The click.

Self-Portraits.

2007-08-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much of anything with my photography lately. I took a break from customers and personal stuff to get my mojo back.

This week i've been focusing on capturing some of the elements of my relationship with D.

We have been wanting some photos together, but I have a hard time having my picture taken and truly relaxing and not looking so stiff.

I discovered this week, that the timer delay is my friend.

I challenge you- get your camera, set up your shot, set the timer and jump in...you may be surprised by what you get- be free....use different angles, perspectives, etc. It's funny how YOU can truly reveal YOU with your photography-

Here are some of our captures.

Wedding-

2007-08-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Just posting a few shots from my latest wedding-
I shot Maggie and Andrews wedding in early May- isn't she beautiful?

Yo.

2006-11-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try to come up with something for the site in the next couple of weeks or so. I had to order a new battery charger (do NOT run yours over with your car) and hope to shoot some at a parade this weekend and then at a concert next weekend. We'll see what happens. I seriously haven't even taken a pic since August.

Bad Steph....Spank me!

Ka*BOOM!

2006-06-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah baby, that time is here again. It's summmer, that means, hotdogs, pool time, tan lines and Independence Day!

The Fourth of July is an amazing holiday. The sights, the sounds,the colors, the events. Unfortunately it's also a hard day to shoot with the ever changing conditions.

You've got your daytime activities down. You are awesome!

This week we'll focus on the hardest part of the day..the fireworks! Yikes!

We'll start with professional displays.

GO BUY YOURSELF A TRIPOD!!! A steady shot is absolutely neccesary for getting firworks shots- if you're wiggling and jiggling you'll end up with shots that look something like this... EW!

You may not end up using it for every shot, but it's much better to have it and not need it and then to need it and not have it.

With photographing fireworks, You'll definitely want to be shooting in Manual mode. Flip the dial over to the M and go with it. Don't let being full manual scare you, you are a bad mammajamma ...Oh come on, smile, you know you like it!

Ok, we're in manual-
We are worried about getting digital noise with the start contrast between the sky and the bright colors of the fireworks.

Set your ISO to 100. We want quality pictures with the least amount of noise possible. With an ISO of 100, we'll want to go with a Fstop of f/8-f/16 for proper exposure.

When shooting fireworks you will have to play with it, watch your preview screen and adjust accordingly. We're going to turn our shutter speed all the way to the left (I believe, i'll check when my camera gets here later!) You'll go past the longer exposures, keep turning and you will get to bulb mode. Bulb mode is a fascinating setting, the shutter will stay open as long as you hold the button...PERFECT for fireworks!

We've got our settings, ISO 100, F/8-F16, Bulb mode.

Everything logical will tell you that you want to use a tripod. I have one. I started out using it. I got frustrated! In technicality you will get the best shots if you use a tripod and a shutter release cable. Make sure you set up where your tripod won't get kicked by random people walking by. I got my best fireworks shots ditching the tripod and just trying to hold steady. The show we went to the bursts were of differing heights and the tripod was just too much to deal with. A better tripod would probably make it a little easier. Work with what you have and make lots of exposures, don't be afraid to experiment.

**Flip your lens to manual focus. You will need to play a bit to get the general exposure in focus, but after you get it, you should be good. If you leave it on auto focus you will run into it hesitating becasue of trying to find something to focus on**

when you're either in someplace steady or you've got your camera mounted on tripod. Point in the direction of the bursts. The trick is to open the shutter right at the beginning of the burst and close it when it reaches its peak. Anticipating the explosion can be difficult, but not impossible.

Work with holding the shutter for various lengths, pay attention to your feedback screen and work with the Fstop until they are looking right.

Some things to remember when shooting fireworks.

*Arrive early- Stake out your location, find out where the bursts will be, throw your blanket down and know where you will be shooting.

*Don't forget your tripod and/or cable release

*Bring a small flashlight- You'll be working with settings and such in the dark. A flashlight will be good for battery changes, memory cards, etc.

*Bring extra batteries and memory- Shoot the night away. You can delete extra pictures, but you won't be able to take more once it's over. Batteries and memory can go quickly- bring extras, just in case!

