Digital Photography Questions Answered

Posts tagged blur

Digital Photography: How Shutter Modes Can Affect Your Images

Sep19
2011 Written by Dewayne

Sometimes  in the world of Basic Digital Photography, it’s real easy to forget exactly what shooting modes are and how they can affect the quality of your images.  Most cameras will have a variety of choices based on what you shoot regularly, or what types of subjects you shoot most often.

The cameras these days will have the basic “One shot” option.  “One shot is exactly what it sounds like, you press the shutter release buttton one time, you get one picture.  The “One shot option is best for non-moving subjects, or posed photographs where your subject will not be doing a lot of moving.

Usually, right next to this option is a shooting mode called “Continuous”.  Most people, including me, don’t really see the value in keeping your camera set in this mode.  At least, I didn’t used to.  The more time you spend shooting candid photography, children, wildlife, or any other dynamic subject, or a still subject in a dynamic environment, this is going to be the mode for you.  Why?  Because in this ever-changing world we live in, something or someone is going to get in the way, or your subject is going to be stuck behind something right when your camera fires, leaving you with an interesting image, but probably not the picture you were looking for.

Next on the shooting mode menu is usually something like a timer-released shot.  These are the famous pictures where you set your camera down, or on a tripod, press the button, then you have about ten seconds to get into the picture before the shutter fires.

Some cameras have included a two-second timer release option for their cameras.  This option is not for running really fast to get in front of your camera before it takes the picture, but for allowing the maximum stability and sharpest pictures because you take the picture by pressing the button, when you take your finger off of the shutter release button, it takes the picture two seconds later.  This option is so your touching the camera doesn’t shake the camera and you get your sharpest image.

Cameras are coming equipped with infrared sensors these days, too.  They can be fired remotely using devices very similar to television remote controls, through an infrared beam, much like the electronic car  remotes for your vehicle.  This is getting too advanced for most , so I won’t spend a lot of time on it.

The last shooting mode that can really have a dramatic impact on your photography is the “Bulb” mode.  This is usually triggered by a remote cable or cord attached to your camera, you can either hold down the button on the cable, keeping the shutter open for as long as you have the button pushed, or the is usually a locking switch to hold the shutter open until you unlock it. This allows you to keep the shutter open for minutes during night or low-light photography, without touching the camera shaking and blurring your image.  There is some mystery as to where the term bulb mode came from.  My theory is that it is named after the manual type of release that came before the cord.  There was an air-filled bulb that the photographer would squeeze to open the shutter and then he or she could manipulate a screw on the bulb that would not allow the bulb to reinflate, holding the shutter open. 

All of these types of shutter-release modes are there on your camera waiing for you to tell it which one you want to use.  My preferrred mode, for day-to-day camera operations?  Contnuous.  Why, the pictures don’t cost anything asnd can mean the difference between this picture…

 

Digital Photography Before

And this one…

Digital Photography After

 

Have a great day,

Dewayne

Posted in Digital Photography Basics - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Digital Photography Motion In the Arena and On the Track

Aug12
2011 Written by Dewayne

The Photoshop and photography Guru Scott Kelby once proclaimed something along the lines of “if you want to be a great sports photographer, the first thing you need is a really big wallet!”  And, he’s right on the money.

One of the most challenging aspects of shooting action photography in an outdoor arena is the time right between sunset and when the arena lights kick it up to full power.  Maybe you’ve had this happen before, you go to take your prize-winning photo, you line up the shot, press the shutter release, and click.  You check out your amazing photo on the display on the back of the camera and, “What in the world?”  Or something similar…  Nothing but blur!  Might as well put your camera up for the rest of the event, right?  Wrong.

Now, you’ve found the perfect time for panning.  Not for gold, but for that perfect action shot.  Here’s the concept…  The photographer is at a fixed point where he/she/it can take a picture with the subject, car/horse/ whatever is passing at pretty much the same distance from the photographer.  You have you magic focus ring manually adjusted for the approximate area you want to shoot, and the subject passes, as you press the shutter, you turn and keep the subject in the approximately same location in the frame as your shutter slowly opens and closes.  What this does, with enough practice, is allows you, the photographer, to keep the subject in focus while blurring the background scenery adding for some interesting motion effect.  So, how does it look?

