DigitalCamFan
Learn by Doing – Composition in Photography
Assignment #25 – Take a picture any picture, but really think about your picture before you take it.
What is your subject? Do you like the colors? Should you move your subject over? Ah so much to think about besides just learning how to use your camera! Thanks for the composition idea @Paul! We could all use some tips on this subject! I myself know I still have a ton to learn!
You can have a 20 different people shooting the same scene and yet every single one of them will leave with a different picture. Everyone sees something different when looking at a sunset, everyone sees something different when looking at a single flower. For me sometimes I see what I want to take a picture of, but it’s hard to bring that picture to life. Find your own style and go with it.
I took a photography class on composition awhile back. I pulled out my notes…
- Keep it simple – What is the subject of your picture
- Move in Closer – Our tendency is to take in way too much. Sometimes you have to choose between sky or landscape. You don’t have to have everything in the picture, keep it simple
- Are you taking a picture of your subject or the building behind them, decide what your subject is and make that the focus
- Rules of thirds – When looking through your viewfinder picture 3 horizontal lines and 3 vertical lines. Where these lines intersect is where you would place your subject. The idea is that it makes your image more balanced. There have actually been studies done that say your eye naturally goes to these intersecting points rather than right to the center of the picture.
- Shapes – any prominent shapes triangles, circles etc. What about lines are there straight lines or curvy lines like a river. See them and use them.
- Strongest number in photography is 3 often forms a triangle. You might see three flowers lined up together etc.
- When looking at the horizon don’t cut your picture in half try focusing on the horizon about 1/3 from the bottom or top. If you’re taking a reflection in the water that might be an exception.
- Negative space can be a good think
- All secondary subjects should support the main subject
- Color – are there complimentary colors in your picture, no color take note of the colors around you
In the end he said all rules are made to be broken… go with what you love!
Learn by Doing – How to capture lightning
Assignment #24 Capturing lighting…. Now I know everyone won’t get a lightning storm this week or maybe for a few months. But when lightning finally strikes would love to see your pictures!
Thank-you @Dianne for suggesting this one! Take a moment to check out some of Dianne’s work on Prairie Girl Photography she did an amazing one of the moon this past month!
Lightning is one of those beautiful moments you don’t see often but when it strikes you want to be prepared. I admit this is an old picture of mine, but I don’t for see any lightning in our future here, but if it comes I will add my new picture.
What I learned about capturing lightning - I needed patience and mother nature to work with me. This picture used a shutter speed 1/4 sec / Manual / F/3.5.
A tripod is definitely helpful for this one since you will be using a longer shutter speed. Lightning comes and goes in an instant so if you leave you shutter open for awhile your chances are better that you will capture it. If the area you’re in is pretty dark meaning not many street lights or city lights you shouldn’t have a problem leaving your shutter open for a long period of time. When I did mine it was mostly testing. Took a picture adjusted setting then waited for more lightning.
Sometimes you get only small wisps of lightning. If you’re on a tripod and take multiple pictures in the same location you can blend them all together to create a crazy lightning storm in one photo.
Manual focus – You don’t want your camera to continually try to find something to focus on instead find your focus and then just leave it there. One less thing to worry about.
I found this article on how to photograph lightning that had some great tips! It talks a lot about SLR cameras, but that translates easy to Digital.
Learn by Doing – Now to use Shutter Priority
Assignment #23 – Use Shutter Priority and take any picture, and freeze the action!
Last week I asked the question…. What next, what do you want to learn next. @Ami had the great idea to focus on shutter priority. Thanks!
So Saturday I took my daughter to the park and had her jump off anything and everything. She was more than thrilled with the challenge!
If you have Canon change your dial to TV, Nikon to S and if you’re using something else change your dial to the shutter priority dial. On to shutter speed… Shutter speed controls the amount of time the light is coming through the lens another way to say that would be the amount of time that the shutter is open. If you change your shutter speed from 1/500 to 1/60 sec you are increasing the amount of time the light is coming through the lens which increases the time your shutter is open. If you want to freeze motion you want a faster shutter speed.
A couple things to think about when thinking about shutter speed. If you’re holding your camera you probably don’t want to be below 1/60th of second anything slower might result in camera shake. Camera shake is when your camera moves a bit while the shutter is open with an end result of blur in your pictures. So if you go below 1/60th think about using a tripod.
- Here is an interesting note I just read about… You need to think about focal length when deciding what shutter speed to use. Always use a shutter speed that is faster than the focal length of your lens. For instance if using a 50mm you want at least 1/60th to avoid camera shake if your using a 200mm lens you want to increase that to 1/250th.
When thinking creatively about your shutter speed. You will have to decide if you want to freeze the motion which will result in a higher shutter speed or blur the subject giving a sense of motion to your images. To freeze motion you want a higher shutter speed. In my photo above I used 1/320th for one and 1/500th for the other. If you want to imply motion you would want a much slower shutter speed.
