Johnny boy Loc: COCOA FL

I have found that learning and easy don't sually work out but learning and fun usually do, so hae fun and good luck.
There are a lot of good folks here that can and will give you advices well as google. Have fun
john

nekon Loc: Carterton, New Zealand

He is a great film photographer, but seems out of his depth with digital

DrPhrogg Loc: NJ

I agree with all of the advice, but a few comments of my own. Don't try to do it all at once. Pick a theme, like portraits, or landscape. Read all you can on this type of imaging. Then practice, critique, reshoot, try to fix or improve the tings you didn't like. No matter how you learn to understand, it will not reside in long term memory until you can do it without thinking. When you are comfortable with one kind of image, move on to another. If you take a course, they hit you with everything at once. Makes it hard to absorb and harder to retain. Set your own pace, learn what you can, and understand that the better you get, the more critical you will become of your own work. This is not a bad thing. I shoot wildlife, and outdoor photography, including some sports. I have done weddings. I will work second for another photographer, but I don't need the hassles of the business. You reach a point where you are thinking "I could have done better if I just..." and everybody else is saying how great your work is. It will take a while to get there. Done be impatient. Be critical of you work only to the extent of figuring out what you really wanted, then read or ask how to get there. Then shoot it again. There is the technical end, and almost anybody can use a high end camera to get better pictures than they could with a $100 p&s. The important part is the artistic end of photography. Even when you don't have a camera with you, watch for shots: how would you compose them, how would you control the lighting? This is an art. In addition to all the technical skills, you must develop an artists eye. Most of all, don't forget to have fun.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

LOL, I was thinking exactly the same thing.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

I totally disagree.
And if I could only recommend 2 photog books, one of them would be his and the other would be Michael Freemans.

Ace and Deuce Loc: Right behind you!!

I agree with you. Film or digital, the exposure triangle is the same, and from what I've read, he explains it quite well.

nekon Loc: Carterton, New Zealand

He doesn't understand diffraction, for a start, better to read Tom Ang;Rick Sammon;Moose Peterson,-people who know their stuff.

nekon Loc: Carterton, New Zealand

Start Here:

The K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple,Shutterbug) Photography Course

For First-time DSLR users.

By Ken Caleno (Dip. Phot)


Introduction: I have been a photographer for over 5 decades, and a digital photographer for the last decade. My aim with this course is to simplify the learning process of getting to know and use an entry level Digital Single-Lens-Reflex (DSLR) Camera, and its kit (18mm-55mm (dependent on make of camera))lens.


Step #1:
Grab your manual-Your manual will not teach you photography, but it will teach you to know your camera, and what all the “whistles and bells” are for, where they may be located, and how they function. Your manual will help you with the following-

Step #2:
Go into the menu of your camera, and find the menu “Reset” . Click this, and all settings, (if you have altered any) will revert to factory default settings.

Step #3:
Now is the time to set up your camera for optimum results, with just seven basic settings. These settings will be used as a base, to take you through several kinds of photographic options, with any deviation from these basics being emphasised in the text.


a) ISO setting………………………………............................................Lowest
b) Exposure Mode………………………………........................................Aperture Priority (A/Av)
c) White Balance………………………………............Set on “Cloudy” For warm images. (sometimes, even in bright sunlight, reflected blue skies can make an image look Bluish, (Cool)
d) Drive Mode-Set this to “continuous”, then you will always be ready to capture the unexpected moment
e) Metering Mode ………………………………....Set it to “Matrix/ Evaluative/Multi-segment”
f) Focus points………………………………...........Centre only-The reason for this is that on most entry-level cameras, The only focus point that has cross sensors, is the central one-as others will have only either vertical, or horizontal sensors only-and you have to be at 90 degrees to these, to be accurate with your auto-focus.
g) Auto-focus Mode………………………..Set auto-focus to single shot, then the shutter will only fire when the subject is in focus (every shot will be sharp)

Setting focus points in viewfinder

detach lens, (so you are adjusting focus on focus point, not image) - adjust dioptre (next to viewfinder) so focus points are sharply in focus. (easier against a white, or light background) Re-attach lens.


Right! Camera all set up for Optimum capture. Now let’s find subjects to make images of……

Situation #1: The outdoor Portrait


Portraiture, in photographic terms, is mostly about capturing the inner person, rather than just what they look like. The odd mannerism, or character trait that others may recognise who know the subject. This requires some communication between photographer and subject, to draw out the subject’s personality. There are several things to think about when making a portrait: light; simplicity; posture; lens focal length; composition; focus and metering. I’ll take these in turn to explain what to do.

SETTINGS:

ISO: Lowest
Exposure mode: A/Av (Aperture priority)
White balance: Cloudy (6250 Kelvin)
Drive mode: Continuous (Don’t want to miss those fleeting glances!)
Metering mode: Centre-weighted
Focus points: Centre
Auto focus: Single shot

Think about:
a) Upping ISO if light levels drop.
b) Spot meter from subject’s face if mixed lighting is employed, or if subject is backlit.
c) You may need to increase ISO, or use a tripod, if F 5.6 doesn’t give you a shutter speed of at least 1/ 125sec


Note: Focus on Subjects Eyes For portraits.

Light

Concerning portraits, It is better to use a non-directional (Diffused) light source, due to the gradual gradation of its shadow, which doesn’t mar the portrait. If you’re shooting outdoors, for the best modelling you will want the light to strike the model’s face from the side, at 45 degrees vertical and horizontal. First get out of the direct sunlight, either in the shade of a building, or under the shelter of a tree. This will result in your model being lit by a diffused, non-directional light source, skylight or reflected light from surroundings. If you position your model looking towards this light source , the face should be lit with soft, delicate light. All you need to do is to move your subject, or your camera, to get light crossing the face.. What you want to achieve here is to have one side of the face brighter than the other by two stops exposure, giving a 3-dimensional rendering to the portrait. In case there is no tree, or building, you may need to resort to scrims, reflectors or blacks to modify the light to suit. Scrims are sheets of translucent material that are held between the sun and the subject to diffuse direct light. Reflectors are panels of card or material that reflects light, providing a soft quality of light. Usually white, silver or gold in colour, light bounces off the surface and into the shadow areas of the face. Blacks are the opposite of reflectors and they absorb light, instead of reflecting it.
Or you can use your pop-up flash as fill in, and as a bonus this will produce nice catch lights in the subject’s eyes

Simplify

As your subject needs to be the centre of attention in your image, you won’t want unnecessary clutter in foreground or background. Try to emphasise your subject by putting them against a simple plain background, but, if you want to give a sense of location, attempt to find a viewpoint that is simple and uncluttered.

Another way to emphasise your subject, is to fill the frame; alternatively, you could use shallow depth of field rendering the background out of focus-subject will appear sharp, with background blurred. Best way to do this is with a large aperture, in your case with a kit lens- F 5.6 (you will need to position your subject a good distance from background at this aperture to get the bokeh (blur) you require.)

Subject Posture


You will need to gently coax your portrait subject into an appropriate pose for his/her portrait,-not an easy task for the beginner. They must feel relaxed and confident if you are to portray them adequately. If they turn their body at about 45 degrees to camera position, then look back to just over your left shoulder, this will induce dynamism into the portrait and will make the body look slimmer. Sometimes it just pays to talk to your sitter-ask them to tell you their story, and you must be aware of the nuances of character as their story is related, and be ready to capture those little subtleties.

Lens focal length

The ideal focal length of lens for portraits, is somewhere between 80mm and 135mm, using 35mm(Full-frame) film standards. So that means the telephoto end of your kit lens , 55mm- is equivalent to 86mm in 35mm (Full-frame) terms. Using this 55mm setting will enable you to make a head and shoulder shot from just a few feet away, without distorting your subject’s features, which a shorter focal length would do. If you want to include more of the scene , you can use shorter focal lengths, but you will need to keep a fair distance from your subject to avoid distortion.

