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

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