First let me back up and explain the difference between all the different creative zones
- Program Mode (P) The camera automatically sets the shutter and aperture you still have some control over the ISO, drive mode, built in flash and a few more. The camera is still deciding creatively what it thinks you’re going for
- Shutter Priority (TV) You adjust the shutter speed while the camera adjusts the aperture. You control motion, you decide if you want to freeze the motion or slow down to blur your motion.
- Aperture Priority (AV) You adjust the aperture while the camera adjusts the shutter speed. You control depth of field, you decide if you want the background out of focus or the entire picture in focus.
- Manual (M) It’s all you!
Found this great video posted by OrangeBoxPhotography
Remember you can post your pictures at the bottom of this post or on DigitalCamFan FaceBook wall. If you have questions about “Learn By Doing” Please refer to the guideline page. If you have no questions post away!
Learn by Doing – Slow shutter speed capturing light trails
Assignment #22 – Use a slow shutter speed to capture light trails from cars
I am super excited about how the pictures turned out. I have never tried to shoot light trails before so this was a first! First I had to get brave enough to climb over the rail and stand in the center of the street with my tripod. Once I was set up I felt safe, but as I walked to the center line I sure felt nerveous.
Here are some tips I learned on how to shoot light trails
1. Need a tripod for this one or at least something to set your camera on.
2. Use a remote or set your camera to self timer so you’re not touching the camera at all.
3. ISO at 100
4. I was in manual mode. For the first time I had too much light! So I set my aperture to 22 to let the least amount of light in. You can also shoot in Shutter Priority since it’s the shutter speed we are looking for.
5. Focus on something in the distance or the sky will work.
6. Your shutter speed depends on how dark it is. This picture above on the bridge was at 4 seconds anything longer was washed out with too much light. As the night got darker my shutter speed got longer. My longest shutter speed of the night was at 30 seconds. So shutter speed depends on the light. Just set up on the tripod and try some different settings to see what you get.
7. Have fun! I thought it was great timing the cars trying to get the car lights coming and going at the same time. So there is a bit of patience on this one, but well worth it!
Learn By Doing – Meter using dusky blue sky
Assignment #21 – Meter using dusky blue sky
Last week we talked about metering for a mostly green image by going -2/3 on the meter. This week we are giving the Sky Brothers a try! According the Bryan Peterson from his book “Understanding Exposure“ you can take a meter reading from the dusky blue sky, recompose your picture and shoot! “Brother Dusky Blue Sky” is good for shooting city or country scenes at dusk.
I went out tonight at dusk to take some pictures. For the most part I liked the warm color it brought by metering off the sky. I wish I took a comparison picture to show you what my camera saw if I metered from the scene in front on me. I can tell you that every time I recomposed my shot after metering from the sky my meter said I was wrong. I am sure I had a lot of folks downtown wondering what I was taking a picture of when I aimed for the sky!
This next one I just liked all the lines and color still the same warm color
The building pictures I took I felt came out a bit dark when I exposed for the blue sky. The light changes so quickly as day comes to a close. Within just a few minutes the light felt like it changed as did the color blue in the sky. I sure did enjoy myself walking around town at dusk. They always say the light is best in the morning and evening. Boy was the city beautiful tonight with the soft light bouncing around everywhere. No kids tonight just me…. It was very relaxing in deed.
Curious to see if the dusky blue sky trick will work for you? You can post at the bottom of this post or on DigitalCamFan FaceBook wall. If you have questions about “Learn By Doing” Please refer to the guideline page. If you have no questions post away!
Learn by Doing – Metering for green -2/3
Assignment #20 – Take a picture where the majority of your picture is green. Take your meter reading on the green. Once your meter reads correct adjust your exposure -2/3 recompose for the composition you’re looking for and take the picture.
Last week at coffee Sarah had a great assignment – Try the sky brothers and their cousin Mr. Green Jeans that Bryan Peterson talks about on page 122-126 from the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. This is one of my favorite books that talks about well understanding exposure. So for the next few weeks we are going to practice his techniques starting with Mr. Green Jeans!
Peterson says when taking a picture that has a lot of green you can meter off the green then adjust either your aperture or shutter speed so your exposure reads -2/3 stops from correct.
First off you have to know what a stop is so you can adjust -2/3. So here is some technical information that might help out.
What is a full stop shutter speed?
1s 1/2s 1/4s 1/8s 1/15s 1/30s 1/60s 1/125s 1/250s 1/500s 1/1000s
Most cameras will be on a 1/3 scale which means there are two steps between every full-stop
What is a full stop for your ISO?
ISO 100 200 400 800 1600 3200
You many or may not have a 1/3 scale for you ISO. 400 – 800 = 1 stop if your camera has 1/3 scale you will have 500 and 640 as well.
What is a full f stop?
f2 f2.8 f4 f5.6 f8 f11 f16 f22 f32
Same thing most cameras will be on a 1/3 scale which means there are two f stops between each full stop. So between f/8 and f/11 you will have f/9 and f/10.
Opening up – more light would be on the smaller side of the aperture like f2
closing down or stop down – less light which would be using a larger aperture like f32
Every stop is double or half the amount of light!