Composition
How do you intend to crop your portrait in the viewfinder frame? Head shot?; Head and shoulders? Three-quarter length? (quite popular); Full length? How about angle of view?
Shooting from our eye-level, isn’t necessarily the most appropriate solution. From above eye-level your subject will appear submissive, or passive, and from below they will look domineering,


Focus


They eyes we are told, are the “mirror of the soul”, so it will pay you to focus on the eyes, using centre focus point, holding shutter button halfway down, then recompose your image for the crop you want.

Metering

Centre-weighted metering mode is ideal for front-lit and side-lit portraits, but backlighting can confuse the meter. Try using spot mode on subject’s face for backlit situations

Got it all together? Go take your shot-chimp your camera’s monitor screen, and if it’s too dark, or too light, use your exposure compensation, or increase ISO if necessary.
Look for Exposure Compensation in your Camera Manual, so you know where to find it, and how to use it


#2: The Indoor Portrait by Window light


SETTINGS :

ISO: Lowest
Exposure mode: A/Av Aperture priority
White balance: Auto White Balance
Drive mode: Continuous
Metering mode: Centre-weighted
Focus points: Centre
Auto focus: Single shot

Think about:

a) you may need to go to F8 to control depth of field, and maintain subject focus.
b) You may need to resort to manual focus to ensure eyes are sharp
c) ISO-Start at lowest setting and increase up to 400 if necessary to ensure a shutter speed of at least 1/125 sec.


For indoor portraits, window light is a great source-First choose a window on the side of the house away from the sun-you don’t want direct sunlight, it’s too harsh. When you position your model close to a window, you get a soft light to one side of the face, and because the inside of the room is relatively dark, the other side of the face will be in shadow -a 3 dimensional look for your portrait.
Again, by using a reflector, ( Gold gives a warm tanned look, White will be most used, and Silver gives a glint to the model’s eye) you can arrive at the 2-stop difference - For

instance F 11 for window -lit side of face, and F 5.6 for the shadow side- ( 3:1 ratio) for the ideal portrait. Or you can use fill-in flash as a last resort if reflectors, scrims or blacks aren’t immediately available.

As before, focus on the subject’s eyes, and use posing, composing, and character finding ideas from previous situation.

NOTE: Set aperture to window lit side of face. (Key light)


Situation #3: Landscape a) basics


ISO: Lowest
Exposure mode: Av
White balance: Auto White Balance
Drive mode: Continuous
Metering mode: Matrix
Focus points: Centre
Auto focus: Single shot

Think about:
A Tripod-Mandatory for Landscapes
A circular polarizer and or Neutral Density/Graduated neutral density filters

Your job, as a landscape photographer, is to create a 3-dimensional tableau from a 2-dimensional plane, and you do this by making your image appear to have depth.
To create this illusion, your image must consist of a definite foreground, middle ground and background, and by having some detail in each of these areas. Aim for a
balance between these three areas.

One of the most important things to understand when taking landscape photographs is how depth of field works, and how you can make use of it to make better images. It is usual to include foreground details in the shot, as this helps to balance the whole image, and helps to lead the viewer's eye into the image. But- how do you ensure that both the foreground objects and the distant landscape are in focus?

When you focus at a particular point in the image, other objects some distance in front of and behind the subject will also be in focus. The range of these in-focus objects either side of the focal point is called the depth of field. Exactly how far in front and behind your subject will remain in focus can be controlled by altering the F-stop setting of your lens.
You really want to have as much of the scene in focus as possible, so the obvious choice is to use a very small aperture setting to maximise depth of field. But, maximising the depth of field won't ensure that your entire scene is in focus. You need to know exactly where to focus your lens. If you select a point of focus too close , the foreground and middle-scene will be covered by the depth of field, but distant objects will be blurred.

As the depth of field extends both in front and behind the focal point, ( 1/3 in front of focal point, and 2/3 behind ) the solution is to use manual focus, and to focus on a point somewhere between the foreground and the distance, so that the extreme distance (effectively infinity) is contained in the "sharp zone", the closest object in your frame is at the nearest end, and everything in the frame is in focus. This point, at which the depth of field is maximized within the field of view, is known as the hyperfocal distance. The amount of distance that appears in acceptable focus will start at halfway from this point to effective infinity.

There is a mathematical equation for working this distance out, but as we are Keeping It Simple, Shutterbug, I’ll give you a hyperfocal distance that will include all from 750mm( 2 feet 6 inches) to as far as the eye can see. (infinity)

Use your 18mm-55mm kit lens at 18mm and F11, focused on a point 1.5 metres ( 5 feet) away from camera lens, and all will appear acceptably sharp between distances stated above. NOTE: If you are more that 5 feet (1.5 metres) tall-you can focus on your feet!
You will need to lock focus to do this- So look in your camera Menu for AF-Lock (Manual will help you find it! By doing this you lock the focus as you focus on your feet,( usually by pushing and holding a button at back of camera) then compose your shot, then shutter
button halfway down will lock exposure, then continue with full press to make the exposure.

Polarizers

Polarizers are grey in colour, and you need to sacrifice up to two stops in exposure to use one. The front part of the filter can rotate to adjust the amount of polarization. The proper, intended use for these filters, is to cut glare and reduce reflections from all materials except shiny metal objects. A polarizer will help you to see through the glare of a river or a lake’s surface. Wildlife and nature photographers use polarizers sparingly, to cut the sky’s reflection on animal fur and feathers, and the land itself. To set a polarizer for such images, you point it at something earthy-brown in colour-this can be a tree bark, dirt, etc., then the front lens of the filter is rotated to give the brown dirt a dark chocolate-y colour-then it is ready to use for your nature, landscape and wildlife images. Polarizers can also deepen blue skies, making white clouds stand out, but realise that over-use can accentuate noise in blue skies. To cut glare the camera needs to be at 30 degrees to the water surface, or shop window to work 100%.To use for darkening the blue in skies, the camera needs to be around 90 degrees to the sun to have any visible effect, you just turn the front element to the shade you desire .It is a good idea to have your white balance set to cloudy, even on sunny days, as sometimes images can come out cool-looking. ND Grads, as the Graduated neutral density filters are usually called, come in 1,2,3,4,5,6 up to 10 stops, but a 2 stop is a good medium one to start with-These are used when there are more than 3 stops difference between the land/sea, and the sky-where the sky will be blown out, or the land/sea in heavy shadow.




Time of day

You may have read, or heard of “The Golden Light” and wondered what it all means. “Golden Light” happens twice a day, everyday -It’s that hour after sunrise in the morning, and again, the hour before sunset in the evening. You have shadowless images right up until dusk in evening’s golden light, Great for portraits, and beautiful landscapes.
Overcast days also are shadowless and ideal for portraits. Between 10:00am and 2:00pm, the sun is directly overhead, and not much good for any kind of photography-except maybe for architectural detail.

At twilight, that is from about 30-45 minutes after sunset, is the ideal time to capture night landscapes, just before the sky turns black. Here is where you find the “Sweet-spot”-the balance of natural ambient light and artificial lighting in city scenes. Best to arrive at your chosen venue about 30 minutes before sunset, then you can capture your sunset images first, then wait for the right time for the twilight shots.

A tripod, of course, is mandatory as exposures will be quite long. So, if you are able to lock up the mirror on your camera, this will help with avoidance of shake. If you have a remote control, terrific!-use this, too. If you don’t have either of these functions, just set self-timer for 10 seconds.
Aperture priority; bracket exposures, (1 stop over; One stop under) using shutter speed as the variable unit. Chimp your screen after each shot, to check progress.
White balance, of necessity, will be tungsten, of course, to reinforce the blue sky, and to help de-saturate the yellow artificial light, which can be overpowering. Experiment and try using Fluorescent White balance for brilliant color in the sky. Lowest ISO as usual-at least, at first! Aperture depends-F8 to F11 is the sharpest range for your lens, but you may need to forsake the threat of diffraction, and go for F16 or 22, if you are getting lens flare.

On Composing your Shots

Composition is the art of arranging the elements of your image in the most effective manner. There are a lot of Pythagorean mathematics concerning composition, But I want to “Keep It Simple Shutterbug“, so I’ll just put a few Ideas forward-I hate rules-they limit creativity.
Ok, The Prime factor is to have a point of interest in your images .

