Quinebaug Valley Photography Club

Understanding F-stops: Aperture Priority

By Rob Sheppard

I rarely shoot anything but aperture priority. Occasionally I shoot manual when I need a specific sort of control (such as controlling ambient light with flash). Many sports shooters use aperture priority, too. Here’s how I use it:

Depth of field — choose an aperture for appropriate depth of field. This doesn’t mean automatically choosing the smallest apertures, such as f/16. I will use f/16 when I really need deep depth of field, but I will shoot f/8-f/11 for distant scenes where depth of field is unaffected by f-stop; f/8-f/11 tend to be the sharpest parts of most lenses. I will choose wide apertures such as f/2.8-f/4 for selective focus effects to keep subject sharp and background soft. I will typically shoot close ups at f/5.6-f/8 to gain some depth of field, but not too much (since it is difficult to get close-up backgrounds sharp anyway, I would prefer them more out of focus).

Action - choose the wide f-stops. A pro technique is to set the lens at its widest or maximum aperture, such as f/2.8-f/4. You are looking for the smallest number you can set with your lens. Then with aperture priority, you guarantee that you always will shoot with the fastest shutter speed possible for the conditions. You cannot do that with shutter speed priority. The wild turkey seen here, for example, was shot with aperture priority, max aperture, so that as the bird moved through different levels of light, I was always getting the fastest shutter speed possible for the conditions. The only time I might consider shutter speed priority would be if I wanted to use a very specific shutter speed, such as a slow speed for a water blur.

Some photographers are very comfortable with manual exposure, which works fine, but some photographers use it because they think they “should” in order to be a “real” photographer. I used to feel that way many years ago. But honestly, modern auto exposure systems are so good that they are faster, more convenient, and can be just as accurate. They certainly require a lot less thought about technology! And with digital, you can quickly see if your exposure is right or not by using the LCD with highlight warnings and histogram.

More details: Become a master of exposure – and aperture – with Rob Sheppard’s outstanding online photography workshop: The Magic of F-stops: Choosing the Right Aperture. Also check out BetterPhoto.com’s other digital photography online courses.

January 8th, 2010 | Category: Tips | Leave a comment

Taken from www.betterphoto.com

January 05, 2010

Natural Light Photography: Where’s the Light?

By Douglas Steakley

All photographers know, or quickly learn, that subject matter is only one element of a photograph and it is arguably not the most important element. Interesting or dramatic light is often the key ingredient of a successful image. When composing a photograph, it is important to pay attention to the direction the light is coming from and how this impacts the subject that is being photographed.

Look around for the source of the light and then take another look at the subject to see how the light is falling on it and how it changes as you move. Often by stepping to one side or another the lighting can be made more dramatic and interesting.

There are basically four types of directional light that are important to an outdoor photographer: sidelight, backlight, frontlight, and soft or diffused light. Here’s a rundown on two types:
Soft light can be created by fog, overcast or shade and increases the color contrast in softer, subtler tonalities. Soft light enhances colors that would be lost or become to contrasty in direct sunlight. Soft light is best for subject matter that is colorful or has interesting detail such as flowers, plants or other types of close up images.

The two soft-light images below – the close-up of the lupine and the small waterfall near Yosemite were both taken in cloudy, overcast conditions. This type of light eliminates shadows, which reduces contrast and allows for more saturated, vivid colors. Neither of these images would have been successful if the sun had been shining on them.

January 8th, 2010 | Category: Tips | Leave a comment

Club members will meet on Sunday, Jan 10th 2010 at 5:00 pm at Lois Latraverse’s house in Dayville to select entries for the Winter NECCC print and digital competitions.  We will also be selecting entries for the Glennie competition which is held in March.

Please bring a maximum of 6 images (print) and email a maximum of 6 images for each category.  The categories are:

Print:   Open and Black and White

Digital:  Nature and Open

Glennie Digital:  There are several nature categories so send your birds, bees, flowers, wildlife, amphibians, etc.

