is cropped. Here is why. On most DSLR's and maybe some point an shoots... the censor they use actually gives you an 8x12 image instead of an 8x10 image. So I have to plan ahead of time to crop off 2 inches. It took me a while to get used to this because I had always composed my shot in camera... now I back off the zoom a bit and get a basic composure in camera and then finalize the shot by cropping later.

Another thing about composition... look at your photo. Over on the right hand side.. you have about an inch - 1.5 inches of dead space. This is about right. You dont want to have alot of dead space BEHIND a subject if they are looking in the photo (your snake is looking to the left).

If I missed something, or I enduced more questions... feel free to ask.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

Thanks Kevin! I kind of know about the 'rule of thirds' but your details help a lot. My new camera has a 'thirds' grid I can overlay on the display, I'll have to give that a shot. By centered, I actually just meant getting the entire snake in the shot.

I'm quite glad to know cropping the photos down a bit isn't a bad thing to do, I was under the impression I should try to fill the entire shot and not crop at all.

 

[Southern Wolf]

I'd be interested in hearing more about shutter speed, what it does, and how to tinker with it. I'd love to be able to take more shots in natural lighting and have them turn out decently, but it seems like if there's even just a tiny bit of movement the image comes out blurred or just out of focus. Unfortunately I don't have any examples of it because I always pitch them, but I hope this makes any sense.

I would like to start shooting my snakes in natural sunlight on a backdrop, and it seems like if I don't use flash to freeze the frame (my technical term) it's not quite in focus. Tripod doesn't help, and I've tried the timer too.

Tips? The camera is just a little point and shoot Canon Powershot SD900. I've gone through the manual tinkering with settings, but it's all Greek to me and nothing has really improved that I can tell.

And of course, thank you for this generous offer!

Shutter speed dictates how long the light hits the sensor... to freeze movement you need a fast shutter speed.. Im gonna delve a little deeper than your question... but I think it will help everything make sense.

I did not come up with this analogy... but it is the best I have ever seen.

In photography everything revolves around light. Either you dont have enough (under exposed and dark), you have too much (way to bright and you just have a white blob), or its just right (correct exposure for highlites and shaddows)... but EVERYTHING revolves around light.

For this analogy....
Light = Water

Shutter speed = speed of opening and closing a water Faucet
Apature = Opening size on Water Faucet
ISO = screen placed over the faucet

Keep in mind the numbers I will be using is just for education purposes and may not work together to get acutal correct exposure.

So lets say you want to fill a glass with water. All 3 of the settings above play appart in how long it takes to fill the glass of water. IF you have a large apature opening (f/4) and large holes in your screen (ISO 1600)... then you better be very quick on opening and closing that faucet. (shutter 1/1000)

However lets change one parameter... and you'll see how it affects the others. Lets Change the ISO down to say 800. Now you have smaller holes in your screen so it takes longer for the water to get thru it. Just by changing that one parameter and cutting it in half... now you have to slow down a little bit on how fast you have to open and close that faucet (shutter speed 1/500).

If you were to make the apature opening smaller (f/16)... you'd have to slow even further down on how fast you opened and closed the faucet.

They are all connected in one way to get the correct exposure.

So lets go back to your example with you trying to use sunlight and stop the blur. In order to stop the blur you need to increase your shutter speed... but in order to increase your shutter speed... you have to increase the amount of light hitting the sensor. To do this you have 3 options. Increase the opening of your apature (smaller f/stop numbers). Increase your ISO setting (larger ISO numbers)... or just increase the light by using a flash.

Since your using a point and shoot... look at the dial on the top. There may be a setting labeled SP or AP. AP is apature Priority and lets you set your apature manually.. .and then the camera figures out the shutter speed to get the correct exposure. Ths SP is shutter priority and you can select the shutter speed and the camera figures out the correct apature to use for a correct exposure.

Changing the ISO should be a setting in the menu somewhere.

If my post produced more questions or I didnt cover something... please ask. Im more than happy to answer questions.

 

[Southern Wolf]

Okay: this was taken during the day, the plant light on over the vivarium, and the flash on. The frog is (obviously) supposed to be lime green. Without the flash, its dark and blurry, but with it, this is what I get:

I will try your toilet paper suggestion, but are there any other recommendations you have? (Changing settings and whatnot)

Thanks Kevin!

The rest of the photo looks to be good on the exposure. My guess is the flash bouncing off the moist skin of the frog. If I remember correctly your using a point and shoot camera. You can try to use the AP setting (apature priority) and 'stop down your lens'. On the apature.... the larger the number the smaller the hole. If your camera is defauting to say f/4 trying setting it to a higher number. This will let less light hit the sensor.... the drawback is it will darken the whole photo most likely... plus it would slow down your shutter speed. So any movements the frog makes will be noticeable as blur.