You then need to decide where best, within your viewfinder frame to place this point of interest

Now you need to guide the viewer’s eye toward this point of interest.

Ask yourself three Questions:

1. What is My main point of interest?

Answer: The most prominent person, topic or theme


2. How may I emphasise my main point of interest

Answers:

a) By placement in the frame
b) By selective focusing
c) By blurring motion (slow shutter speed)
d) By Freezing motion (Fast shutter speed)
e) By filling the frame with my point of interest
3. What can I leave out of the image to improve it?

Answers:

a) All things that are irrelevant to my point of interest
b) All elements that detract from my point of interest
c) Foreground and background clutter



Landscapes b) Sunrises/Sunsets


ISO: Lowest
Exposure mode: Av
White balance: Auto White Balance
Drive mode: Continuous
Metering mode: matrix
Focus points: Centre
Auto focus: Single shot

Think about: Manual focusing- If auto focus fails


A pretty, colourful sky on its own, doesn’t really say much, but if you can find a situation where there is a subject in the foreground that would silhouette against the sky, such as an old, gnarled tree, or a church steeple-then you have the making of a great landscape-Shop around for the best angle, by rendering your subject recognisable, while eliminating unnecessary distractions from foreground/background.
The wide-angle 18mm -24mm end of your kit zoom lens will be the focal length of choice for this type of scene (This will allow room to crop out any other distractions)

Sometimes you will find that auto-focus has trouble finding focus, due usually to inadequate contrast-That’s where manual focus needs to be employed-
just switch off auto-focus and focus by revolving the lens’s focusing ring. As for metering, this could give problems balancing contrast of sky and land, so for silhouettes, try an aperture of, say, F8,filling the majority of your viewfinder frame with sky-You camera will take a reading from the brighter part of the sky, and expose for that, rendering all else as silhouettes. But if you want detail in the sky and the land, the answer is a graduated neutral density filter, or “ND grad.” These filters come in several grades both soft and hard, from 1 to 10 stops. They are half grey and half transparent-The upper, grey part, holds back the sky, while the land gets exposed correctly

Then there is the question do you want the sun in the image? If you do, you will need to watch for lens flare, and you don’t want the Sun dominating the scene- A lens hood, (Which you should always use) will often solve the problem.


Landscape c) Waterfalls and streams

ISO: Lowest
Exposure mode: Av
White balance: Auto White Balance
Drive mode: Continuous
Metering mode: Matrix
Focus points: Centre
Auto focus: Single shot

Think about:
Apertures of f22 and smaller
A tripod (Mandatory)
Long Exposures (1/2 - 2 seconds)

You are going to want your waterfall and stream/river shots to depict a silky flow, to give a dreamy sense of motion. A bright and sunny day you do not need-water flow shots benefit from lower lighting conditions. To further control exposure you can use an ND (neutral density) filter and/or a polarizer. A wide angle setting is often the best for this type of shot.


Situation 4:Nature a) Flowers

ISO: Lowest
Exposure mode: Av
White balance: Auto White Balance
Drive mode: Continuous
Metering mode: Matrix
Focus points: Centre
Auto focus : single shot

To reduce blur from camera shake while in the shade, you may need to increase ISO to 400

Tripods are mandatory for tack-sharp close-ups.

You may need to switch to manual focus to fine-tune, focusing on either the nearest petal, or the centre of the bloom, and it will pay to use bracketing to nail exposure.
What you end up with, is one shot as metered, one shot at one stop under-and another shot at one stop over. Basically, what you do is take one shot as metered, then adjust aperture or shutter speed accordingly. (see your manual for this as camera makes often differ in how this is done.)
So-You have a bright, sunny day- a garden full of beautiful flowers, and all you have is your camera, a tripod and your 18-55mm zoom kit lens.
Search for flowers in shady places-if there aren’t any, create some! You could use a black cloth as a background, or a black plastic bucket, with a voice activated stand, ( a friend) to hold the bucket behind the flower. Look for flowers that stand out proudly from the rest, making them easier to isolate.

Make sure your flower specimens are clean and complete-Set aperture to 5.6 the blur backgrounds, look for the best angle to capture the flower’s essence.

You will need to be patient where breezes occur, and just wait for the right moments.

Situation 5:Nature b) Insects and bugs:

ISO: 100-400
Exposure mode: Av
White balance: Auto White Balance
Drive mode: Continuous
Metering mode:Centre-weighted/spot
Focus points: Centre
Auto focus : single shot or manual focus, if required

Tripods are mandatory for tack-sharp close-ups.

If you are going to try hand-held, you will need to use shutter speeds in the range of 1/250-1/500 sec

Aperture within f5.6 - f11 range

Focus,(if you can) on the eyes of the insect-if insect is sitting parallel, most of its body will be sharp, but if head-on, make sure head and thorax are sharply defined.

You will desire your insect to stand out from the background, so use your widest practical aperture, to render the background an out of focus blur.

IF autofocus is giving you problems, switch to manual focus, for accuracy.



Situation 6 Action shots

ISO: Lowest
Exposure mode: S/TV Shutter priority
White balance: Auto White Balance (Indoor)- cloudy (outdoor)
Drive mode: Continuous
Metering mode: Matrix
Focus points: Centre
Auto focus: Single shot


You won’t be able to cover a lot of sports with just the 18-55mmlens, but you can still catch action shots, for instance, a cyclist on a BMX track, you can freeze the action, and blur the background to give an impression of great speed, by using a technique known as “panning”. Panning will take some practise, but when mastered, you can make some great shots. What you do, is point your feet towards where you want to capture the action-now turning from the waist, twist your upper body towards the direction the rider will be arriving from. Set auto focus to continuous, and twist your body back, while shooting and keeping rider in sight-don’t stop shooting until you have gone past the point of action. Shutter speed is relative to speed rider is travelling, so shutter priority is the way to go. This is one time when a cluttered background can do you a favour, It will reinforce the blur making your shot more realistic. Try using a shutter speed of 1/30sec up to 1/60sec.
For sports like field events, (Long jump high jump, pole vault, etc.,) you could try capturing the top of the action, Like a child on a playground swing.

When this has been mastered, go here:

Kiss part Two-Masterclass

A word of warning- some things you are about to learn here will go against what you will have read, or been told, but which I have found to work for me.
Whether you use the differences, or not-is entirely up to you-I will never state that my way is the only way.


Here is a prime example of the above:

Why I believe Exposing to the right, (ETTR) is wrong

1.There is no advantage to image quality from ETTR that can't be duplicated by selecting a lower ISO, if a lower ISO setting is available. In some situations, such as where there is in-camera noise reduction, ETTR actually increases noise. That's what the practical tests show, and the theory of the case confirms the practical results to be correct.
2.The only situation where there is an advantage to ETTR is if you're already at the lowest ISO setting your camera, and you use ETTR to synthesize a lower ISO. However, given the noise performance of most modern cameras, that advantage is often very small. The test I did here - a small sensor high pixel count camera - is the best possible scenario for seeing an improvement. Using a modern DSLR, the improvement would be marginal at best.
3.Any kind of ETTR brings significant disadvantages in the shape of color and tone curve shifts that will have to be repaired in post processing. While these shifts are small, they are easily the equivalent in effect of changing profiles. So, in effect, ETTR negates the advantages that modern raw developers such as Lightroom bring with them.

Ok, Let's progress- First, Towards perfect exposure:

We all want “Perfect Exposure”, but how do we achieve this ?

What is “Perfect Exposure?” - Perfect exposure occurs when the lighting of the subject, balances with the Dynamic Range of the camera’s sensor, (Usually 5 EV stops). In other words, there should be detail in highlight areas of a scene, without blown highlights, and detail in shadow areas without clipping.