Well, let’s look at what kind of picture led you to try this effect in the first place…

 

Digital Photography Time for panning

Now, here’s how it comes out with a little panning practice…

Digital Photography Time for panning 2

Remember, just because you don’t have the most expensive equipment, or the best equipment in the world, doesn’t mean you can’t have interesting photos.

A final word of caution, this technique takes some serious practice to develop, and I’ve still got a long way to go, so don’t get frustrated, and remember, they’re digital shots, so you can afford to experiment.

Good luck.

Posted in Digital Photography Basics, Posts with my pictures in them, Travel and Photography Samples - Tagged , , , ,

Digital Photography ND Filters

Jul22
2011 Written by Dewayne

If you decide you want to shoot a slower shutter speed to blur action, the bright sunlight will not allow for a shutter speed slow enough to blur the motion.

Another really good example of when to use a slower shutter speed is when you are shooting waterfalls in the bright sunlight.

Instead of capturing each individual drop of water, you may want to use the “misty” water effect. What this does is keeps the shutter open for a longer period of time allowing the water to “wash” over the camera sensor. This blurs the water and adds a smooth flowing feel to your image.

So, we have a problem, too slow of a shutter speed will overexpose your image, giving you bright white in the entire picture with no detail.

So, how do we fix this? The answer lies with the “Neutral Density” or ND Filter for your camera.

What is an ND Filter and what does it do?

An ND Filter acts as a barrier to light entering your camera, cutting down on the amount of light coming into the camera for the entire image.

With this barrier blocking the light, this means you can keep the shutter open for longer periods of time. When shooting waterfall images, this is usually 1/8th of a second or longer.

There are two types of ND Filters commonly used. One is a “graduated ND Filter, which is dark at the top, and slowly becomes clearer from top to bottom.

Digital Photography ND Graduated Filter

Graduated filters are used in large part by landscape photographers to capture those stunning views where the sky doesn’t overexpose and underexpose or make the foreground too dark.

The most common use for a graduated ND filter is to block out some of the light from the sky, allowing you to properly expose the foreground or front of your image. You can see the greens of the grass, and trees while the sky is partially, but not noticeably blocked making for a better picture.

Digital Photography Neutral Density Filter

The other type of ND filter is a full ND filter which evenly blocks all of the light coming into the camera equally, this type of filter is rated based on the amount of light it blocks, meaning you can keep your shutter open for much longer periods of time, even full seconds, allowing you more control over the image you are taking.

The key to successfully using an ND filter is experimentation, and if you are using an ND filter to take a long exposure, you should definitely have your camera on a tripod.

A graduated filter can be great for any landscape picture to help block out the bright sky.

ND filters are primarily used for the D-SLR cameras.

I could really get confusing with they different ratings on the ND Filter, but for now, I think it helps for you to know what they are and what they do.

Hope this helps.

Dewayne

Posted in Digital Photography Basics - Tagged , , ,

Digital Photography: Capturing and Conveying Motion

Jul20
2011 Written by Dewayne

Time to come back to one of the three most basic parts of using a D-SLR or a point and shoot camera.  But first, a refresher on how to take the right picture with the most basic formula of phtoography, if you know it, feel free to sing along…

Shutter speed x aperture x ISO = Your magic photo

If any of these elements is increased, one or both of the others must be decreased if you wish to obtain the “perfect” exposure.

Let’s take a look at shutter speed for a minute.  Shutter speed is measured in fractions which can be confusing for most people, (me).

The bigger the number on bottom, the faster the shutter speed.  When you see a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, or a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second, think to yourself. which number has the biggest number on bottom?  1/500th of a second.  So, if you increase your shutter speed to 1/500th of a second, you should adjust your aperature and ISO to compensate for the change.  (Hint:  The faster the shutter opens and closes, the less light is allowed into the camera, so you should adjust one or both of the other parts to let more light in).

