Cret Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 That's really helpful for me. I've recently purchased a Canon 450 so I have started to do some snapping. Nothing brilliant but the fact I enjoy it is the main part for me. However, didn't realise it could all be so technical so your post here is great as I can understand it! That's a good camera so you'll be able to get nice pics from it in due course I'm sure. Yes it's something I get huge enjoyment from, but yes also there is a lot of technical knowhow to understand about light, and how it goes into your camera in order to make the most of things. You'll have to excuse me if I tell you stuff you already know, but possibly some of this might be helpful - I don't know. The camera aperture size controls a lot of how your picture will turn out in terms of the exposure as it is the means by which the light reaches the sensor (forgetting about the lens which makes the light a bit more 'organised'). If you find analogies useful at all, think of the sensor being a bucket, and the aperture being like a hose that could somehow be varied in width (if that makes any sense). To get a good exposure, you need a certain amount of light to reach the sensor ('water in the bucket'). If the hose(aperture) is open wide (confusingly, this is the smaller F numbers - F1.4, F2.8, F3.5 etc), then the bucket(sensor) will fill up quickly because the water(light) gets in more quickly. Lower the number, the wider/larger the aperture and the 'faster' the shot can be. Large aperture: If the hose(aperture) is open narrow(confusingly, this is the larger F numbers - F13, F16, F22 etc), then the bucket(sensor) will fill up slowly because the water(light) gets in more slowly. Higher the number, the smaller/narrower the aperture, and the slower the shot becomes. Narrow aperture: So a narrow aperture (high F number) needs a longer shutter time to achieve the same exposure as a wide aperture (low F number and faster shutter time). So far so good, but the size of the aperture also affects the 'depth of field'. What that means is how much of your picture is in focus, or how much is not (ie is 'blurry'), so: A large aperture (Low F number) means a shallow/small depth of field. This means the lower the F number, the less of the picture will be in focus other than the bit you actually choose to focus on.This is generally considered good for portrait shots as it makes the subject really stand out. It's also considered important for things like sports and often wildlife where things can be moving quickly and a fast shutter speed is a must. The blurry background effect from wide apertures is known as 'bokeh'. A small aperture (Higher F number) means a deeper/larger depth of field. This means in theory the higher the F number, the more of the picture will be in focus, and the focal point can become slightly less important sometimes as a result. This is ideal generally for landscapes where you want everything to look nicely detailed and sharp. Even the above is not so straightforward as lenses have their own sweet spot where they perform best in terms of clarity & contrast etc, so whilst you might consider that F22 if it's the smallest aperture your lens might go to would be best for a landscape, it might be the case that your lens is best at F11 or something. I do most of my landscapes around F13-F16 and for the most part I'm happy with sharpness but it all varies. Then you have to consider things like the available light and how that influences your shot. For instance, if doing a landscaped pic you'll want a fairly narrow aperture in most cases, which means a slower/longer exposure, and if the light is less than perfect then a tripod becomes a must (personally I'd use one in any light anyway) since you won't be able to hold the camera rock steady if the shot is anything relatively slow, and a blurry pic results. There are ways around that - things like: A tripod (then the exposure can be long and the camera won't move so you still get a sharp pic) An image stabiliser (built into the lens - limited how much it can help but they can do at times) An increased ISO setting. Generally it's best left set as low as you can get away with, but if you have no tripod and poor light then turn up the ISO to make the existing light more effective (does degrade the picture quality the higher you set it though). Photoshop! If you get a 'slightly' underexposed pic because the shutter must be a certain speed to keep it sharp, then if you're using RAW files you can increase the exposure a little to compensate. With a wide aperture these things are less of an issue. That's before you consider the composition of your shot etc, so yes, there's a lot to it I guess! Since I linked to the pics in this - it's worth a read. probably explains this stuff much better than I can: http://www.acdsee.com/newsletter/article/2005-10-08 Hope some of that helps anyway. Getting it right is kind of a juggling act that has different aspects prioritised by what your subject and desired result is I suppose. I'm hoping desperately now that I haven't done that schoolboy error of writing something the complete opposite to what I mean!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkydevil Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Anita try this online example to give you a basic idea how different settings will effect your pictures. http://photo.comm.psu.edu/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Bush Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Anita try this online example to give you a basic idea how different settings will effect your pictures. http://photo.comm.psu.edu/ Thank you both for your time to post, much appreaciated - now if that weather would improve, we could be onto something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Exactly. Yesterday when it was nice I was made to be busy and today I've been told "Why don't you bring the camera bag with you - you might have time for some shots" when it's a pants looking sky today. Typical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthewg543 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 photos were taken with my Fujifilm HS10. The plane photo and moon photos were taken at full 30X zoom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthewg543 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Sorry If you have to zoom out when looking at the photos I dont know how to get it on the other way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Water drop one is great - never tried to do that myself. Is there any special technique or just a fast shutter speed and a fast finger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthewg543 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Water drop one is great - never tried to do that myself. Is there any special technique or just a fast shutter speed and a fast finger? I use an ice cream carton filled with water then a bag suppended over it with a pin hole in it. So you get a constant dripping. I have my shutter speed on about 250, you also need alot of light so flash is essential.Also manually focus the camera using a pen or something. Heres one Ive just taken with red food colouring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Thanks for the tips. Must try that as a rainy day project or something! Silly question probably but what does the red colour do that you can't do in photoshop? Sorry if I'm being thick!!! Here's a few from today and a couple from yesterday: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevster Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Cret - what sort of exposure are you using for those B&W Scarlett ones? Looked at the EXIF and it's says 21secs - Is that right and you're also using filters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Would have been 20-30 seconds yes, and usually I try to use an aperture between F11-F16 for my landscapes, most often F13. Filter wise I've got a Hitech soft grad ND1.2 that I used for these. That was just after sunset by the way, and a cloudy sky so the light was fading pretty fast - was probably around 5.30-5.40pm or so. Most of my filters are Hitech 85mm/P series ones, but after going full frame recently I found that at 17mm (which I use a lot) the P size filter holder is not wide enough and spoils the shots. So reluctantly I got the money together for a Lee 100mm holder and the wide angle adaptor to match. They're stupidly priced for what they are, but they are admittedly a lot nicer than the P series ones. Still, had there been the option I'd have been happy with a cheap plastic one! I can't afford Lee filters, specially as the lack of availability has pushed the price up on any that come up for sale, so I got the Hitech grad as I'd been fairly pleased with their smaller filters. Very happy with it so far, and ND1.2 seems to do a really nice job of darkening the sky sufficiently to get a nice overall exposure in a lot of cases. I'm all spent on kit now for probably a long time, but I'm not grumbling as I've managed to build up a better collection of gear than I can justify so it should see me right for, well, many years I hope! Hope that's useful anyway mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 A few from the weekend: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Bush Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Stunning, absolutely stunning. Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Very kind - thanks. Didn't think that shot would turn out at all well as it was blowing a gale and difficult to keep the camera still for the 2 minutes it took to take that exposure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Love your photos Cret, I don't think there's a bad one among them. Bastard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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