DigitalCamFan
Understanding Exposure compensation
On this weeks “Learn by Doing” we wanted to try out the idea presented in Bryan Peterson’s book “Understanding Exposure“. The question what happens when your image is mostly green. His idea meter your image at -2/3 stop!
Metering still confuses me! I still have to think about it every time I come to a tricky situation when my scene is mostly white black or high contrast. I have to think add light to light or add dark to dark. Now I have a new trick in my pocket to think about when my image is mostly green.
This tutorial is a great tutorial that talks about just that… exposure compensation. At about 6 minutes into the video he shows us how sensitive our meter is. He first takes a picture of Erica with mostly white, but her black hair is down. The next picture is her hair pulled back with just that change he had to adjust his exposure!
Now here is the good stuff that pertains to this weeks assignment! At about 8 minutes he does an awesome tutorial on how to adjust your exposure compensation! He explains how to change exposure compensation in aperture priority and shutter priority as well as what to do if you’re in manual mode!
Take a moment to check out some of their other videos… great job!
Learn by Doing this week was from the book
How to capture slow motion by slowing down your shutter speed
This week on Learn by Doing we are slowing down our shutter speed in order to get some slow motion pictures. I just love pushing myself and learning more! Picking up your camera and using it all the time is the only way to go where you want to go with our camera.
This afternoon I was looking for some good tips on slowing down your shutter speed when I found this gem on YouTube by PhotoClassPro If you want another great resource check out their website at PhotoTips
Different types of lighting in Photography
I set up my camera over the weekend in the living room to play with the different directions of light. Side, front, back and above. I was initially going to just take a side light picture for this weeks challenge – Side Light Photography, but I thought it would be fun to take it a step further and look at the different types of light.
Side Lighting – Side lighting is pretty straight forward it’s when the light comes from the side. Side lighting can create contrast and shadows bringing your subject to life.
Front Lighting - Front lighting is when your light source is shining directly on your subject. So your subject has the light directly on them, but you as the photographer will have your back to the sun or light source.
Above Light Photography - Top light is when the light is directly above your subject.
Back Lighting – Back lighting is when the light is behind your subject. So you as the photographer has the sun or light source facing toward you. This is when you can get a great silhouette.
Deciding on a style… color or monochrome today!
As you may know I am taking a night time class “intro to black and white”! Because of this my posts might be consumed with black and white. The assignment I was given was to take 2 pictures of everything (one in color and one in black and white) Find set of pictures you like the color better and the other set is where you think black and white brought your picture to life. This was a great exercise!
What I learned… I looked in complete opposite directions for both pictures! When I was looking for color I was looking for bold, bright beautiful colors. When I was trying to find a picture in black and white I was looking for shadows, contrast different angles of light.
Here are my two pictures. This first one I picked the color photo I thought the colors jumped out too much to go black and white on this one.
On this next one I choose the black and white because I thought it added more depth and interest to the to picture!
Pick up your camera and try it! I learned a lot in fact I am still taking pictures and looking at both to see which I like better and why!
Black and White for Beginners
Black And White Photography Class Day #1
Goal of class – learning to see the world in black and white and translate that vision to your pictures. Learn to look for interesting light to affect the feeling or mood of your pictures. Finding textures that create appealing black and white photography. That is the goal of the B&W Photography class I attended last night!
This book John Hedgecoe’s Complete Guide To Black and White Photography is what our teacher recommended we purchase, great resource she said. Do you agree?
I am not sure how to repeat what I learned last night… For a good portion of the class we looked at slides in color and guessed if they would make a good black and white photo. Once we all had our opinion she would go to the next slide which would be that same picture in black and white. Here is what I did learn:
- Red, Blue and Green are all about the same shade of Gray
- White doesn’t change when you go to black and white
- If you have a family photo and the lady on the left is wearing red your eye goes to her first, but when it turned black and white your attention was brought to the lady in white on the right. So black and white changes where your eye focuses
- If your picture has just one color it will look basically the same in black and white
- faded colors easily translate to black and white
Picture taken with Canon 60D using Canon 50mm f/1.8 in front of living room window this morning. Snow background made for a white background. If you can’t guess what it is it’s a lizard holding two candles
Did I love the class? Yes… sitting in a room with 12 eager students all listening without interrupting the teacher. Hanging on to every word because you don’t want to miss anything. Absolutely!
First assignment:
Take 4 pictures 2 in color and 2 in black and white. No editing! Select one pair (color and b&w) that you like your picture in color. Second pair (color and b&w) choose one you like in black and white.
Plus through the course of this class try to only take B&W photos!
Circles of Confusion
This past week we did an aperture assignment to see what would happen if we set up our camera on a tripod and took a few picture on aperture priority. The only setting we changed was our aperture by 1 stop each time. Result - The wider the aperture the more shallow depth of field you end up with.
