Go To Settings

As you progress in your photography and are making the transition from shooting primarily with the auto settings to shooting much more in manual mode you will want to have some "go to" settings that you can use as a starting point for shooting in different situations. For example, I do quite a lot of flash photography. I know that ISO 200, f8, and 1/250th will work with flash. It may not give me the exact look I want, but I can be reasonably sure of getting something close to proper exposure with a flash that is firing with in a stop or two of its full output. Having this "go to" setting means I do not need to spend a lot of time calculating for exposure in this situation. I also know that I will be close to proper exposure in other similar lighting intensities, for example sun light. So these settings not only function for flash but any bright light situations.

So what does this "go to" setting do for me, what will it do for you? It is important to remember that most cameras are already full of "go to" settings, they will be called scenes, or something similar. However these are part of the auto settings and you have no creative control over them. If you use a scene that is listed for flash photography you are very likely to get settings like those, or even identical to those, I listed above. Which begs the question, why not just use the scene?

To answer this lets look at what the settings are doing. ISO 200 is a very slow ISO, this combined with the fastest shutter speed that will sync with the flash will effectively crush any but the brightest ambient light. The aperture of f8 provides a fairly broad Depth of Field meaning that a large portion of the frame will be in focus. This setting is very likely to provide a properly exposed if somewhat boring composition for a photo in any flash situation. The settings listed above will work just as effectively for flash photography in a party or for flash photography outside on a moonless night. However those are completely different situations to be shooting in.

On a moonless night there will not be enough ambient light to mix with the flash for creating the image. The "go to" settings listed above will work the same in this situation as they would in a party because they rely entirely on the flash for exposure. The ambient light of a party is crushed by the settings making its effective influence in the finished photo the same as the ambient light of a moonless night. Understanding this, I can then decide how much I want to shift away from the go to settings in a given situation. 

A creative example would be to get a photo of your friend on a moonless night with the ambient light exposing the background. If I use the flash to expose the subject, and the shutter to expose for the background I can get a sharp clean image of my friend even though I will be using a long exposure to expose the background. The only setting I need to change is the shutter, to something like 30 seconds. Then I will want to use a tripod or otherwise brace the camera. This will allow the photo to expose but my friend does not need to stay perfectly still for the exposure because the were exposed properly by the flash. The flash fixes the image of my friend while allowing the background to then be exposed by the long shutter. 

So now lets take this concept a step further. Instead of a moonless night lets assume a 3/4 moon, this exposure will still be well below the goto settings for flash. Proper exposure for the background may require something like 15 seconds with the ISO and aperture listed above. The moonlight will cast directional shadows on that landscape. With a detached flash balanced with gels to match the color of the moonlight it is then possible to create the illusion that a photo taken in partial moonlight. If the flash is positioned so that the shadowing on the subject is in the same direction as the shadows thrown by the moon it will look like the photo was taken only with moonlight.

By understanding the camera settings and how they interact I am able to create a single image by combining to sets of "go to" settings. The first, ISO 200, f8, 1/250th (flash) with ISO 200, f8, 15 seconds (low light) are combined in a single exposure. This works because the high intensity of the flash acts as an effective shutter speed of something like 1/1000th (depending on the flash unit) and does so in all situations. This is why the long exposure of the second setting does not interfere with the fast shutter of the first. By understanding which combinations work in different shooting conditions I can then use my creativity to combine these combinations much more creatively then the auto settings allow.

Follow Us

FaceBook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/ShatteredImagesPhoto

Twitter

http://twitter.com/Shatteredimages

Website

http://shatteredimagesphotography.com/index.html

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/ShatteredImagesPhoto

What’s all the Noise about Noise?

Shot with Canon Powershot A630 ISO 800
Example of noise evident in leaves.

Noise is an artifact in digital photography that occurs when there is insufficient light to produce a good image. While it is commonly equated to film grain in film photography this is not an accurate description of the effect. The equivalent of film grain in digital photography is pixel size. Just as more expensive digital cameras have less pixilation higher quality films had less grain, this was not a function of the amount of light, but of the quality of the exposed surface area in the camera. Todays digital cameras have so many pixels packed into them that they have far surpassed even the highest qualities of fine grain 35mm film.

Then what is the equivalent of noise and how does low light cause it? The best equivalent to noise comes not from photography, but from television, analog television to be precise. Snow on an old TV is like noise is in a digital camera. It is the result of the signal not being strong enough. In TV, as the equipment amplifies that signal it also amplifies the carrier wave, in photography, the lower the signal (light) the more the carrier wave (noise) gets amplified.