Id still suggest diffusing the flash to soften the light hitting the frog. You should be able to get the shot your after using this method.

To make a diffuser you can use pretty much anything opaque.

 

[Southern Wolf]

Thanks Kevin! I kind of know about the 'rule of thirds' but your details help a lot. My new camera has a 'thirds' grid I can overlay on the display, I'll have to give that a shot. By centered, I actually just meant getting the entire snake in the shot.

I'm quite glad to know cropping the photos down a bit isn't a bad thing to do, I was under the impression I should try to fill the entire shot and not crop at all.

Cropping can be bad. Lets say you take a photo of a bird.... and it fills about half the frame and you crop it so it fills all the frame.

then you try to compair that photo to someone that photographed that same bird but was able to fill the whole frame. You will see a loss of details in the crop.

Why? ..... the crop is digital and the computer is trying to figure out the details and make them bigger. Whereas the person that filled the frame to begin with is getting all the details optically. There is no trying to figure it out.

Thats why when you buy a camera (video or digital).... always look at the optical zoom numbers. Digital zoom is just the camera trying to figure out what your looking at and making it bigger. If you going to buy strickly on zoom capabilities... always choose a camera with a higher Optical zoom.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

I did notice a difference in the clarity of photos using zoom vs. digital zoom. Pretty big difference actually! That was pretty much the only function I've messed with besides pressing the macro here and there.

My camera is a canon powershot SD1200 IS (nothing real fancy) 10.0 megapixel. I went into the custom settings but the only function available is the ISO (offers a range from 80-1600). Couple other generic settings for white balance (auto, day, cloudy, tungsten, flour, or custom); 'colors' setting (auto, vivid, neutral, sepia, b&w, custom); and one that says to pick evaluative(default), center weighted and spot. The manual doesn't discuss any of this.

Based on that info, can you offer ideas on what setting I should try to get indoor pictures of snakes? What I'm hoping for are clear close-ups showing the tongue. Shots I take now come out like this one below ( because the shutter speed needs to speed up?); on auto with flash turned off

Going by what I've picked up so far, since I can't change the shutter speed, if I put the ISO on the higher end, that should by default speed up the shutter to compensate?

Thanks and no rush on a reply.

 

[Southern Wolf]

I cant view the pic on this computer.. just get a red x. Will revisit your request once I get on my home computer.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

maybe because of the site I was linking from. I uploaded it to photobucket and changed the link in the post above, it's a lot bigger, but maybe you can see it now

edit - here's a shot of the same snake, same room, but with the camera on auto with flash, cropped way in

 

[Southern Wolf]

April... goto page 62 of your manual... it will show you how to shoot in Program modes. You can adjust your settings there.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

hmm.. my manual only goes to page 35. I'll go check their website and see if there's a longer one there.

 

[Southern Wolf]

there is a MUCH larger one there.

 

[Southern Wolf]

I did notice a difference in the clarity of photos using zoom vs. digital zoom. Pretty big difference actually! That was pretty much the only function I've messed with besides pressing the macro here and there.

My camera is a canon powershot SD1200 IS (nothing real fancy) 10.0 megapixel. I went into the custom settings but the only function available is the ISO (offers a range from 80-1600). Couple other generic settings for white balance (auto, day, cloudy, tungsten, flour, or custom); 'colors' setting (auto, vivid, neutral, sepia, b&w, custom); and one that says to pick evaluative(default), center weighted and spot. The manual doesn't discuss any of this.

Based on that info, can you offer ideas on what setting I should try to get indoor pictures of snakes? What I'm hoping for are clear close-ups showing the tongue. Shots I take now come out like this one below ( because the shutter speed needs to speed up?); on auto with flash turned off

Going by what I've picked up so far, since I can't change the shutter speed, if I put the ISO on the higher end, that should by default speed up the shutter to compensate?

Thanks and no rush on a reply.

First let me say that indoors I am always shooting with my flash ON. Now I do have an advantage as I can set the intensity of my flash because I am using an external flash attachment.

Try shooting with your flash on. If that really messes with the colors then yes... turning up your ISO settings will by default (if shooting in auto mode) will increase your shutter speed.... or the camera may choose a different apature setting. It doesnt hurt to try.

 

[Pennysnake]

This is a great thread!

I borrowed my dad's SRL and took photos of my snakes. I don't know how to use it well, so I often just switch the settings from Macros to M to P , etc and see what looks okay. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I know there's so much more I could do if I only had someone to show me how to properly photograph with this camera.

 

[Pennysnake]

I try to take lots of nature photos too... they are usually just of random, common plants- and I'd really like to improve their composition- just don't know how?



]