First of all, let’s take a look at our cameras’ metering methods, just to clear up some
confusion:

The scene is a person, standing on the beach, with a brightly-lit background -

a) Matrix,

(sometimes called evaluative, or multi-segment, depending on make of camera) would take an overall look at the scene and divide it into many segments, take into consideration the distance of the subject, and the lens’s focal length setting. All this data is fed into the meter’s processing unit, in order to determine the best possible exposure. This mode of metering would give the best rendition of the scene, as it would tend to favour the subject, (person)
and modulate the background to suit.

b) Centre-Weighted,

would measure the scene and concentrate on the central part of the image frame, but it would be affected by the bright background, if the person doesn’t fill the central area completely, so the resultant image would be an underexposed person, with a fairly-well exposed background.

c) Spot Metering,

Would take a reading from a very small, (1-3 degree) circle, at centre of the frame, in the viewfinder. This small area of measurement, when placed on the subject in the frame, will not get any reading at all from the background, resulting in a correct exposure for the person, against an over-exposed background.

NOTE: Some cameras, notably Canon’s entry level dslrs are equipped with
“Partial Spot “metering, (5% to 10% of image area) which veers more towards centre-weighted metering.

We are informed that there are just 3 exposure values in our photographic images, Black White and “Middle Grey” This Middle Grey is usually referred to as 18% or 13% grey, (depending on what you believe) or Average reflected tone. The theory being that if you average out all tones in an image, the result will be middle grey. Great, in theory! This only works if an adequate range of tones are present in the scene.

Because all cameras read tones differently, you need to know where Middle grey is on your camera.

With camera on tripod, exposure compensation at 0-0 and a scene with all tones:

set Exposure compensation (+/-) at +1 take a shot

Now in 1/3 (0.3) increments adjust exposure compensation and take a shot, all the way to -1, giving you seven images.

load these into imaging programme and select the image with best detail in shadows and highlights.

This setting will be your standard, set this on your camera, and you will never need to do this again - your camera will be calibrated for optimum exposure.
This is baseline, so if shot looks too dark or light, in certain conditions, just adjust (+/-) to suit.

I believe a basic understanding of The “Zone System” will be of benefit here, so I have included my intro to this:

Edward Weston/Ansel Adams developed the “Zone System”
To control exposure and contrast for black and white film photography
And To pre-visualize finished image after post processing in the darkroom,

There are11 zones black to white-each zone represent 1 EV (exposure value) stop:

0 Total black

I Almost black-no detail

II Dark grey-black -very dark detail in shadows

III Very dark grey-shadow detail-dark animal fur

IV Medium dark grey-dark green foliage, shadow side of Caucasian face
Dark stone-landscape shadow-dark skin-details plainly visible

V Medium grey-green grass-grey stone-dry tarmac-excellent detail

VI Rich mid-tone grey-Caucasian skin in sunlight-light stone and sand

VII Bright light grey-white with texture-silver hair

VIII Almost white-Delicate texture-no detail-reflected highlights on Caucasian skin

IX Nearly pure white

X Absolute white


Each zone is a tone between black and white

Each zone is either half or twice the exposure of it’s neighbour, depending on whether you are going up or down, For example Zone III is 2 stops darker than zone V, and zone VII is 2 stops lighter than zone V-As you move your exposure one stop (ev) say, from f 8 to f 11,or from 1/60sec to 1/125sec, you will have moved the exposure one zone

Although developed for black and white film, it can still be useful for digital imaging, and once you get used to using it, your resulting images will be superior to anything you have done before..

It can be difficult to understand that when working in color, that black and white and tones of grey can apply. Your camera’s meter sees in black, white and tones of grey in between.

So to help you understand:

Your camera’s built-in meter will average everything it sees as mid-grey (18% or 13%-whichever you believe to be correct) > ZONE V!

To prove that this is so, try this experiment:

Get a piece of white paper and a piece of black paper ( A4 sheets) take separate photo of each sheet, filling the frame, in the same lighting conditions, using the camera’s meter - Surprise, Surprise! They both came out mid-grey. This is because the camera’s meter averages out the scene, giving an average exposure for the scene at ZONE V.

The camera’s light meter will measure and average everything it’s pointed at

So it becomes necessary to switch to spot metering-a spot meter will measure only a very small angle (1-2 Degrees)-spot metering will let the camera know the most important part of the scene in front of it.

Ok. Let’s assume you have a Caucasian model against a relatively dark background-So you assess the scene before you, and decide that the model’s face is the most important part of the scene.

Usually Caucasian skin registers at Zone VI or Zone VII, (Even though we are looking at a color scene, the camera only sees light and dark.) When we spot meter for model’s face, this will register on camera as Zone V

We have decided to rate the model’s skin at Zone VII, and this means we must open up 2 EV stops to achieve this:

If we are in manual shooting mode, this will require us to either a) Decrease the shutter speed from, say 1/250th sec to 1/60th sec, or b) 0pen up aperture from, say F8 to F4.

If you are in auto mode/scene exposure mode, set exposure compensation to +1 or+2

Always do a final check using your histogram: In some situations, by placing the subject at a certain zone, could result in other areas of the image being under or over exposed.

From this you can see that the camera’s Dynamic range is from zone III to zone, VII with Zone V being middle grey.

(For more information on the Zone System just “Google” it.)


If you have a scene with tones outside this 5-stop range, you will need to either use Graduated Neutral Density filters or blend two images (one metered for highlights and one metered for shadows) and blend them in Photoshop.

With camera on tripod: meter for highlight, take a shot-then meter for shadows, take another shot. In Photoshop, add lighter image to darker as a new layer, then: Select> Color Range-click highlights ,check “invert”, click “OK”. Add layer mask. Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur 250 pixels. Flatten and save. You will get detail in highlights and shadows.

How zoom lenses can affect metering

There are two distinct types of zoom lenses
a) Constant aperture zooms, that maintain a fixed aperture when zooming
b) variable aperture zooms, where the aperture changes as you zoom

Therefore metering with a type b) zoom lens, is trickier than a type a) where the aperture remains constant, when in manual mode
So when you zoom away from the original metered scene, you will need to change the settings, because the aperture will have changed while zooming
So, with an 18-55 zoom lens, which aperture varies from F3.5-F5.6 as you zoom, If you get a meter reading at the 55mm (F5.6)setting, then zoom back to 18mm, your aperture will have changed to F3.5 .
Those two stops difference in exposure will make a noticeable effect on the final image



Manual Exposure Metering


Your camera uses reflected light readings for exposure-light reflected from different subjects, will result in a range of tones, which your camera’s meter will try to average to give an overall exposure. It may not matter sometimes, but because any little deflection of lighting will give a different reading, and if you are photographing a wedding, for instance, it could look as if photos were taken on different days!

Incident light-light falling on the subjects is always constant.

Start using your in-built Incident exposure meter- Your eyes!

This is how us oldies who started in the late 1950’s/60’s learn to read exposure: You will often hear the term “The sunny 16 rule”, or Basic Daylight Exposure” here it is explained:

Basically four apertures are used: F16; F11; F8; and F5.6

Shutter-speed is based on Equivalent ISO#

Watching the shadows, the base settings are: ( for ISO 200)

Hard-edged shadows …………………….1/200 sec @ F16

Soft-edged shadows………………………1/200 sec @ F11

Barely visible Shadows…………………..1.200 sec @ F8

No Shadows……………………………….1/200 sec @ F5.6


Remember, these are the base settings: so variants would be:

1/200 @ F16
1/400 @ F11
1/800 @ F8
1/1600 @ F5.6
These all give the same exposure (But with different depths of field)
The other 3 settings use the same spatial relationship, the settings you choose are based on subject movement and/or depth of field desired. For instance If you want to keep the Aperture at F8:


Hard shadows……………………………1/800 @ F8

Soft shadows…………………………….1/400@ F8

Barely visible shadows…………………1/200 @ F8

No shadows………………………………1/100 @ F8 (As shadows fade, more light is required)
Heavily overcast…………………………..1/125 @ F8

Deep Shade………………………………1/60 @ F8

Pre-thunderstorm…………………………1/30 @ F8

Brightly lit store interior……………………1/15 @ F8

Well-lit stage/sports arena…………………1/8 @ F8

Well-lit house interior……………………….¼ @ F8

(Of course you would vary the F stop and shutter speed combinations to whatever would be most appropriate. )
To get more exact exposure readings, you may want to bracket exposures. As you can’t use exposure compensation button when in manual made, this is what I do on my Nikon, your Dslr will have a similar action:


Achieving Perfect Exposure in any outdoor daylight condition



Choose a scene where there are objects in the foreground, middleground and background, with people if possible.

