Photography…made simple??? Part Three

This photograph was taken by the dynamic duo, Gary and Julie, at Hughes Fioretti Photography. If you haven't stop by their website http://www.hughesfioretti.com/, you have to go check it out. I love their work!

And…we’re back! Are you confused? Gosh, I hope not.

I need to take a second to thank my husband who I force to read my posts over and over again until I get them right. Or at least my unique version of right. I am sure that he would like to rip his eyes out just to escape the misery that has become his life. LOL! Thanks for being so supportive, you sweet adorable man! And to my friend Adrienne, thank you for your endless support, excitement, and being my personal guinea pig! You are the bomb! And to my friends and family who have subscribed to my blog! I love you guys too! I now have 4 subscribers! Woooooooo-Hooooooooo!

As always, I must add my disclaimer….blah blah blah…not an expert…blah blah blah…try to help.

Basic Camera Know How: Just a quick sub-thought!

I have chosen to go over Aperture in this post but, before I do I want to explain a few things about your camera. First if you are using the Auto setting on your camera, it will choose what it thinks is the proper exposure and set all three elements to the best of its ability. If you are using one of the priority modes on your camera such as Aperture Priority (A, AP, or AT) or even Shutter Priority (S, SP, or ST), then you are allowing the camera to choose the proper exposure and the settings for the other two elements. What I mean by this is if you select Aperture Priority, then you are only choosing the aperture and your camera is choosing the shutter speed and the ISO. Therefore, as you change the size of the aperture, the programming in the camera is changing the shutter speed and/or ISO to maintain what it has determined as proper exposure. Remember the Photographic Triangle from my last post? (if not, click here) If you change the aperture, then your camera will move the shutter speed and ISO to keep the ball in the center. So no matter how you change the aperture, the camera will keep moving the other two elements to return to basically the same exposure. If this is the case, then you probably won’t see a dramatic change in how the photo is lightened or darkened.

What if you don’t like the exposure that the camera has chosen? Well, then you are going to have to be in control of at least two elements of the triangle in order to change the exposure. To do this, switch your camera to Manual mode. Now that you are in control of two of the elements (shutter speed and aperture), your camera can not continue to balance the ball in the middle. Try this with your camera; turn your camera to Auto mode, take a picture. Then switch it to the Manual mode. Set the Shutter to 1/60 (60), this will fix that corner of the triangle. It will not move. Now if you move the Aperture corner up and down, you can tip the scales one way or the other. Try changing your aperture to f/2 (2 or 2.0); take a picture. Move the aperture to f/4 (4 or 4.0); take a picture. Were you able to see a difference in the amount of light in the photos? Keep moving the aperture until you get to what you think is the “proper exposure.”

There is still one more aspect to each of the three elements. It is what I will call their "artistic element." If all you want to do is play with one of the creative elements of a photograph then one of the priority settings is a perfect way to do that. In the priority settings, you are letting the camera pick and maintain the proper exposure while you play with the artistic look of a photograph.

So now it’s on to defining Aperture. The first thing I want you think about is that each element has two primary functions. The first is the way it helps to capture light and the other is its “artistic element.” I have broken the following paragraphs down by Aperture’s technical and artistic aspects. That way if you just want to play with the Artistic elements you can skip down to that section. However, if you would like to understand the technical aspects of Aperture as well, then start with the next paragraph.

TECHNICAL:

Aperture is the volume of light allowed to hit the digital sensor or film in your camera. What does this mean? I will refer to an example given in one of my books (Photography, Ninth Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall). Imagine water from a faucet filling a bucket. The description I am going to give may be a little different than what is presented in the book, but this is my post. So there! LOL!

A faucet handle opens and closes a water valve just as the dial on your camera opens and closes the blades inside the lens; the size of the opening is Aperture! The water would be the light, and the bucket would be the sensor/film. Filling the bucket is the equivalent of reaching proper exposure. If you only turn the handle far enough to allow the faucet to drip, this would be the equivalent of a small aperture because only a small amount of water (light) is able to pass through the valve and enter the bucket. If you open the faucet fully, this would be the equivalent of a wide aperture because a lot of water (light) is allowed to pass through the valve and enter the bucket.

Another way to look at Aperture is very similar to the pupil. Think about this: if you go out at noon on a clear day when the sun is at its highest, your pupils will automatically contract (small aperture) to allow less light in so you are still able to see. Now walk into a very dimly lit room and your pupils will dilate (wide aperture) in order to gather as much light as possible so you are able to see. Well, aperture works very much like your pupil. Look at the following sketch of how the blades open and close.

(Sketch borrowed from Synaptic Light)

Doesn’t it look like a robotic eye? All lenses have an aperture, no matter how simple or complex.