*Experiment- My shutter speed usually ends up being 1-4 seconds, but some are way longer, some are shorter. Work with it. The only regret you will have is not trying!

Here are some of my shots from last year- I was very very beginner and just winging it, but they turned out ok. I can't wait to see what y'all do!

-----------------------------------
From the NY institute of Photography- some help to get your black skies black.
Noise Reduction Techniques Using Adobe Photoshop.
One way to reduce noise in a digital image is to make a black frame during the shoot and then sandwich it with the noisy shot. To make a black frame, place the lens cap over the lens and make an exposure using the same settings that you used during your shoot. I usually try to make one of these exposures before I start shooting, and then another one at the end of the shoot. That way I won't forget.

In Photoshop:
1. Open the black frame file alongside an image that has noise.
2. Shift + Drag the black frame Background layer over the noisy image workspace to create a new layer. (Holding the Shift key ensures that the new layer maintains perfect registration.)
3. Change the Layer Mode of the black frame layer to Difference.
The noise should be reduced significantly.

Have fun y'all!!

Now for personal fireworks! Fun!

Sparkler art.

Shooting Sparklers are very much like shooting regular fireworks. We're going to be in bulb mode, same settings. You'll have a hard time getting the kids fully in focus,but the effects of the sparklers are tre'cool!

You'll want to tell the kids to hold still! lol. That should be a cardinal rule of sparklers anyway- we need to be safe!

Have them stand, set your focus on them, set up the camera and then light it up. Show them to move the sparkler around, and not right in front of their faces. Experiment, draw things, write their names..have fun with it!

See the lights behind him in the last picture? Try to avoid that..lol!

Enjoy- any questions, drop me an email TheStephStanley@gmail.com

Questions/comments/suggestions are always welcome!

Getting photos you love!

2006-06-18T22:36:00.000-07:00

I just felt like I needed to post as i'm sitting here wide awake again, thinking about people in my life, people who arent' in my life anymore and people who may eventually be in my life.

I get a lot of emails from people here and other places asking for photo advice, tips, etc. I love it, I love helping out when I can, it truly gives me joy to see someone getting the pics that they want.

However, i've gotten quite a few emails in the past two weeks that have said things like 'I'm not taking my camera, the lighting won't be great and I don't want to be disappointed" or 'I can't take my SLR, so i'm not going to worry about getting many shots' or 'I really wanted a pic, but I just wasn't looking great" As I read them, I started thinking about the way that my photography habits have changed since I started scrapbooking.

I used to take pics here and there, whenever the mood struck. When you start scrapbooking, you start paying attention more. Look at the background, look at this, look at that. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just encouraging you. Go for the shots that will look great on your page.

Strive to improve your photography, learn what you can about your camera, dress your kids in matching clothes, stage what you want. But, while you are getting the perfect shot, don't forget the small things.

I am very very guilty of wanting the perfect shot, having a messy house so not taking pictures, not liking the background so zooming in super close,, not taking a pic because the kids are messy, whatever.

It struck me as I was flipping through pictures earlier this evening, that the ones that I sat back and looked at the longest weren't the ones where I took my kids out for a shoot and got beautiful angelic pictures, they weren't the posed shots of matching babies all smiling sweetly.

the ones that made my heart beat a bit louder and made me stop and look and think were the ones where Josh was sleeping in his high chair. My dad beaming over his first hot krispy kreme donut. The boys with snotty noses sick in bed and out of focus.

they are by no means perfect technically, and most of the time, they are just not good shots, off center, out of focus, too much flash, too dark, whatever. Don't throw them away for the 'perfect' shot. Keep your files for a few years, you never know what my end up jumping out at you later.

Here are some of the favorites that I found. I grabbed ones with me in them because I want to encourage you to get in front of the camera- how many pictures of YOU do you have in the past year? It's not enough. Your babies will want to remember you as much as you want to remember them. They aren't going to care that you have an extra ten pounds or bags under your eyes. When they look through the pictures of you they will remember the good times you had, just as you do when you look at them.