With camera on tripod,set ISO at 100,lens at fully open aperture, Meter scene.

Take shot, focusing on middle-ground objects. Write down aperture/shutter speed used.

Close down, One step at a time writing down aperture/shutter speed combinations

eg: F stop Shutter speed

3.5
4
5.6
8
11
16
22

Which combination suits you the best?

Go and find scenes where low light/fast speed combinations will work.
Come back with 3 images, of 3 scenes.

That concludes step two



Mastering Metering

Spot Metering

1. Create a custom White balance
2. Set camera
3. Take shot
4. Spot meter part of scene which you think matches tone of grey card:

-green grass-grey stone-dry tarmac
4. Adjust settings to suit spot reading
5. Take shot

Find a location where you can;t get close-across a river-across a busy street
Find backlit subjects,subjects in shade,subjects with wide tonal range

Spot meter off of different objects in these locations



Centre-weighted metering

New Location:

1. Check color balance
2. Adjust camera according to reading
3. Take a shot
4. Switch to Centre-weighted metering mode
5. Centre the subject, take reading
6. Change settings
7. Take shot
8. Place subject to one side
9. Take shot

Try spot reading backlit subjects


Matrix Metering

New Location

1. Take baseline shot
2. Find several subjects, and scenes using matrix metering for each of them
3. Change lighting, subject and distance.
At this point you should be able to analyse a scene for spot,centre-weighted or matrix metering,grey card, using that information to determine the correct exposure for any scene in daylight,

White Balance

White balance

Where, with film you either shot print film in daylight or with flash indoors, and with slide film, you used daylight or tungsten film, or used compensating filters with these. White balance is Digital’s version-you select a white balance based on the condition of the light you are using, so the camera’s meter allows for white to photograph as white
Auto white balance does a reasonable job most of the time, but it cannot cope in some situations-especially when subject is in deep shadow. You need to know when to use the white balance settings for all situations, and this table will help you understand: ( degrees Kelvin is a means of determining colour temperature)

Sunrise/sunset 2400-3000 Kelvin……………………Use Auto white balance
Tungsten lighting 3200-3500 Kelvin Note…( these settings are for studio white balance for tungsten-Use tungsten/Incandescent white balance) For Domestic tungsten lighting-2500 - 3200-you will generally get better results using auto white balance
Fluorescent lighting 4000 Kelvin …………… Use fluorescent White balance
Early morning/afternoon sun 4000 Kelvin…….Use auto white balance/ --fluorescent white balance
(Magenta filter) to counter greenish cast on skin from foliage if under trees or on really green grass
Noon sun/Sun overhead…5000-6500 Kelvin…………………….use Cloudy White balance
Flash photography in daylight 5500 Kelvin ………………………Use Flash White balance
Deep shade………………….6500 Kelvin…………………………Use cloudy/shade white balance
Shade in daylight 7500 Kelvin ………………………………......Use shade white balance
Heavy overcast, very dark shade 8000 to 10000 Kelvin………Use shade white balance plus 81a-85c glass filter

To set custom White balance: (Nikon)

Select a neutral coloured object to set your white balance
It’s best to avoid using a white target. The camera prefers grey.( Print yourself a grey card: In photoshop- File> New
Click on background square in toolbox
select: red 127; green 127; blue 127 from color chart- Print)


In white balance menu select "Custom"> "Preset"
select "measure"
Press shutter release halfway to return to shooting mode
press wb button until a blinking "Pre" appears in control panel and viewfinder
frame reference (grey card) so it fills the frame
and press shutter release all the way down (Camera won't take picture)
If camera was able to register a value for white balance "Good" will flash in control panel and GD will flash in viewfinder
If lighting is too dark or bright "no g d" will flash in viewfinder and control panel


If you use white in direct sunlight you'll always get a "No Gd" response from the camera because the Matrix meter is rendering it white instead of grey. Thus the trick is to select the centre-weighted meter when using a white reference in bright light and you'll get "Good" from a camera. Remember to set back to Matrix metering as soon as you're done.

Mastering Focus

All modern cameras have Auto-focusing, which works very well, but there are times when you need to focus manually. For auto-focus to work properly it requires a certain amount of contrast, if the contrast isn’t adequate you will need to focus manually.[ NOTE: In your camera’s viewfinder, depending on camera-flagship models generally have many focusing spots, and lesser, entry-level dslr’s will have around 5 focusing spots. With lens wide open, any of these spots can be used for selecting where to auto focus-But, depending on maximum aperture of lens in use, the ones you are able to use get fewer. Top-of-the-line cameras will only have the centre spot usable at F8,and entry level cameras at F5.6, and less than that, even these single spots aren’t reliable.]
Actually it is more beneficial to set auto focus by the centre spot, then re-compose, rather than use the peripheral spots-The reason being that only the centre spot has vertical and horizontal pixel rows. This means that if you use the peripheral spots (top and bottom spots have horizontal pixels only and right and left spots have vertical pixels only) To focus, you must have a part of the scene crossing a line of pixels at 90 degrees, and the centre spot gives you a more accurate reading ,having both vertical and horizontal pixels) It will pay you to manually focus most of the time, for full control of the situation. For instance, if an unnoticed reed encroaches into your image, when your are shooting a swan at the lake, for instance, your lens may auto-focus on that reed, rendering your actual subject out of focus.

Concerning Auto focus

There are times, you will find when auto focus will fail to respond favourably-although auto focus is able to lock on to any subject, there are certain conditions where it may not be possible ,even when the indicator lights are on, and the shutter releases.

Subjects with low contrast
Solution: Focus on something the same distance as the subject you want to make an image of, then aim at that subject
Subjects that do not contain vertical lines
Solution: Hold camera vertically, lock focus, then switch to horizontal
Subjects in excessively bright light
Solution: Focus on something the same distance as the subject you want to make an image of, then aim at that subject
Two subjects at differing distances
Solution: Focus on something the same distance as the subject you want to make an image of, then aim at that subject, and re-compose
Subjects with repetitive patterns
Solution: Focus on something the same distance as the subject you want to make an image of, then aim at that subject, and recompose
High speed subjects at close range
Solution: focus on another subject at the same distance-to-subject distance first, then re-compose your frame
To ensure you are in focus, there, in the viewfinder, is the electronic rangefinder icon, that comes on when you are in focus. NOTE: Each lens has its “sweet-spot”, that is when the aperture and zoom length combine to give optimum sharpness- 18-55 mm zooms usually have this “sweet-spot” at the 35mm distance setting and 2 stops back from wide open. On a 70-300mm zoom the “sweet-spot” would be around 185-200mm aperture 2 stops back from widest.
Auto focus is good for situations where you cannot focus fast enough, manually, such as sports and wildlife photography.
Depth of field appears to be the most confusing of focus elements. Depth of field is a range of acceptable sharpness in an image, from near to far. Three factors control Depth of field: Aperture: The wider the aperture, the shallower the depth of field. Focal length of lens, The longer the focal length of the lens, the shallower the depth of field will be. and Distance from subject, Landscape images have great depth of field, whereas Macro (extreme close-up) images have very shallow depth of field. Concerning depth of field, Hyperfocal distance seems to be even more confusing -Hyperfocal distance is a point of focus where at a certain aperture, Half the distance from that point to Infinity, (which starts at 30 feet, and extends to as far as you are able to see)) will be in acceptable focus, The best lenses for hyperfocal distance are 80mm or wider ; telephoto lenses, because of their relative short depth of field, are rarely used. (Prime lenses have a scale on them for this, zooms do not) Using a 18mm setting on your zoom lens at f11, Hyperfocal distance is somewhere around 5 feet (1500mm), so depth of field at this aperture would be from 2 1/2 feet ( 750mm) to infinity, when focused at 5 feet. A good guideline for great depth of field for landscapes is to use the bottom focusing marker in your DSLR viewfinder, (either horizontal, or vertical) as this will focus 1/3 of the way into the distance, (It is on the lower third imaginary “Rule of Thirds” gridline!) ,as is usually recommended. [ NOTE: Unless your camera has depth of field preview, looking through the viewfinder all will not be in focus, because your lens, until you press the shutter button to make the shot, will be open at full aperture.]