Digital Photography Geese Takeoff

Speeding up your shutter speed is a great way to avoid “camera shake” that jittery, fidgety motion in your camera when everything comes out blurry.

Can you think of a time when you want to slow down your shutter speed?

If you answered to convey motion, you’re right on target.  In yesterday’s post, the bottom image shows a set of Voladores swinging as a blur.  Ordinarily, you don’t want too many blurry images in your pictures, but if you want to show that something is moving, blur is a really good way to accomplish this.

 

Digital Photography Fliers On Approach

 

Rules of thumb are critical, so here’s one.  If you’re shooting with a lens that is 70 mm ( a basic zoom/telephoto lens that isn’t extended), slap a one in front of it. You don’t want to use a shutter speed that’s slower than 1/70th of a second without a tripod or some anti-shake capability turned on in your camera. So, 1/60th of a second, 1/50th of a second, or even 1/25th of a second would generally be too slow of a shutter speed to hand-hold your camera because of the amount of camera shake and blur.

 

Digital Photography Abrams Falls 2

Slowing down the shutter speed can also present some other interesting challenges, but I’ll get into that in my next post.

Dewayne

Posted in Digital Photography Basics, Posts with my pictures in them, Travel and Photography Samples - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Digital Photography: Why I enjoy making mistakes.

Apr26
2010 Written by Dewayne

I’ve done a lot of silly things in my life and I’m very fortunate to have lived through them.  I’ve climbed a cliff face in Idaho and come face to face with a rattlesnake at 2:00 in the morning.  At least I thought it was a rattlesnake, it could have been a garter snake who was very good at impressions.  I’ve walked smack dab into the middle of a den of rattlesnakes sunning themselves on the volcano rock.  I’ve learned what it was like to nearly drown swimming by myself in the Snake River and I’ve had a partial parachute malfunction at 3,500 feet.  But I’ve gotta say, I love making mistakes.

Let’s fast forward to 2 years ago when I purchased my first digital camera.  It cost about $1,500 and a friend of mine was team roping with his brother in a hole-in-the-wall rodeo.  I knew little to nothing about shutter speed.  I barely knew anything about the camera I was using.  I didn’t own an external flash at the time, but I was determined to get some good rodeo pictures.

Come to think of it, I didn’t know much about chimping at the time either.  But, I had the batteries charged, the memory cards, and the strong desire to have some fun, so I started snapping away.  I had my camera set for multiple shots, (the little overlapping rectangles, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t catch the action in sharp focus.  The shutter speed was just too slow.  Here are some of the “mistakes” I made that night.

So what does all of this mean?  If your shutter speed is too slow, the pictures will come out blurry.  Is this a bad thing?  NO!  Sometimes blurry can actually be a good thing.  The rule of thumb for shutter speed for hand-holding lenses without any image stabilization or anti-shake functions on the camera (the things that make your pictures look still) is “Never shoot with a shutter speed that’s slower than the lens you’re using.”  Okay, let’s say the lens you’re shooting with is a 200 Millimeter zoom lens extended all of the way out, what that means is you should not shoot with a shutter speed that’s slower than 1/200th of a second.  (1/100th of a second =blurry; 1/50th of a second=blurry; 1/25th of a second=blurry; 1/250th of a second=sharp).

Now that the rule is out of the way.  Let’s have some fun.  How can I make this work for me?  Go out and find a bunch of jelly beans in a big jar, a pretty flower garden, or anything else that has a lot of really cool colors.  Set the shutter speed on your camera to slower than it’s supposed to be set.  Point the camera at the pretty colors, press the shutter and move it in circles, diagonally, side-to-side, have fun.  (But don’t drop your camera, that’s what the wrist strap is for).  You will come up with something like this.

Cool, Huh?

Now go have fun!!

Posted in Digital Photography Basics, Posts with my pictures in them, Travel and Photography Samples - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

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