Hand those cameras over ladies- you are just as important as anyone else is. If your husband doesn't like taking the pics (or even if he does) find someone and say 'would you mind taking a picture for us' I've never had someone tell me no, even with the scary Dig. rebel.;..put it on auto, it will be fine! People are nice, get in those picture!

here are my favs...show me some of yours!

This is my stepdad wrestling with Josh and Jake a few years ago. I look at it and am reminded of how fortunate I am that my mother found someone so perfect for us to marry. I was 16 when they got married and he went through a lot to be there for us. Through everything I knew he was someone i could turn to for anything at all and this picture just makes me smile, knowing that for someone who didn't know me until I was older, he loves me and my babies like his own. Seeing them being so careless just radiates his love, and theirs for him.

This one is my kids, neice, sister, mom, grandma and great grandma. The lighting wasn't great. I look like a cow, we were all hot and sweaty there is a nasty shed in the background, but we're here. all of us, and we're happy. We had a great afternoon and i'm so thankful we got shots while we could. My great grandma passed away a few months later.

This one is Billy and I two years ago. It's out of focus and behind us is supposed to be the national christmas tree in DC, when you are on auto with flash (duh) christmas lights don't show up and you get washed out. We look so young, so happy, so just in love. I love this picture although it's definetely not what i would have envisioned.

And this one is me and Ms.Alice. Ms.Alice lives across the street from my Gram in Ohio. I spent every afternoon on her front porch, just talking and spending time with her when my parents were going through their divorce. She listened and sat and was just there for me. She had a curio cabinet with the tiniest porcelian dolls ever, she gave me one when we moved and to this day it sits in my living room. when I go home to visit, I make sure I visit. She is 98 now, 96 in this picture, it was taken by holding the camera out with my arm. I barely got us both in, but I have this picture framed and look at it every day. Not technically perfect, but seeing it reminds me everyday that things will be fine, you just have to stop and take the time to rock. I don't know how many times she told me that, and she is so so right.

So, i've rambled on and on and on, and you probably didn't read all of it, but that's fine with me.

Get in your pictures, look for love, not perfection. don't stop learning but don't lose what you have!

***Ps- I will be updating with photo tips again in a few days, We'll talk settings for fireworks with the 4th of July coming up!

anything else specific you are wanting to know? Leave me a comment and i'll work on it...i'm begging, give me some direction!

Coming soon.....

2006-02-07T04:14:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let y'all know I haven't forgotten, i just haven't had a chance to get something together....i'll try for tonight or tomorrow!

Any suggestions??

Updates.

2006-01-30T14:42:00.000-08:00

It looks like i've got it set up so it will work. If you want to subscribe to get the updates emailed to you, just add your address in the box under LINKS to the right.

White Balance.

2006-01-30T13:53:00.000-08:00

Ready to figure out White balance, what it means and why we want to set it? Good!

The white balance settings tell the camera what kind of light you are shooting in and what color the pictures you are taking should come out. Basically, Light is red as either warm (reds) or cool (blue tones) You know the snapshots you have at indoor birthday partys where everyone looks like they have used way too much orangey self tanner? Yeah, that is the light and the way the camera is reading it.

The Rebel generally does a good job of reading the light on the auto White Balance setting, it gathers up the data in the lens and evaluates it and finds a good medium tone. Normally your pictures will be fine, and it will balance just fine, unless your picture is dominated by one or two colors, the camera won't get a good 'range' to measure and your color will be jacked. You will need to tell your camera what kind of light is available and in turn what to do to give you the captures you want.

The digital Rebel offers 8 different white balance settings. 1. AWB (auto white balance) 2. Daylight 3. Shade 4. Cloudy 5. Tungsten 6. White Flourescent 7. Flash 8. Custom

First things first-
To change White balance on the Rebel
1. Press WB on back of camera (the down arrow)
2. turn dial to selected White balance option.
3. Push 'set' (middle of arrows)
4. Take your picture.