When shooting landscapes, it pays to know exactly where the sun will be at any certain time of the day, so you know where to be when the light is right for good 3-dimensional images. If you wear an analogue watch- point the twelve o'clock marker towards the sun-, now each 5 minute marker equals 2 hours of time (360 degrees to a circle, divided by 24 hours = 15 degrees to an hour, so each 5 minute marker =30 degrees = 2 hours) Using this, and knowing which direction the Earth is travelling, you can figure where the sun will be at any time of day.
To avoid camera-shake, always use a sturdy tripod. When using lenses equipped with VR/IS (vibration reduction-Nikon/Image stabilisation-Canon), on a tripod you will need to turn off the anti-shake, or lens will still try to counteract vibration that isn‘t there,, and cause unwanted shake. If, for some reason you cannot use a tripod, use your self as one-
Feet at “T-Stance”, left hand supporting camera, elbow against ribs
Camera pressed against nose and brow
Right hand also elbow against ribs, index finger on shutter button
Set shooting mode to continuous, and “Roll” index finger on shutter button - First couple of shots will probably be blurred, but somewhere between 3-4 and 5 you should have a shake-free shot of the scene. ( When using zoom lenses longer than 200mm-I usually set ISO to 400, when hand-holding)





“Trap” focusing:

This is a neat way to use auto focus especially for fast sports/wildlife action.

Custom (pencil) menu:
Autofocus set to AF-S
AF area mode set to single
AE-L/AF-L set to AF ON

Compose your shot and set the focus by aiming the centre focus icon at a definite target at the precise distance you want, (Say a tree branch where a bird is about to land, or on second base where the baseball player's foot will land) and pressing the "AE-L/AF-L" button near the viewfinder. This will focus the lens, let go of AE-L/AF-L button. Turn away,
press and hold the shutter button all the way down. Point camera at pre-focused point when subject approaches, and your camera will take the shot (or shots, if you are in continuous shooting mode.)

Much faster than Human reflexes.

Light

- without which, we would have no photography. We need to understand its Magnitude, Direction and Intensity, so that we may manipulate, and control its power.
Direct sunlight and On-camera flash/strobes are Directional light sources, their shadows are sharply defined, and distinct. For many photographers, the sun is the main source of illumination. There is nothing wrong with relying solely on sunlight, but you do have to appreciate the different qualities of light available. Time of day and angle of light are the two essential considerations to be made about using sunlight as the main source of light. Photographers talk about late afternoon ( golden) light. Things do seem to photograph more beautifully when the sun is low on the horizon, that is, at dusk. You can get a similar feeling early in the morning although morning light tends to be more pink ( Cooler) while afternoon light is redder (Warmer).While shooting photographs between 10am and 4pm is not generally recommended, sometimes certain subjects will work fine, especially when you want a high degree of contrast between highlight and shadow. ( Architectural details come to mind)
Non-directional lighting has light reaching the subject from all sorts of angles; from left, from right, and all angles in between, and shadows thus formed are very soft, sometimes hard to discern-Cloud cover on an overcast day is one example of non-directional light, while light reflected from the sky (skylight) is another. Concerning portraits, It is better to use a non-directional (Diffused) light source, due to the gradual gradation of its shadow, which doesn’t mar the portrait. If you’re shooting outdoors, for the best modelling you will want the light to strike the model’s face from the side, at 45 degrees vertical and horizontal. First get out of the direct sunlight, either in the shade of a building, or under the shelter of a tree. This will result in your model being lit by a diffused, non-directional light source, skylight or reflected light from surroundings. If you position your model looking towards this light source , the face should be lit with soft, delicate light. All you need to do is to move your subject, or your camera, to get light crossing the face.. What you want to achieve here is to have one side of the face brighter than the other by two stops exposure, giving a 3-dimensional rendering to the portrait. In case there is no tree, or building, you may need to resort to scrims, reflectors or blacks to modify the light to suit. Scrims are sheets of translucent material that are held between the sun and the subject to diffuse direct light. Reflectors are panels of card or material that reflects light, providing a soft quality of light. Usually white, silver or gold in colour, light bounces off the surface and into the shadow areas of the face. Blacks are the opposite of reflectors and they absorb light, instead of reflecting it. For indoor portraits, window light is a great source-First choose a window on the side of the house away from the sun-you don’t want direct sunlight, it’s too harsh. When you position your model close to a window, you get a soft light to one side of the face, and because the inside of the room is relatively dark, the other side of the face will be in shadow -a 3 dimensional look for your portrait.
Again, by using a reflector, ( Gold gives a warm tanned look, White will be most used, and Silver gives a glint to the model’s eye) you can arrive at the 2-stop difference - For instance F 11 for window -lit side of face, and F 5.6 for the shadow side- ( 3:1 ratio) for the ideal portrait. Or you can use fill-in flash as a last resort if reflectors, scrims or blacks aren’t immediately available. Set flash to ¼ power for head shots at 4 feet, (1200mm) or ½ power for head and shoulder shots at 6 feet (1800mm)


For architecture, hard light and shadows help to bring out details in buildings, and for landscapes, certain times of day, combined with knowledge of where the sun will be at those times will add depth and detail to your images. In days when film was the only way to record your images, you would always carry a set of filters to help modify lighting outdoors, The usual ones were an 81a warming filter, an 80b,cooling filter, a polarizer, (a red. a green, a yellow for black and white film) and for landscapes and seascapes a set of graduated neutral density filters, Fortunately, with modern digital cameras, the white balance settings include the 81a (cloudy) and the 80b (tungsten)
You will need a circular polarizer, not a linear one-both types can be circular in construction, but it's how they polarize that makes the difference . Polarizers are grey in colour, and you need to sacrifice two stops in exposure to use one. The front part of the filter can rotate to adjust the amount of polarization. The proper, intended use for these filters, is to cut glare and reduce reflections from all materials except shiny metal objects. A polarizer will help you to see through the glare of a river or a lake’s surface. Wildlife and nature photographers use polarizers sparingly, to cut the sky’s reflection on animal fur and feathers, and the land itself. To set a polarizer for such images, you point it at something earthy-brown in colour-this can be a tree bark, dirt, etc., then the front lens of the filter is rotated to give the brown dirt a dark chocolate-y colour-then it is ready to use for your nature, landscape and wildlife images. Polarizers can also deepen blue skies, making white clouds stand out, but realise that over-use can accentuate noise in blue skies. To cut glare the camera needs to be at 30 degrees to the water surface, or shop window to work 100%.To use for darkening the blue in skies, the camera needs to be around 90 degrees to the sun to have any visible effect, you just turn the front element to the shade you desire .It is a good idea to have your white balance set to cloudy, even on sunny days, as sometimes images can come out cool-looking- If you already have an 81a accessory filter for your lenses, when days are really crappy, rainy etc., attach this also to brighten your image colours. ND Grads, as the neutral density filters are usually called, come in 1,2,3,4,5,6 etc., stops, but a 2 stop is a good medium one to start with-These are used when there are more than 3 stops difference between the land/sea, and the sky-where the sky will be blown out, or the land/sea in heavy shadow. If you need to slow down your shutter speed more than your camera will allow, at the exposure you need, say to get that cotton-wool effect of waterfalls, then you will need a straightforward neutral density filter-a 2-stop will do-if you need to slow down more, just add your polarizer to slow down up to 2 more stops.