So…why would you adjust Aperture? Well, there are two main reasons. The first is you need more or less light to reach proper exposure (technical) and/or the second is to control the Depth of Field (artistic).

Let’s start with the technical. If your photograph seems dark, this can be remedied by widening the aperture to allow more light to hit the sensor and lighten the image. The opposite is true if the image seems too light.

(Sketch borrowed from Synaptic Light)

Look again at the sketch above. Do you see the numbers next to each image? They are called f/stops. Basically, these numbers represent the width of the opening in the center. Here’s where it can get a little confusing…the smaller the number…the larger the opening. The larger the number…the smaller the opening.

Ummmm…what? “Why I gotta go and make it all complicated?” Just to let you know, this one took me a while to absorb. Here is an explanation I found on Ehow.com:

“Aperture is expressed in cameras by the F/stop, which is a value that compares the focal length of the camera to the aperture diameter. To calculate the aperture diameter, you need only know the camera's F/stop setting and focal length...”

Here’s what I hear…blah-ba-blah-bla-blah! I am not that good at, or even interested in all that complicated math. If you’re not either, let’s look at it another way. Is mine an actual reflection of what the numbers mean? Well, no! But, it may help you see the connection between the numbers and the width of the opening. So here we go...

Look at the f/stops like fractions of an inch: Let’s start by changing the f to a 1, as below:

f/2 is like 1/2 or half an inch

f/2.8 is kind of like 1/2.8 or rounding it 1/3 or a third of an inch

f/4 is like 1/4 or a fourth of an inch, and so on until you reach

f/16 (or higher) which is like 1/16 or a sixteenth of an inch.

Does that help you visualize why f/2 is bigger than f/16? A 1/2 inch opening is wider than 1/16 inch opening, right? Did I redeem myself? Did I make it a little simpler? Do I get a cookie now? No really...that’s what I do all of this for...my love of cookies!

One last thing about the technical aspects of Aperture. Every time you move from one aperture (f/stop) to the next, you are either doubling or halving the amount of light allowed to hit the sensor. (Please remember you cannot use the fractions above to do the math; it won’t work. Remember those are more visual rather than actual.) Look at the following sketch again:

With that in mind, if you think you need about double the amount of light in a photo, then you know that you only need to move one f/stop in order to do that. For example, moving from f/8 to f/5.6 (f/8 to f/4 would allow 4x the amount of light and so on). Or, if you only need half the light, then you could just move from f/16 to f/11 (f/16 to f/8 would cut the light by a fourth and so on). Does that make sense? I’m not going to elaborate extensively on this point, because I feel like the more I try to explain it, the more complicated it may seem. Just keep that concept in the back of your mind because as you become more familiar with your camera, this will start to make more sense.

ARTISTIC:

Whew…that was a long one. Are you ready to be creative? Great! The main thing that Aperture affects is the Depth of Field.

Depth of Field is basically the area from near to far, that is acceptably sharp in a photograph.

Great, that’s the definition of Depth of Field but does that really clear it up for you? It didn’t for me until I saw it in a photo. So let’s look at a few:

I borrowed this photo from Photoshopsupport.com

Do you see how relatively sharp the chess pieces are from front to back in the top photo? This is a wide/large depth of field (small opening, such as f/16). Now in the second photograph, do you see how the first chess piece is in focus but as you look through the rest of the photograph the pieces become blurrier? This is a shallow depth of field (wide opening, such as f/2). Are you starting to see the difference between wide and shallow depth of field? A little? Well, let’s look at a few more photographs.

This photo was borrowed from ClubSnap.com.

This photo is another example of a wide depth of field (small opening) because everything from the foreground to the background is relatively in focus.

This photo was borrowed from ClubSnap.com.

This photo is an example of shallow depth of field (wide opening). Do you see how the toes are in focus while the little girl is blurred in the background?

Are you starting to see how depth of field affects the artistic element of a photograph? Let’s discuss why you may want to use depth of field.

Let’s start with eliminating any distracting elements in a photograph. For example, you want to take a photo of your son doing something cute; but when you pick up your camera and compose the shot you are unable to avoid a few unwanted background elements. Maybe there is a pile of laundry in one corner of the frame, a few dust bunnies on the floor, and grandpa is asleep, drooling in a chair in another corner of the frame. Well, if you want to blur those elements you can choose a shallow (wide opening) depth of field. In doing so, you will bring the focus to your son and not the distracting elements in the room.

So let’s say you want to take a portrait style photograph of one of your friends or family. One of the best ways to keep the focus on their face is to blur the background (wide opening, shallow depth of field) as shown in the following photograph.