After reading up this week as to why this happens I came across many posts that talked about the circle of confusion. This circle confused me even more. What I did learn… there are three factors that influence depth of field:
- The focal length of your lens
- The distance between you and the subject
- The aperture you select
This week we’re working with aperture settings. The best example I came across was actually in a book – Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson – Quoted from the book:
“Imagine using a funnel with a very small opening and pouring a one-gallon can of paint through it in to an empty bucket. Compare this process to pouring a one-gallon can of paint in to the same empty bucket without the aid of the funnel. Without the funnel, the paint gets into the bucket quicker, but it also splatters up on the bucket sides, as well. With a funnel, the transfer of paint to the bucket is cleaner and more contained.”
What a great visual! When you use a smaller aperture like f/22 your pictures will come out neat and sharp, but if you want to add a dash of blur to your image open wide and go for that splash with a f/2.8 or f/5.6.
Of course that is only one piece to the puzzle when it comes to depth of field we still have focal length and distance between you and the subject, but it’s a start!
For a great technical resource check out Cambridgeincolour I thought they did a great job explaining Depth of Field!
18 % Reflectance
I have to see it, and do it to actually get it. If you learn visually like I do then maybe this will explain the meter a little better.
Here is a visual of what your camera sees when looking at a scene made up of mostly snow. Apparently a histogram is important! Check out this visual from the cameras view point shot at f stop 8 / ISO 100 / shutter speed 1600 metered off exactly what the camera saw as middle gray:
Now if I open up 2 stops the shutter speed is now @400! Add light to light
When your meter is presented with black or white it freaks out a bit thinking way too much! For instance in the picture above I want the snow to be white when I look at the histogram it says white.
Five different snow exposure examples!
I found this text extremely helpful as I try to really understand my meter. I did a test with -2, -1, 0 +1 +2 using a tripod I have my f stop set to 8 / ISO 100 / focal length 55 mm for all 5 images. To adjust the meter I adjusted my shutter speed by one stop. A stop is double or half the light.
This first one is -2 @6400 shutter speed:
This next picture is at 1 which changed the shutter speed to 3200:
This is what the camera said was metered correctly at 0 the shutter speed was 1600:
Next we have 1 with a shutter speed @800:
Now this last one is at 2 shutter speed @400 and it looks the most accurate out of the 5:
I found this interesting because I always hear you should open up 2 stops when your picture has a lot of white. Since the cameras meter is going to try to make it gray we need to add a little light. Add light to light!
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Canon Metering Modes
Metering to me is tricky business…. Sometimes I read about it and think oh I get it! Then when I’m out taking pictures I forget everything I learned. Metering & light will take me a life time to learn. So many different variables will effect your metering. I usually follow this rule, usually not always - If I am shooting in Aperture Priority I use Evaluative Metering – If I am shooting on Manual I use Spot Metering. Is the the rule everyone most likely not. If you have a different way you meter please share!
There are 4 different types of metering on Canons (from my experience I know for sure the Canon Rebel XSi and the Canon 60d have 4 different types of metering )
If you shot with the Basic Zone (Full auto, portrait, landscape, close-up, sports or night portrait) the camera will choose which is the best for your situation.
Here is an example I took in my front window using all 4 different Canon Metering Modes: I used my center AF point which was on the photo itself. No editing done to any of the photos:
This is where it gets fun! On the next to photos I have the spot metering where I metered off the picture, and the one on the right I metered off the grass which was in full sunlight. Check out my silhouette pictures taken using spot metering
Evaluative Metering – Your camera takes a comparison of light from your entire view. I believe it starts with your active (AF) Auto Focus and compares it to the light every where else. In general I think this setting will work most of the time at least when everything seems average. If you have a high contrast image you should switch to a different setting. For example someone sitting in front of a window, snow etc.
Partial Metering – Sort of like spot metering but covers a slightly larger area. With partial metering you will cover approximately 6.5% of the viewfinder area at the center.
Spot Metering – 100% of your light is metered from the specific spot you’re metering from. Spot Metering covers approximately 2.8% of the viewfinder area. This is when it gets fun and you can play with your exposures. For instance if you have someone standing in front of the sunset you can meter off the sunset so you end up with a silhouette!
Center-weighted Average Metering – The metering is weighted at the center and then averaged for the entire scene. So it puts more emphasis on the the center area.
Check your camera bag Before you leave!
Thought I would head out last night with the tripod and take some pictures down town. Thought I had everything I needed, but I didn’t. Got the tripod ready for action went to put the camera on the tripod and realized I didn’t have a quick release plate on the camera! What a bummer…. I usually just leave it on the camera at all times, but I took it off the other day to take a picture of the camera itself. I wanted the camera level for the picture so I took off the plate. What did I learn ALWAYS check your camera bag to make sure you have everything before you go!
Here is a list of items I try to double check:
1. Exposure Compensation
2. Check lens to see if it is on M or AF
3. All accessories to tripod including quick release pad
4. Battery
5. Memory Card (have forgotten that as well before)
If you forget your card your picture will look like this!
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