Flash basics

On-camera flash, (forget the built-in flash) using a hot-shoe-mounted flashgun, (speedlight) directed straight at the subject is very flat lighting, possibly the very worst of all. There are ways that we can modify the on-camera flash to control our lighting. We can diffuse the flash by means of clip-on plastic domes, (think non-coloured Tupperware-type pots that will fit over flash head),or we can bounce our flash from ceilings, walls, off of reflectors, etc.,.
Balancing the light between existing light and flash is quite simple- Just remember that Shutter-speed controls existing light and Aperture controls the flash effect. You set your camera’s mode to Av (aperture priority) selecting aperture to desired depth of field. (ie: for weddings F8 does the job) Get a reading from subject. Take note of these settings. Now select M (manual) mode and use the settings you got from Av mode. Fit your flash to hot shoe, use manual flash. Try first maximum sync speed (usually 1/250 sec or 1/500 sec), then come down from here just adjusting shutter speed, and checking on monitor, until ambient light looks right. As for power setting, I like to start at ¼ power, then I can go down two stops to 1/8 and 1/16 power, and up to ½ and full power. (My flashguns only span from full to 1/16 power) For interior shots use the same method: If ambient light reads 1/125 @ F4, you will need to set aperture to F4, and set shutter speed at 1/500(if this is your camera’s maximum sync speed, or 1/250 @ F5.6 if that is your maximum sync speed, and bounce off ceiling. Adjust power of flash until it looks right in the monitor. This gives a ratio of 3:1 as a basic starting point. A big advantage, especially when photographing people, is to have the flash off-camera, so wherever you wander to get different angles, your lighting with remain constant. If flash is on camera, you would need to make adjustments each time you move out of the pre-set range of focus. Your flash can be triggered by radio transceivers (Pocket-wizards) or by means of pc cables. For wraparound, or cross- lighting, you could place your subject between the sun and your off -camera flash, using the sun as fill and your flash as the main, or key, light
Ideally, indoor images should not show that flash was used, so for this to take place, modification is required. I use a black computer mouse-mat, which forms a half snoot and is rubber banded to the underside of my flashgun when bouncing off of ceilings etc., this ensures no direct light lands on the subject. You can choose of course, to use automatic mode for flash-or TTL, (Through The Lens) I just prefer the manual mode.

Problems occur when using flash under fluorescent illumination, where you will get a severe green cast over your images-Solution is to use a gel (Window green) over the flash window, and a magenta filter( FL-D) over the lens. These filters will lose you one stop of light, but the lens filter alone will do the trick, if you aren’t using flash. Why this works is green over the flash window equalizes foreground and background color temperature, and the magenta on the lens absorbs the green from both sources to neutralize the image.
Most cameras will let you select front or rear curtain flash set-ups, (Front curtain flash fires as soon as the shutter opens, while Rear (or second) curtain flash fires just before shutter closes) and for most types of photography Front curtain will do the job, If the subject is on the move however, Rear, (Second) curtain flash is the way to go, the reason being that if you were to use front curtain flash on a moving subject, the movement defining blur, especially against a black, or at least a dark background, would appear in front, and not behind the subject, giving the impression that the subject is going backwards. On the other hand, if you were to use rear-(second) curtain flash for say a portrait, and you are trying to capture a certain mannerism, you would not want the flash to fire too late and miss the emotion.

If you shoot at a party or wedding reception, indoors at night using the auto or programme flash setting, which is usually either 1/250 or 1/500 second, you will end up with ultra black backgrounds, and not the scene you saw. That is because the flash fired too fast to record background detail. Solution: set camera to shutter priority or manual mode, and adjust speed to between 1/30 and 1/8 second-these are normal settings for fairly dark conditions, because of the actual flash speed,. blur won’t be a problem. This is Known as “Dragging the shutter”.
When using Dragging method keep flash set to auto or ttl, as, unless you are comfortable with doing this , you could complicate matters. If you only have a point and shoot camera, use the night setting-the camera will automatically set shutter speed to allow background detail to be captured, BUT, you will need a tripod/monopod etc, as for night mode shutter speeds are likely to be a lot slower than 1/8second.

Flash doesn’t reach as far as you like? Up the ISO! -“Twice the distance, four times the speed”. For instance: If your flash has a Guide number (GN) of 25(metres (80 ft), the best you can expect is a realistic distance reach of 20 metres (60 feet) at Iso 100,so at Iso 400 you will get a realistic reach of 120 feet (40 metres),and at 1600 Iso, a reach of 240 feet (theoretically),but noise will play its part at high Iso’s.


If you are using an automatic flashgun, that does not give you fill-in values, Meter the scene, select an f-stop for the DOF you want, set auto flashgun ISO to double camera ISO and take your shot, this will give a 2:1 ratio-your fill will be 1 stop darker that the main subject. If you double the ISO again, fill will be two stops darker.

Composition

Composition is all about the arrangement of elements within the viewfinder’s frame, to evoke emotion from the viewer of the final image. What attracts us to great photographic images?
- They make us
- wrinkle our brow -
- smile -
- feel happy -
- feel sad -
- feel peaceful -
- feel disturbed -
- feel angry -
- feel like laughing -
- feel shocked.
If a photograph can evoke any of these emotions, it can be said to have Impact. The basis of impact in a photographic image is placement and possibly enhancement of that subject, within the viewfinder frame of the camera.
Composition refers to the arrangement of line, shape and contrast within the frame of the photographic Image. Effective composition arranges the elements, ( objects, colours, horizons, patterns, etc.,) that show the viewer your personal world view of the subject. It is a matter of knowing what to leave out of the image. The greatest influence on our reaction to a photograph is the position of the main centre of interest. This should almost never be placed at dead-centre in the frame, as any sense of implied movement dissolves. The result is usually static and boring.



Very specific to stock photography are the Rule of thirds, and allowing for copy-space (leaving room for text)
The rule of thirds comes into its own when using subject placement within the frame-
Imagine your camera viewfinder with a nine-segment grid ( like a tic-tac-toe, (Noughts and crosses)) grid
The most aesthetically pleasing position to site your subject will be on one of the four intersections of this imaginary grid, which also gives you two horizontal guides, and two vertical guides. There are many ways of using this imaginary grid:
- Horizontal lines are used to place horizons- 1/3 down from top for earthy renditions, and 1/3 up from bottom for more dreamy effects.
- You can use vertical lines for positioning trees, poles, vertical subjects
- When filling the frame with, for instance, a head-shot, eyes should be placed 1/3 of the way down from the top
- For landscapes, you can use this imaginary grid-by focusing on the 1/3 up from bottom gridline, you will be correctly focusing 1/3 into your distance, as you should be for landscapes
There are many elements to consider when composing your images, such as:
Position of horizon
Framing
Line
Perspective
Depth
Balance
Colour
Contrast
Shape
Pattern
Tone
Viewpoint
Brightness
Scale
Shock

The photographic image’s frame doesn’t just come from the edges of your viewfinder. Be careful that framing the things surrounding the main subject doesn’t trap the subject, or detract from it. Don’t use if the image doesn’t require it. Lines, in the image have a certain effect on how the viewer’s eye travels through the photograph:
Implied lines, always straight, between interacting objects, or between an object and whatever is ahead of it.
Upright lines give feelings of strength and balance throughout the image.
Curved lines convey peaceful movement, but the steeper the curve, the more tension and force.
Diagonal lines give feelings of action and dynamism.
Perspective lines show dynamic movement in the direction of the lines
Jagged lines convey unhurried and peaceful movement.

It’s the control of composition that determines the “WOW” factor in photography, and it is very important, if you are going to take worthwhile photographs, to master that control. Where Lighting and Exposure, are pure technique, or the science of photography, Composition is the art of photography.
Creativity is the understanding and manipulation of composition elements within the frame of the camera’s viewfinder.