If you're not sure what white balance is correct, the Rebel offers White Balance Bracketing. When bracketing is set, the camera will capture three images. The first is at the white balance setting, the second is 3 stops warmer (more red) and the third is 3 stops cooler (more blue)

To set bracketing-
1. Press menu
2. Press down arrow until WBSHIFT/BKT is selected
3. press set
4. Scroll left (magenta/green tones) or right (blue/amber tones) to set bracketing, up to 3 points each way.
5. Press set.
6. Press shutter half down, compose and shoot.

Custom White balance-
When it HAS to be right and/or your light is mixed and you're just not sure what setting to use, you can set a custom exposure.
to set a custom White balance-
1. Take a picture of a plain white piece of paper (make sure it fills your screen)
2. press menu.
3. press down arrow, choose custom WB
4. press set (you should see the pic of the paper, if not scroll until you do)
5. press set.
6. press menu.
7. Press WB on back of camera
8. Choose Custom WB Setting.
9. Shoot.

The disadvantage is that you will have to set the custom WB using the sheet of paper each time your lighting conditions change. As long as your lighting will be the same, your WB will stay. I tend to stay on the cloudy setting (I like my pics a bit warmer) unless it's something that just isn't coming out right.

A huge advantage of shooting in RAW format is the ability to change the white balance AFTER you take the pictures. I'm still shooting in JPG, so i'll discuss RAW after I give it a fair chance and fall in love.

Here is a sample of the same basic shot (in my kitchen) using each of the white balance settings so you can see the difference.

ISO.

2006-01-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

ISO is the third piece of the ‘exposure triangle’ ISO (International Standards Organization) controls how fast and how neatly the sensor picks up data. .

The lower the ISO setting, the less noise you’ll have and the better the quality (usually). For lower light situations or fast action scenarios you will want to boost your ISO.
I generally start with my ISO at 100 in most situations, if I know I’ll need a faster shutter speed for fast action, I’ll up it to 800 or even 1600 depending on the situation.

The Canon Rebel gives you the choice of ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, or 1600. To change the setting in Manual mode, push the ISO button on the back of the camera, scroll to the desired speed and press set...easy!

The ISO is the speed of the film in a film camera. An advantage of digital SLR is the ability to change ISO from speed to speed for each shot. If using film, you would have to shoot the entire roll before you could change the ISO for a different type of photography. (I am aware that there are/were ways to increase or decrease the ISO if you really needed/wanted to, but we’re learning digital here Ü )

This week, spend sometime studying your camera and how the settings change when you change the ISO. Flip it to Manual and watch your controls. Decide on one picture to take. I don’t care if you actually take the picture or not, just watch your settings. Focus on the same thing over and over. Write them down so you can see it. Make a chart, so you can see how the three settings work together. Make triangles if you feel like it so you can see how it works together- I did both when I was reading books and figuring it out.

I’ll share my scanned charts with you. They are messy, they have little notes to myself, they are probably one of the most embarassing things I’ve shown people on here, but hey it may help. If you can see past the mess anyway. Just play with it, you’ll get it!

Basically, when I’m out shooting, I will set my ISO, then set the Aperture depending on how much of the picture I need to be crisp (high number for more in focus, lower for more blur). After the two of those are set, I focus and adjust my shutter speed until the camera indicates a correct exposure. If I can’t get a shutter speed above 1/60 with the ISO and Aperture that I chose. If a fast shutter speed is an absolute requirement, set the shutter speed first, then adjust the aperture until a correct exposure is indicated by the camera (ex, low light where you must handhold the camera or sports situations)

***
ETA- my charts aren't any different than anything you can read in a book. Except, I drew the chart, played with my settings and wrote down the results. For some of us, actually doing it makes it *click* faster than reading it in a book where I seem to sometimes read 'blah blah blah, expose your shutter and click blah blah'. Practice makes perfect no?
If i've said it once, i've said it a million times- if you're a pro or you think you are, this isn't the place to learn. I'm summarizing what i've learned in my very limited experience in shooting manual and with a 350D, i'm not making up new stuff, it's not anything groundbreaking- it's simply trying to 'get it'. If you are expecting earth shattering, you should probably not be looking here Ü This is about having fun and figuring it out!