In Digital photography each pixel you see is actually 4 pixels: one red, one green, one blue, and one for tone (light to dark). The pixel rendered in a JPEG is a representation of these four values, in RAW format all four values are stored and can be manipulated individually. When there is insufficient light for a photo the ISO is increased, this is the equivalent of amplifying an analog signal. This has the effect of amplifying the base signal of these pixels, which is what gets rendered as noise. Just as the current carried in one strand of wire will induce a current in wire adjacent to it, the pixels in the camera sensor interfere with the pixels next to them. This is why sensor size is so important and why cell phone cameras with sensors about the size of your pinky finger nail have much more noise and much poorer quality images (particularly in low light) then full frame DSLRs. The closer together the pixels are the more interference they create in the adjacent pixels. This is also why noise appears in shadows first, this is the area of the photo with the weakest signal.

Now that you know what noise is, there is really only one way to prevent it, adding more light. This has the effect of making the signal stronger so that it overrides the noise that is always present. Newer cameras are less sensitive to noise and are better at filtering it out of an image, but the only sure way to prevent it is to have enough light for proper exposure. This is not always practical though, in these cases you need to know how high you can take the ISO before the amount of noise is to great for the image. This will very some from image to image as photos with more dark shadows will show more noise then will pictures with a lot of mosaics of color. A general rule, the busier the subject is the less noise will be noticeable. In the example above, the noise is much more evident in the plant leaves then in other areas of the image. The close up shows just how prevalent the noise is. As always consider the final usage of the image to determine what end quality is needed.

Follow Us

FaceBook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shattered-Images-Photography/274273146947

Twitter

http://twitter.com/Shatteredimages

Website

http://shatteredimagesphotography.com/index.html

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/ShatteredImagesPhoto

Do you know what you should know about senior portraiture?

Senior Portraiture

Nothing is quite as important in a young persons life as their Senior Year, it is a culmination of their life and education, as well as a time of coming of age. It is essential to capture this very important milestone in a manor that lets their unique style show through. Senior portraits are very important, not just as family memories, but also as a professional way for a young person to introduce themselves to prospective employers or to college admissions personnel. In many cases their first chance to make a lasting impression will be with the image they send to college admissions or with the one attached to their social network. That is why they need to have a professional that can help them create an image that makes a unique, positive impact. 

A good senior portrait is not something you can pick up just anywhere, it is a valuable art piece that will be cherished for generations to come. The difference between a professional senior portrait and a snapshot taken by a friend is vast. While your friend's candid photo captures a moment and fond memories, professionals utilize the best lighting, camera angles, backgrounds, posing, and editing techniques to capture the masterpiece that is you.

There are a few things to consider when choosing a photographer. Find someone who takes the time to find out who the subject is as an individual, these pictures are a representation of the subject, not of the photographer. The photographer should take some time to understand you and your style. It can also be a good idea to find a photographer that has experience shooting a wide array of subjects. While it may seem logical to choose a photographer that only does senior photos you may find that their photographic style is inflexible and it leaves their photos looking like they came out of a cookie cutter. 

Budget is important to consider also, here are some things to ask when discussing price. It is still common to run into photographers who charge a sitting fee, usually at an hourly rate. This can make a photographer seem quite inexpensive when in fact they then have post production fees and photo package fees that can quickly turn a two hour shoot into a $600.00 affair to get a medium sized package of prints with no rights to reproduce those images. When comparing photographers you want to be sure you are comparing the total costs between photographers.

You should also ask about what types of usage rights you will have. You will want to be able to email them to family serving over seas or include them as part of your social media. For this reason it is essential to be sure that you are discussing the total cost for the images along with having a good understanding of what future rights you will have for the use of the images. The world is quickly changing, technology is advancing at leaps and bounds, in a few short years we are going to be presented with a multitude of ways to use images that we have not yet imagined. Be careful not to get stuck with a photographer who’s view of the world is firmly lodged in the mid twentieth century

There are many senior portrait studios around, it is important to choose one that not only makes a portrait, but also creates a lasting impression. One that your family can cherish and use for a lifetime.

Follow Us

FaceBook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shattered-Images-Photography/274273146947

Twitter

http://twitter.com/Shatteredimages

Website

http://shatteredimagesphotography.com/index.html

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/ShatteredImagesPhoto