We would like to have excellent entries in all contests and not settle for lesser quality because we don’t have enough images presented for selection.  Got that?  It may be confusing…so, in other words, we know we have a lot of excellent images within our club, we just want to make sure that you bring (or send) a good selection of your work so that we send our best quality images to these regional competitions.

Please email your images to mrsaj1@ct.metrocast.net by Saturday at 9:00 pm, Jan 9.   The images need to be sized and named according to standards.  That would be sized horizontal to 1024 pixels and vertical 768 pixels at 72 DPI resolution.  Please name your images as follows:  QVPC$Nature$LastNameFirstName$titleofimage.jpg   If the entry is for OPEN category, change Nature to Open.

Thank you and look forward to seeing you on the 10th.  If you need directions please email me.

January 8th, 2010 | Category: Minutes | Leave a comment

Whether you agreed with her or not, Drea Koval of Southeastern Camera Club, gave us in-depth critiques for each of the entries in last nights’ competition.  Newer members, and our 3 visitors, as well as the camera club veterans  picked up valuable information from Drea’s remarks on every image.   It was a relaxed evening with time to spare before our 9:00 pm curfew!

Some housekeeping notes during the meeting portion of the evening:

• NECCC Fall Print competition was held Nov 4th….we should have the results  soon.

• NECCC Fall Digital competition…entries were sent for the Nov 18th judging in Framingham, MA. Here is the address of Boston West Photography Club if you are interested in attending the judging… Marist House, 518 Pleasant St., Framingham at 7:30 pm. The following club members have images in that competition:  Harriett Cotnoir, Lois Latraverse, Bill Marchand, Marcia Kilpatrick, Chris Atsales, Lori Labrecque and Jim Cutler.   These entries were selected on October 30th by the attendees at the selection meeting. (Remember that all club members are invited and encouraged to attend QVPC selection meetings.  We welcome varied and open opinions and we all wear thick skin for these events so you are free to share your constructive views.

• We urged members to view Carol Dunn’s website, www.caroldunnart.com, to view her many talents as an artist, photograher, printer, etc.   We are looking forward to her program on November 17th.

• Themes for December’s competition are Harvest and Festival.

• Our next selection night for the Winter Print and Digital competitions will be held in early January….a date to be announced.   Also, prior to that meeting, there will be an officer’s meeting.

November 6th, 2009 | Category: Minutes | Leave a comment

1)  A tripod is a must.

2) Your distance to the waterfall can determine the shutter speed to use.  A greater distance requires a much slower shutter speed to create the nice milky effect.  If close, start with 1/15th of a second….if far, start with 1 second.  Adjust until you get the effect you are looking for.

3)Overcast skies are the best time to shoot waterfalls.  However, dark clouds or deep shade will render a bluish tinge to your image.  You can use a warming filter to counteract or adjust white balance in post processing.

4)If possible, avoid sunlit portions of the falls to avoid over exposure and omit the sky for the same reason.

5)Meter the frothiest part of the falls (usually the brightest) and set your exposure to over-expose that part of the falls by 1/2 stop.

6)Composition works well if you try to include contrasting background to accentuate the falls.

7)Include a “subject” or point of interest in the foreground and use the  falls as the background.

Shoot the scene at different shutter speeds to yield different effects.

A little info….the human eye and brain perceives motion at somewhere around 1/60 second.  If you were to photograph a waterfall in 35mm format with a 50mm lens at 1/60 second, the degree of implied motion would be the same as seen with the naked eye.  Every speed slower than 1/60 second, with the same equipment, would imply great motion.  At 1/15 second, a vertical falls shot a few feet away from the lens will veil nicely.  At 1/4 second, it will appear cotton-like and at 1 second or slower, it will be “smokin”!

Now….grab that camera and have some fun!   A local place to practice….Cargill Falls in Putnam, or Cat Hollow in Dayville.

Cargill Falls is on Route 44 in the center of Putnam.  Cat Hollow is a short distance off Route 12 in Dayville.  Going South on Route 12 from the center of Dayville, take the 1st left after the Dayville Post Office.  The parking area for Cat Hollow Park is a very short distance on the right.  Walk the paved walkway for about 100 yeards, you can walk across the dam and photograph the waterfall from the banks of the river.