Week 3- Aperture! (Depth of Field)

2006-01-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hopefully from last weeks lesson, you have a pretty decent idea of how shutter speed works and what you can get it to do. As always, keep playing, keep experimenting! It will get better I promise!

Remember, it took me 8 months and about 10,000 pictures before it 'clicked' and I got how the three worked together. And an hour after I 'got it' my camera broke! I thought I somehow blew it up!
Our goal is to get it to 'click' for all of you..but not the snap of a broken camera!

I'm getting a lot of positive feedback for the blog- thanks, I appreciate it! I love knowing when y'all are getting something, even if it's something simple!

This week we're talking aperture. I talked about aperture in my recent instant message conversation that was blogged.

Aperture (also referred to as f-stop or depth of field/DOF) serves two purposes. It is part of the creative triangle that controls how much light reaches your sensor and it also controls the amount of your subject that is in focus or is more blurred.

The lower the number, the wider your aperture. Meaning- if your aperture number is the lowest it can go, your aperture is wide open. I remember by thinking low aperture is good for low light. It lets in the most light in the smallest amount of time. The higher the number, the least amount of light is let in. A high f-stop will require a longer shutter speed to let in the same amount of light. So if you have a lot of light, you will want a high f-stop number. (the camera will be letting less of it in)

To get more of your subject in focus, you will want a smaller opening (higher number) Bryan Peterson explained it perfectly in his book 'Understanding Digital Photography' he says " If you think about how you squint to try to make something appear sharper to your eye, you get an idea of why you need a smaller aperture opening to render this greater depth of field"

So squint away, raise your aperture number(lower your number) and get everything in sharp focus.

If you want parts of your picture to be blurred, drop the number (Raise your aperture) and focus on one part and watch the others have a nice blur to them.

Use this techniqe to make a flower in a bouquet stand out or to get a landscape in tack sharp focus!

The assignment this week- Go buy yourself flowers! Set the camera on AV mode (aperture value/aperture priority) and shoot away. You'll probably need to use a tripod and/or your flash for this one.
Start out with the lowest number your camera will go to, then work your way up, look at the differences. See the difference in focus? Notice how your shutter speed is changing as you change the aperture?

To change the aperture in this mode, just turn the dial that you did for shutter speed, watch where the number is changing, the number will be in the same place when we go to the big M.

This one is kind of challenging to explain appropriately, email me with any questions TheStephStanley@gmail.com and feel free to post any questions/comments here (with your email addy)
I can't wait to see your samples!
My excercise-

Shutter Speed.

2006-01-10T19:43:00.000-08:00

One of the really cool things about learning to use manual settins on your Digital Rebel are the creative modes.
I've decided that i'll kind of show you how to work your way around the dial until we end up at the big fat M. Yippee!
So, Right after the P mode we were shooting in last week, we see Tv. We're not watching the boob tube....we're working with shutter speed! Yeeee-Haw!!

The TV mode will allow you to select the shutter speed while the camera chooses the rest of the settings for you. Why would you want this? Why not just full auto?
Let me tell you =)
Shutter speed will both allow more or less light to reach your sensor and it will control how sharp the picture will be.

Say you're taking a picture of a boy on a bicycle and want to show motion..if your on auto and the camera is choosing settings, chances are it will take a pic in full focus. Some blur can be a very good thing!

For right now, we'll focus on the amount of light. If you're out and about taking pictures at night of lights, candles, anything bright and you don't want it to be super bright, you'll want to shoot in TV mode. Let it glow!

For our excercise this week, Set your camera on a tripod, table, whatever. Just something to hold it nice and still. Set a candle on a table and set up a shot. When you are in TV mode, your dial on top will control your shutter speed. To the left is slower, to the right is faster.
The slowest shutter speed on the DRebel is 30 seconds. For my samples the fastest shutter I used was 1/400 second. Pretty quick. Take a picture of the candle with a fast shutter speed. Then move the dial a few clicks to the left, take another exposure. Work your way down until you are doing a 30 second exposure. See the effect shutter speed has?
shutter speed can be used to make your christmas tree lights twinkle, to make birthday candles glow..to record lights in traffic as a blur..your imagination is the only limit!

