Wendy asked for details on using fisheye and macro lenses.
First the fisheye. The fisheye lens is an extra, wide-angle lens; it gets its name from the globe-like shape of the lens that gives the appearance of a fish's eye when you look at it. It's purpose is to capture a larger area of your scene than a normal wide-angle lens. It comes in handy when taking pictures of vast scenics or skies by allowing you to capture more beauty in one picture. It captures rainbows real good too. On the flip side of the coin, because of the shape of the lens, there is distortion on the edges and corners of the frame. The distortion is intensified if you have any straight lines in your scene and the further from the center you get. It is also not suitable for use in portraits.
The other specialty lens we'll talk about this time is the macro lens. The macro is designed for close-ups and close-ups only. It is designed to focus at short distances. With a macro, you can take pictures of flowers, insects, berries, etc and make them larger than life. This will also allow you to capture those very fine details and texture barely visible to the naked eye. When using this type of lens, you will need to make sure the camera is focused on the specific point of the picture that you want to draw attention to. The reason for that is the closer you are to your your subject, the more "depth-of-field" you get. Depth-of-field is the term used to describe the amount of blur with items not the main subject. Greater depth-of-field equals more blur and vice verca.
There will be a future article on how to modify depth-of-field and to use it creatively.
As always, I am open to comments and suggestions regarding this article and this page as whole. Happy shooting!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Taking Better Pictures Indoors (Archive)
This topic comes on behalf of Wendy in Oklahoma.
Have you ever noticed that your built-in flash on your camera often does not illuminate your subject very well? At other times, the flash is too bright and your subject ends up with details "washed-out". And if you turn the flash off, you get blurry pictures. "What's wrong?" you say, and I say, "Here's why".
First off, I will cover the flash. The built-in flash on your camera is only effective for relatively short-distances, usually only about 5-6 feet at best. In fact, the flash is only good for that specific distance. When you step closer to your subject, the fixed-power flash is too strong and causes your subject's face to lose details in the highlights.
Now when you turn the flash off, you usually end up with blurred pictures where there was movement in your scene. In auto mode, the camera automatically makes adjustments for you, hence the name. Most of the time, this adjustment is in the form of exposure time. To let more light in, the camera extends the time the shutter is open; and in this scenario, the exposure ends up being too long for a crisp picture and picks up both camera movement and subject movement.
So, now for the solution. All SLR cameras and most high-end point & shoot cameras have a "hot shoe" mount on top of the camera for an external flash. Name brand camera companies all make external flash units specifically for their cameras. Many after-market companies make flash units compatible with name brands as well. My personal preference is to stick with products made by the same company as my camera. After-market flash units my have to be set-up certain ways to work properly with your camera unless it is made specifically for your camera model.
Today's flash units are E-TTL; meaning electronic-through the lens. Put simply, it means the flash and camera work in auto mode together to give you the best result. The reason this is better than your built-in flash is that the external flash adjusts its output based off of of light and distance. Don't try to understand how this works, it all happens inside the camera without any effort on your part.
When shopping for a flash; make sure that the flash works with your camera, make sure flash unit has swivel (so you can direct flash angle as needed), make sure it is E-TTL. You can find new flash units anywhere from $200-$500 depending on the brand and model.
For those of you with a simple point and shoot, you will just have to work with what you got.
I hope you found this article to be helpful. Feel free to add a comment if you have any questions or on this topic, or suggestions for future topics. Thank you all!
Have you ever noticed that your built-in flash on your camera often does not illuminate your subject very well? At other times, the flash is too bright and your subject ends up with details "washed-out". And if you turn the flash off, you get blurry pictures. "What's wrong?" you say, and I say, "Here's why".
First off, I will cover the flash. The built-in flash on your camera is only effective for relatively short-distances, usually only about 5-6 feet at best. In fact, the flash is only good for that specific distance. When you step closer to your subject, the fixed-power flash is too strong and causes your subject's face to lose details in the highlights.
Now when you turn the flash off, you usually end up with blurred pictures where there was movement in your scene. In auto mode, the camera automatically makes adjustments for you, hence the name. Most of the time, this adjustment is in the form of exposure time. To let more light in, the camera extends the time the shutter is open; and in this scenario, the exposure ends up being too long for a crisp picture and picks up both camera movement and subject movement.
So, now for the solution. All SLR cameras and most high-end point & shoot cameras have a "hot shoe" mount on top of the camera for an external flash. Name brand camera companies all make external flash units specifically for their cameras. Many after-market companies make flash units compatible with name brands as well. My personal preference is to stick with products made by the same company as my camera. After-market flash units my have to be set-up certain ways to work properly with your camera unless it is made specifically for your camera model.
Today's flash units are E-TTL; meaning electronic-through the lens. Put simply, it means the flash and camera work in auto mode together to give you the best result. The reason this is better than your built-in flash is that the external flash adjusts its output based off of of light and distance. Don't try to understand how this works, it all happens inside the camera without any effort on your part.
When shopping for a flash; make sure that the flash works with your camera, make sure flash unit has swivel (so you can direct flash angle as needed), make sure it is E-TTL. You can find new flash units anywhere from $200-$500 depending on the brand and model.
For those of you with a simple point and shoot, you will just have to work with what you got.
I hope you found this article to be helpful. Feel free to add a comment if you have any questions or on this topic, or suggestions for future topics. Thank you all!
So, You Want to be a Better Photographer...(Archive)
Greeting friends (and family?)!
I have created this blog for your benefit. That's right, for you!
Now I know that you have a desire to make your pictures better. So with that in mind, I will be posting on this site to give you answers to your questions. Some of the topics will be for digital only, but a large amount of the topics covered, will benefit both digital and film.
We'll talk about stuff ranging from making something better to a few new tricks to add to your toolbox of knowledge. And I will show you what you can do with the camera you have now; even if it is a point & shoot.
Ready to begin? Good. Be watching this site for our first topic: Indoor Pictures & Flash.
In the meantime feel free to be thinking of a photography question that you would like answered. You may comment on the topics discussed, you may submit questions, you may even provide feedback on how I can improve my process.
See you soon and Happy Shooting.
I have created this blog for your benefit. That's right, for you!
Now I know that you have a desire to make your pictures better. So with that in mind, I will be posting on this site to give you answers to your questions. Some of the topics will be for digital only, but a large amount of the topics covered, will benefit both digital and film.
We'll talk about stuff ranging from making something better to a few new tricks to add to your toolbox of knowledge. And I will show you what you can do with the camera you have now; even if it is a point & shoot.
Ready to begin? Good. Be watching this site for our first topic: Indoor Pictures & Flash.
In the meantime feel free to be thinking of a photography question that you would like answered. You may comment on the topics discussed, you may submit questions, you may even provide feedback on how I can improve my process.
See you soon and Happy Shooting.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
New Blog Site
Welcome to the new blog site for my photo helps and hints. Nothing will change in this process except for the new address. I changed the address to avoid this website from being confused with my official business website, www.bestoftimephoto.com. I hope you find this easier to keep straight.
Michael
Michael
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