This photo was borrowed from Squidoo.com/basic.photography

Do you see how blurring the background keeps your focus on the girls face instead of the trees behind her? This is a shallow depth of field (wide opening).

Now, let’s look at why you may want to use a large depth of field. Let’s say because I wrote this spectacular post that you wanted to take me on a much needed vacation. Hint…Hint! And while we’re in some exotic, tropical, amazing, beach location you want to take a picture of a dramatic scene. You probably want keep the entire scene in focus. Take a look at the picture below to see what I mean.

This photo was taken by Susan Stripling (http://www.susanstriplingblog.com/)

Do you see how keeping everything in the photograph in focus adds to the drama? This is a wide depth of field (small opening). I’ll be expecting those tickets any day now!

Let’s look at another example of how a large depth of field can add to the creative elements in a photograph.

This photo was borrowed from www.photoax.com

See how everything is in relative focus from the rock in the foreground to the mountains in the background (wide depth of field; small opening). This would not be possible with a shallow depth of field (wide opening). The reason is because with a shallow depth of field some of the scene would be blurred.

Are you wondering how to create this effect for yourself? Well to try and keep it simple, the wider (large opening) the aperture the shallower the depth of field. The narrower (small opening) the aperture the larger the depth of field. For example an f/stop of f/2 will produce a very shallow depth of field and f/stop of f/16 will create a very large depth of field. (Refer to the technical section for an explanation on f/stops.) Look at the following photograph for a visual of the difference.

This photo was borrowed from www.nightphotographyclass.com

Can you see how changing the f-stop from f/22 (small opening) to f/2.8 (wide opening) changes the focus in the background. Can you see how it changes the feel of the photograph? Try this the next time you are taking pictures. Set your camera to Aperture Priority mode and while you change the f/stop take several photographs of the same image or scene. See what happens.

So in conclusion, to answer Lexi’s question of “When do I use aperture?” I have to answer like this…it depends on what you want to do. I know that is such a frustrating answer but as you can see it is all part of the creative decisions that are possible in photography. I hope that all of the information I provided gives you some clarity and inspiration on using aperture.

Before I go, here is another helpful hint: Your eye will naturally move to the sharpest part of a photograph first, so you can use aperture to bring the focus to your primary subject.

Well…that’s all folks. Please feel free to post any questions or comments on this or any other post. Stay tuned for the next installment where I attempt to demystify shutter speed.

Till next time!

Photography…made simple??? Part Du

Are you ready for my next post on Photography made simple? Now you know I have to add my disclaimer that I am by no means an expert on photography, not by a long shot. So, what I am going to try and do is simplify what I do know to help others who are interested in learning more about their cameras.

I left my last post promising to shed a little light on the main aspects of photography….Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO.

First, I want to address an important concept I believe some people may not be aware of….Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO do not work independently of one another. They are connected. Change one and you (or the auto features in your camera) must adjust one of the others to achieve “proper exposure.”

I know…I know you are asking yourself, “Great, what the heck does that mean?” Don’t worry I am going to try and break it down for you. Geeeezzzzz! Calm down grasshopper! LOL!

So now we need to figure out exactly what is “proper exposure.” Since I am going to reference it over and over we need to clarify that term. Proper Exposure, in it's most simple meaning, refers to capturing the right amount of light for a particular image. Let’s say for this discussion that proper exposure is whatever aesthetic (look) appeals to you. Yes, if you are a professional, or if you submit prints for judging, or even for sale there are guidelines for proper exposure. I believe that trying to explain all of the aspects of “proper exposure” would just be overwhelming at this point; and at the end of the day, it’s just one more thing that can vary mildly depending on which pro you ask. So for this article when I reference “proper exposure”, I am referring to what looks good to you. For example, you may like a darker image (slightly underexposed) or a lighter/brighter image (slightly overexposed); but if you love the image, then who’s to say it’s wrong. Art is subjective! Play and discover what speaks to you.

Now, what do I mean when I say that Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO are all connected? Imagine if you will a triangle with each of the three points being one of elements of photography. As shown below:



Now imagine that there is a ball in the center of the triangle and you must try and keep it there in order to achieve proper exposure. If you tip the triangle in any direction, the ball will roll off and you could end up with a darker or lighter photograph. Still not clear? Well, I know this seems a little redundant but try to imagine holding that triangle in your hand with the steel ball rolling free in the center. If you adjust aperture up or down (move the tip of the triangle up or down), the ball will roll off in one direction or the other taking what you have determined as the proper exposure and making it darker or lighter. One or both of the other elements must be adjusted by you or your camera (raise/lower the Shutter Speed or ISO or bottom two tips) in order to level it out and bring the ball back to the center for proper exposure. Does that make any sense? Does that help you see the connection between all three elements?