Some samples of light and shutter speed....

try it out and show me!

This week, think of some ways to use shutter speed in your pictures...maybe a child riding by on a bicycle, traffic whizzing by, fireworks, water dripping...see what you can come up with! I can't wait to see!

Some more samples of using shutter speed to get the desired effect...

Notice in the last one there is a blur in the bottom right corner..yeah, that's my kid! lol. Remember, if your shutter is long enough, people will disappear!

Have fun! (and i'll resize the too big pics shortly!

Setting a manual Exposure (the quick rundown.)

2006-01-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

This post is choppy and not the best formatted. One of the 2peas girls instant messaged me and I walked her through setting a manual exposure. I'll be going through what each setting does and how to figure it all out over the coming weeks- I just wanted to post my instant message explanation in case anyone wants to jump ahead!
much love, StephÜ

There are 3 parts of 'manual' they work like a triangle- all having to do with how much light is let in. 1. ISO (film speed) 2. Aperture/F-stop (how blurry or sharp it is 3. Shutter speed/exposure time (makes a difference if you can handhold or not)

Ok, if you don't have a tripod, you're goal will be to keep your shutter speed at less than 1/60 second (thats about my max for handholding, most people are 1/100ish)

So, if your shutterspeed has to be fast..that means we have to get our light from somewhere else.....1/100 second. isn't going to let very much light in at all.

So we go to ISO. Basically ISO 100 is letting in the least amount of light, ISO 1600 is letting in a lot. The tradeoff is that at 100 you get the best picture quality, think of it as the top name brand film.
Think of 1600 as a lower grade/offbrand mac and cheese---still good, but a little grainier! It's going to look a little bit grainer, but it's going to let the light flood in faster.
Ok, now the third part...f-stop. Fstop is more confusing. the SMALL numbers are considered 'wide open' and the bigger numbers are 'stopping down' or 'using a narrow exposure' It still confuses me sometimes when people talk about it..just remember that f-stop numbers are ass-backwards.

I read somewhere that aperture/f-stop is like a funnel. The small number lets in more light, but it kind of spills creating the blurred background.
If you're pouring water into a funnel and you are pouring 'wide open' (small number) you will get an area in the middle that's in focus, but the water is pouring so fast that some will overflow the funnel and go over the edges making a big mess (blur) if your aperture is 'stopped down' you are pouring the water (light) slowly through the funnel. It's going slow so you can control where it's going. The water is right where you want it, (everything is sharp)

Since they are working all together and we know we need a faster shutter speed b/c we aren't using a tripod, we'll need to open up the aperture and bump the ISO to compensate for the low-light from the shutter speed...the other two will make up for it.

Grab your camera and set it to M (turn it on)
Push the ISO button and choose 800- that will give you a little grain, but will let in good light.

Ok, so we've got the ISO set to 800, now we'll set the Fstop. To do that, push the AV +/- button (hold it down) and scroll your wheel to the left...see the number moving down? Thats your aperture/f-stop control.(the lower the number, the more light it will let in) Go ahead and scroll to the left..with the kit lens it will probably go down to 5.6ish.

Excellent! Now that the two of those are set, you can set up your shot...go ahead and compose and focus.

When you look through the eyepiece, you'll see a little bar that says -2, -1, 0, 1,2 with a little bar that pops up when you push the shutter halfway down...see it?

The negative numbers are underexposure and the positives are overexposure...you basically want it to be right on 0
To set the shutter speed, you need to twirl the dial towards the bar...so if the bar is on the left, turn the dial towards the bar...you'll see it move towards the middle.

Once it's in the middle you have a correct exposure...that's taking a technically correct exposure...now the trick is 'seeing' the creatively correct exposure. Learning the f-stops/iso/shutter speed and knowing what they do and how to make a creative picture....you'll get it!

Lesson 1- Getting it in focus.