I did two pictures to show the difference… I think I will keep playing with this technique. There are so many different greens and situations, but I think it’s a cool trick!
On my walk this afternoon I took this picture exposed at -2/3
Exposed -2/3
Manual
Shutter Speed 1250
F/3.2
The next picture was exposed correctly!
Exposed correctly
Manual
Shutter Speed 800
F/3.2
Are you ready to find that perfect green? You can post at the bottom of this post or on DigitalCamFan FaceBook wall. If you have questions about “Learn By Doing” Please refer to the guideline page. If you have no questions post away!
Learn By Doing – Easter Day
Assignment #19 Easter Day
This week is not so much a challenge, but just getting out and taking a picture. When you think of Easter what do you think about? Do pastel colors come to mind or fingers brightly colored from dying all those Easter eggs. What about the moment the race begins and the kids run like the wind to find as many eggs as possible. …. When I think of Easter it brings up thoughts of spending time with my family, coloring Easter eggs, baking, eating, hiding and hunting Easter eggs. The look of innocence Easter morning and the anticipation Easter night.
So for me I took a picture of some eggs we finished dying this evening. a bit of advice for anyone with brightly colored fingers. How do you get Easter dye off your hands? Baking soda and vinegar! Pour vinegar in a bowl add baking soda and rub. If it’s still not completely off put some oil on your hands add a little sugar rub and then wash. Worked like a charm! And there was a lot of color on those itty bitty egg dying hands tonight!
Hope everyone has a wonderful Day!
Learn By Doing – Finding the perfect Sunset!
Assignment #18 – Finding the perfect Sunset!
Finding the perfect sunset isn’t as easy as it seems. First the weather has to be on your side. Second is learning how to expose properly. Our weather didn’t cooperate this week lots of rainy cloudy nights. We did manage to make it up the hill to take some sunset shots. We went way to early… By the time we left both kiddos were done with sunsets! As we waited Cade read his book and Kat and I took pictures of him reading his book. This picture was taken at 1/50 sec Aperture priority using f/5. Not quite sunset yet…
This next picture was a little closer to sunset – taken using aperture priority f/8 shutter speed 1/125 sec
Now how do you get a perfect sunset? There are many ways to shot a sunset, but this was a great tutorial I found from PhotoClassPro. He said the simple trick is to under-expose. Set your camera at f/5.6 take a picture and then underexpose. Give it a try! I read this tutorial after I took my picture so I will wait for another clear night and try again using his technique!
Are you ready to find the perfect sunset? You can post at the bottom of this post or on DigitalCamFan FaceBook wall. If you have questions about “Learn By Doing” Please refer to the guideline page. If you have no questions post away!
Learn By Doing – Finding a Frame in your picture
Assignment #17 – Finding a frame in your picture
Framing is when you frame the main subject in your picture. Bringing depth and a better focus to what your main picture is. I always read about framing when it comes to composition. I read it, but I guess I have never tried to find a frame for my picture.
So today I set out with a purpose to only look for a framed composition. Our day started out with a great morning hike! It was the perfect day for a hike although there weren’t many framed opportunities to be found, but a beautiful hike. Here is a picture of the kids once we made it to the top. We had sat down and had dark chocolate and water to celebrate! Not a framed shot, but a fun day!
After dinner we set out again to find some sort of framed composition! Cade found lots of budding little flowers to take pictures of. I searched for framed picture opportunities. Cade was busy taking his own pictures to follow me around and stand in my pictures… My son the photographer! Love it!
How about you… Any framed photos you want to share? You can post at the bottom of this post or on DigitalCamFan FaceBook wall. If you have questions about “Learn By Doing” Please refer to the guideline page. If you have no questions post away!
Learn By Doing – The color green
Assignment #16 – The Color Green
It’s strange how you can have a winter day bouncing around 0* and you don’t feel cold walking outside for a bit. Then you have a spring day at 32* and you’re freezing. We walked about 3 blocks to the St. Patrick’s Day parade this morning with everyone chattering their teeth, cold finger, cold toes and red noses. That is until the parade started then everyone forgot how cold they were and dived for the candy being thrown.
The parade was great I pulled out my camera all excited to take a picture of green. Perhaps a leprechaun on stilts or a green float with the kids in the foreground. I decide to brave the rain with my camera and takes lots of pictures. First picture… no card! Seriously… I wanted to travel light so I left my bag in the car. I have done this so many times it’s ridiculous. I don’t get it I am the mom that packs 3 pairs of gloves in case two get wet. I am the mom when we go crystal digging for an afternoon I bring a cooler full of drinks and food just in case. Yet for some reason I always leave my card in the computer!
So the green parade picture didn’t happen this morning… Moving on to grocery store display! All those green bottles lined up perfectly in the isle were screaming to have their picture taken! So have fun this week finding the color green you never know where you might find it!
You can post at the bottom of this post or on DigitalCamFan FaceBook wall. If you have questions about “Learn By Doing” Please refer to the guideline page. If you have no questions post away!
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