If you know of other local places, please share by commenting on this tip!

November 2nd, 2009 | Category: Tips | Leave a comment

Our judge for the evening will be Drea Koval from Southeastern Camera Club.   Categories are Color Print, Black and White, and Creative/Artistic.   There is no theme competition on Print Competition nights.

Members and guests are invited to enter the competition.  Just a reminder that entries should be matted, backed with a backing mount, and labeled with the photographer’s name, category entered, and title of the image.   Entry size can be from a minimum of 4 x 6 to a maximum of 16 x 20 matted.

Check out our tips page…..will try to add at least 1 new tip a month…maybe more!  You can find it by clicking the down arrow on the Categories.

November 2nd, 2009 | Category: Minutes | Leave a comment

We had a full house last evening for our first digital competition of the 2009-2010 season.  Angelo Marinosci, Jr of Warren, RI was our excellent judge for the evening.  While we didn’t get the individual critiques that we so treasure from him, he did demonstrate which images  best answered the questions:

• What is my subject?
• When am I photographing this subject?
• What are you going to do with it?  Or what does this image say?

Good photography demands emotion…a reason to view it and something the viewer can take away from it.  Not easy to accomplish for all of us but something to strive for.  At least that is what I took away from our evening competition.

Angelo will host a spring field trip when we will spend the morning walking with him in his quaint lovely village of Warren.  Details will come later in the year but we’re looking at late April or early May.  It will be our chance to get some onsite tips.

October 2nd, 2009 | Category: Minutes | Leave a comment

Angelo is back!   Don’t miss out on our October competition.  Angelo Marinosci, Jr., for those just checking our website, is a Rhode Island artist, musician, educator, radio DJ, and fabulous photographer.  He has a knack for telling the truth without injuring anyone’s thin skin or sense of self as a photographer!  I suspect his skill for positive critiques comes from being critiqued himself over his artistic lifetime.

This is our first digital only competition.  The categories are Color Digital, Black and White Digital,  Creative Digital and Theme.  The themes this month are attitude and camera. As usual in print competitions, you may enter 2 images in each category.

For further information or questions, contact us at info@quinebaugvalleyphoto.com.

September 22nd, 2009 | Category: Minutes | Leave a comment

Bob Fedder of Southeastern Camera Club presented, with knowledge and humor, a detailed macro program complete with powerpoint lecture, a display of suggested lenses and accessories that can be used with macro photography, and completed the evening with hands on trial and error.  We had calla lilies and day lilies to work with under lighting provided by Bob.  Other club members also brought floral arrangements for everyone to work with.

Some basic macro facts:

• When using your macro lens remember the larger the magnification, the less depth of field (DOF) you will have.

• By increasing your f stop you  increase your DOF BUT each increase in f stop  doubles your shutter speed requirement.

• Use a tripod, cable release and mirror lock up to achieve sharpness.  Another helpful tool is a focusing rail which allows you to move the camera up to 12″ forward and back without moving the tripod.  Focusing rails come in various styles and price ranges.

• Increase external light by using reflectors, lamps, ringlight

• Macro lenses have a short minimum focusing distance meaning the distance from the front of the lens to the subject.   For example a 50mm macro lens focuses 1.6 inches from the subject, a 105mm lens 4.7 inches and a 180mm lens 9.1.  So you can see that the higher mm lens allows you to be further from your subject.

• You can multiply the focal length by adding a teleconverter.  This allows you to also increase your distance from the subject and the reproduction ratio.  However,  you lose 2 f stops of light.

These are just some of the highlights of Thursday night’s program.  Any club member may request to borrow the powerpoint presentation for review.  Contact:  Lois Latraverse

The evening ended a little past 9:15.

Quick Addition: See Dang Photo for some awesome macro images. Tom is a good friend, a superb photographer and has forgotten more stuff than most of us will ever learn. He has a good forum where friendly people answer all questions. (Edit: Karen Leaf)

Reproduction Ration=focal length of lens ∕ amount of extension

September 20th, 2009 | Category: Minutes | Leave a comment