2006-01-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

How many pictures have we taken that are stunning, absoulutely beautiful, perfect exposure, except, dang it, my focus got messed up! If only it were in focus, it would be PERFECT.
Yeah, we're not doing that anymore. (Well, not as much anyway!)
Today we're talking focus. Using your cameras autofocus to your advantage to get the sharpest images possible.
One huge thing that made a differnce is changing my focus from the shutter release button to the * button on the back of the camera. It took a few days to get used to focusing with a different button, but now that i'm used to it, it's amazing the difference in sharpness when your focus is a separate movement from the shutter. I don't have to worry about focusing,then adjusting my exposure, refocusing, and then taking the shot.
With the exposure lock on the * button, I can focus, set exposure and click. No accidental refocusing on the tree behind my kid.

_______________________________________
The instructions on changing the focus and more info about the focus lock can be found on page 92 of your manual. More info is on page 153. I don't have my manual to paste what it says here...sorry!
___________________________________
When you're taking pictures in Auto, the camera will choose where it thinks you want to focus, according to lighting,etc. You will see the light on the AF point that is being used. When you flip to the creative modes, you can control the Autofocus points. The button to control the autofocus points is on the back of your camera on the VERY top right. It will have a rectangle with three dots across and one on top and one on bottom, kind of in a cross shape. If you hold the button down and use the scroll while looking in the viewfinder, you will see the AF points lighting up/changing. When they are all lit, it will use allpoints at the same time...for groups, etc.
So basically-
*Decide which item you want to focus on.
*hold the shutter half down OR hold the * button if using focus lock *recompose the picture.
*shoot!

This week play with your autofocus and control it. Set it on the autofocus point you want (i usually use center) and make it focus on what YOU want it to.
Try taking a picture of flowers or something else with varying distances from your lens and make the front set in focus..then the middle, then the back.

Getting it in focus is half the battle!

Remember, set it up, focus, recompose!

Here are some samples. I'll try to get out so I can find better examples, I can't drive yet but when I can i'll do better samples!
Heres the front/middle/back excercise. Top- focus on the pumpkin, Midddle- focus on tractor, botton- focus on wagon.

It's hard to see...I promise i'll do better when I can drive out of my neighborhood of dead 'stuff'

And in this one, focus and recompose. I focused on the pumpkin and then set up my shot. Using the focus lock, as long as the pumpkin doesnt move it will stay in focus even when I move the frame!

Take some pics, show us what you've got! Have fun!
Happy Shooting!

Getting Started.

2005-12-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

Ok girls, I'm really looking forward to this and hope to have a lot of people participating! I love learning new things about my 'baby' and love seeing others 'get it' too. If you decide to stop participating because of something that you don't like or don't understand, please let me know!

You can email me at TheStephStanley@gmail.com anytime and i'll respond as soon as I get a chance. I'd much rather you tell me I stink at helping you learn than to just stop playing with us! I'll do this as long as I have at least one other person to play with..i just want to have fun!

To start, i'm going to assume that everyone knows how to install the battery, insert the memory card and get pictures from the camera onto the computer. If you need help, email me!

When I upload pictures, I change them to 180 dpi, just to make viewing faster for people on the net. For the blog they need to be 400 pixels wide or less. I'm not entirely concerned about that, if you post on the thread, i'll save, resize and post here weekly!

I'm not sure which disk to install to upload. I *think* it's photostudio something or other and then you have to use a cable to connect the camera to your pc. I use a card reader by Sandisk to make it way easier.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=5405876&type=product&id=1051826315916
It's the best twenty bucks i've spent!

I'll be shooting with my kit lens because most everyone should have it and that will keep it simple. If you're looking to invest in an additional lens a favorite of mine is the 50mm 1.8 lens by Canon.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=12142&is=USA&addedTroughType=search
It's around $80 and great for low light photography!

If you're looking to read, i'd recommend anything by Bryan Peterson. Search for him on Amazon.com or in your local bookstore. I have Understanding Exposure and Understanding Digital Photography. They do overlap some, but both have great information in them! They are written so they aren't completely boring and it's easy to cuddle up with them on a cold night and get lost.

The best way to learn is to practice..so shoot, shoot, shoot! We all have the equiptment to take amazing pictures, it's just a matter of learning it, and of course, luck!!

Happy shooting!