At this point you may be asking yourself, “how is this possible?” I don’t adjust anything on my camera. I just pick it up, point it, and click the button. Well, that’s because more than likely you have your camera in “Auto” mode and it is automatically adjusting all three elements for you. If you own a camera, no matter how basic, film or digital, these three elements are always present. Your camera (set on Auto) is programmed to survey a scene and it will try, to the best of its ability, to adjust these elements to capture what the scene actually looks like. Unfortunately, no matter how extravagant the camera is, it doesn’t always get it “right.” Plus, you don’t have any creative freedom over your images. That’s why it’s so great to understand the different modes, functions, and aspects of your camera. If you don’t like what you are seeing in the view finder, then you have opened up some options to change how your camera records a scene. Cool huh?

I think I will let this soak in before I go on to explain exactly what each element is and how it affects a photograph.

I promise Lexi…my very next post will start breaking down each one.

By the way, please feel free to send me any questions or comments that you might have about this post or any other for that matter.

Till next time…Happy shooting! The camera…not each other! 

Since posts are always better with pictures, take a gander at a few more of my favorites.



Look at the light in this photograph by Dina Douglas (http://andrenaphoto.com/blog/). Besides the fact the photo is just stunning, look at how the light right behind the girl looks slightly yellow/orangey because of the setting sun. Can you see how light has a temperature/color?




This photograph is by K-Gallery which is now Verve Studios (www.vervestudioblog.com). Isn’t it fun? Doesn’t it capture what being a kid is all about? Set up a photo shoot like this with your kids and see what happens!




I believe this photograph was also taken by Verve Studios (www.vervestudiosblog.com)…if that is not correct, please let me know. This photo cracks me up every time I see it. Oh for the love of sibling rivalry. Capture your friends and family being exactly who they are because that will help take a photograph from ordinary to extraordinary.

Photography…made simple??? Part 1

One of my friends asked the following question on facebook: Aperture and Shutter Speed! When to use fast/slow shutter and small/large aperture... when should I use flash - lol I love to use it all the time!! I know it's prolly not the best idea though...

Lately, I have had several friends ask me similar questions about their cameras or photography concepts. They are interested in taking better pictures of their families, friends and documenting their daily lives. They aren’t necessarily interested in being pros they just want to capture their memories. I love this!

I definitely want to state up front that I still have so much to learn about photography and I have no illusions of being an expert but I am going to try to explain and attempt to simplify some of the fundamentals of photography as I understand them.

There are quite a few photographers that I admire very much. One of which is Matt Radlinski of Verve Studios (www. vervestudioblog.com) who stated so beautifully that photography is the art of “Painting with Light.” What an awesome way to explain it. Understanding that is probably the number one concept that most people miss. (Including me) Light is everything. It is the beginning and the end. It evokes the mood of a photograph, the way light bends and moves around subjects, the temperature of light, even the abundance or lack of light. Learn to look at light. Pay attention to what direction the light is coming from, how does it fall on your subject, what is the temperature (is the light yellow/orangey like most home lamps or the color at sunset, or is bluer like natural daylight, or even greenish like the light from a fluorescent light bulb), how does light look when it’s behind your subject, straight over head, to the side or in front? How does the changing light throughout the day affect how your subject is perceived in a photograph? Play with light…find what moves you…what looks appealing to you. That’s the beauty of any type of art…there is no right or wrong with the art you are creating for yourself…it’s up to you what you think is beautiful.

In my next segment I will try to tackle the technical aspects of photography and attempt to answer my friend Lexi’s question; I am going to try and take a somewhat complicated subject and try to make it simple for a beginner. There are three main elements to photography... Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO. Stay tuned for my next post to get the 411 on each of these elements. In the mean time take a look at the lighting in some photographs from a few of my favorite artists.



Look at the amazing rim lighting (rim lighting is the light you see outlining the couple) in this photograph by Susan Stripling (www.susanstriplingblog.com). Doesn’t it add to the romanticism? Isn’t it sexy and ethereal? It’s almost like god has shown a spot light on a secret magical moment.



This photograph was taken by Denise Andrew. Look at the way the light leads your eye from the top of stairs to the bride and then lights her path. You almost feel like you are taking the walk with her.



This photograph is of yours truly. (That’s right…it’s me!Holla) It was taken by the fabulous Krystal Radlinski of Verve Studios (www.vervestudiosblog.com). Look at how they produced this amazing light…it definitely gives it its edgy sexy factor and falls beautifully across my face and body.

Again… Light is everything.

Till next time!