On Seeing Creatively:

Developing a creative eye is about seeing things in a different way. A personal visual focus rather than obvious point of view. When we first use a camera we take pictures of all the obvious things around us, landmarks, people we know, family pets, etc., and after some while taking these mundane, overdone subjects, boredom starts to take effect (hopefully) and If we get bored enough, we, (well, some of us anyway) tend to look further than the obvious for our photographic endeavours, hopefully encouraging us to present our personal view of the World. Remember back when you were a kid?, where anything could be whatever you imagined it to be?. We, as adults have set-in-concrete ideas of how something should look, and that’s where the problem lies. How about, (photographically, anyway,) Going back in your imagination to that child-like innocence, and start looking at things the way you decide how they should appear? What would a worm see- if it looked up? Or a bird-looking down- I recall reading somewhere a woman and her 3-year old were out shopping, in a department store, at Christmas-time, and the child was crying. “what’s up with you?” the mother asked,” We are here in this beautiful shop, and we are going to buy some nice things to take home with us-look at all the lovely things they have here”. She looked down and noticed the child’s shoelace was undone. In bending down to re-tie the child’s shoelace, she understood why the crying- all the child could see from his height, was a forest of grown-up’s legs-he couldn’t see all the beautiful Christmas decorations or gifts-he wasn’t tall enough to see above the counters. Here’s a challenge: Spend a day taking photos of everyday things from a height of 600mm to 800mm, how a small child would view them. isolate part of an overall scene, using the camera’s viewfinder -Show things how they are not normally viewed. Use light creatively, to show texture, give mood or to produce silhouetted shapes. Use telephoto lenses for landscapes-wide angle lenses for portraits - take photos into the sun - take pictures while jumping in the air -
Place horizons where you want them to be. After a while creative vision becomes as natural as breathing, and when this occurs, you can concentrate on capturing the moment : The peak of action -a fleeting glance- certain lighting conditions. Learn all the “Rules” of composition-then see how many you can break, while still communicating powerful images. Try not focusing on the point of interest, instead focus on shape, or form. Decide what you want to emphasise-what message you want to convey to the viewer. Look for pictures within pictures. try looking at a scene through a 28mm wide-angle lens, change to a 200mm telephoto lens, and see how many different pictures you can isolate within that scene.

Working the subject

Instead of just taking the one picture from the angle you first saw it, try “Working the subject”, that is, cover the subject from as many angles as you can, to get the best from each photo opportunity. Here’s a checklist:
-From the front
-From behind
-From the left
-From the right
-From up close
-From far away
-From above
-From below
-Capture detail
-Unusual angles
-Into the light
-Include foreground

All this should provide you with a good grounding of photography, And I wish you well with your future endeavours,and I hope I will have been some help., Part 3, (in Progress}
will be covering wedding photography,and post processing, using photoshop.

And then Here:


My Take on Wedding Photography ( Updated November 25 2013

Essential Equipment

Two camera bodies that share the lenses
Two flashes (strobes) plus cables, etc.,
18mm-55mm zoom
50mm standard lens F1.8 or even better F1.4-for low-light situations
Not essential, but handy for candids and from back of church images- 70mm-300mm zoom lens
Several digital memory cards
At least three times as many batteries as you think you will need
Tripod for formal photos
Lens hoods to control flare


Planning the wedding shoot

You must have a timetable to work from, or you will fail miserably.

You must always remember:

The Bride is never on time
Cars are sometimes late arriving
Ministers will often talk for longer than expected
Traffic may be chaotic
Something may have been forgotten somewhere

Murphy, being the Patron Saint of Wedding Photographers, will no doubt ensure that if anything can go wrong-it will, and usually at the most inopportune moment. Allow for plenty of time for each section of the shooting script.

Planning Session

Planning is crucial, so make sure that time has been allowed for photography, and travelling to each location.

A: Who is Paying?

Find out who is paying for the photography, because the person footing the bill is the client, and needs to be consulted-If the bride’s parents are paying, and want nice, classic portrait shots of Bride & Groom, and the Bride wants cross-processed, arty, or black & white images-you had better get nice safe photos for Mum and Dad as well!

It is very important to find out and determine EXACTLY what the client wants, and is expecting to get. Quite often people do not know what they want-until you have shot it.
What you don’t want to hear is: “ We didn’t want half of this stuff, we want a refund!!!”

Whoever is paying, make sure you get paid up front. I usually ask for my daily rate photography fee on signing the contract, and the balance seven days before the wedding date. (This saves you wondering if and when you are going to be paid, and saves you chasing clients for payment.) I also only charge for the day’s photography up front-prints are priced separately - I take around 2000 shots per wedding, and shave these down to around 500 and put as proofs on CD’s made to show to my clients-then they can choose what they want for their albums.

B. Working with schedules and timetables

Once you have found out what is wanted and who is paying, start working out your shooting schedule. I usually type these out and give to attendants in the bridal party, to organise everybody for their photo to save time.

I also type my schedule on small cards for my pocket while I am shooting, so I know when the next sequence is due.

Let your clients know that formal photos of the bridal party should take between one to one-and-a-half hours.-Any longer will drag the proceedings, and any less time will limit the number of set-ups wanted.

Subtly point out that the guests should be advised of what is going on.

It is important to let the client know that if they cut your time, you will need to cut the amount of photography to shoot.

Protocol and family Politics

You need to tread very carefully where family politics are concerned, as you set up groups- ex-wives versus new wives, step-children, recently divorced couples. Better to let people sort themselves where they want to be, then just arrange set-ups accordingly.

If everyone, guests included, know exactly what happens, and when, and with whom, it will alleviate, the Bride’s and groom’s stress, your stress, and you will get results that please your clients.

Once PLAN “A” ( Beautiful sunny day, no wind,) is in place, work out alternatives- “B”; “C”; “D”; etc., You need somewhere to photograph if it’s raining, snowing, gale-force winds etc., And a choice of idyllic locations.


A Typical Schedule Plan


a). Groom’s House

Photos at the Groom’s house happen rarely, but if they are wanted, then you must make sure things run on time, in order to get to the Bride’s house on time

b). Bride’s House

Get to the house early, showing you are organised and professional. The Bride may be very nearly ready, and being the early bird may give you a chance to get things in order without rushing. Confidence is the keyword, so compliment the Bride, say she looks nice, and has nothing to worry about (Do not, under any circumstances tell her she is beautiful, because, if she isn’t, she will know, and this could turn her against you.)

If you can help the bride and her family to be calm at the house, the tone of the whole wedding will reflect on this.
Let the family know what you are going to photograph outside the church, or wedding venue.

c). Church or Wedding Venue

Get to church, or wedding venue as soon as you can to get set up for what follows.
Talk to, and photograph the Groom.
Talk to minister/celebrant, checking all is ok, use/non-use of flash, etc.,
Wait outside for cars to arrive
While the ceremony is taking place, look around for photo opportunities-is the Bride’s Mother crying? her Father, crying or smiling?
Once the vows have been made, register signed, etc., Bride and Groom will walk down the aisle, or things will just finish. This can be an awkward moment-one of two things usually happen:

1) The Bride & Groom will be surrounded by guests, and if there are lots of guests the crowd may take a time to clear.

2) (Usually at churches) when Bride & Groom come out there is no-one at first, then all guests file out slowly and stand around the couple looking at them.

Some guests will want to take photographs at this point, so set up the shot and let them fire away, after you. Work with these people throughout the day, and some of these people could be your next client.

Start the family photos, beginning with the Bride’s side, then the Groom’s, then all the friends and hanger’s-on.

d). The Formal Photos

After all the ceremony kerfuffle, the bridal party will want to relax a bit, maybe have a drink and a smoke for 10 minutes or so, while you are getting ready. But when you are ready, you need to get them back on track to get all required images done on time Bride and Groom, at this point, aren’t usually the problem, it’s generally the best man wants another beer, or the maid of honour who wants another smoke, or someone gets loud. You need to gain control of this.

If there are children in the party, use them first, as they have a very short attention span.
No matter what happens here,-stay calm, even when things go wrong, keep calm you won’t get good photos if you are stressed.
When you think you have finished, better check with Bride and Groom that you have all they wanted, or if you were pressed for time, that you have the set-ups they wanted the most.

Now you have to get back to the reception before the wedding party do.

e). Mock Cake Cutting

This is done when budgets are tight, and you aren’t required to attend the reception, due to funds being tight.

f ). The Reception

Before the bride and Groom arrive at the reception venue, Be ready to catch them arriving.
Things that usually happen at reception are: (in any order): speeches, toasts, food, then the first dance. While there is potential photography, don’t eat, or drink, just in case you miss something worthwhile.
Before leaving be sure that the Bride, Groom and whoever is paying for the photography, have all the shots they need with nothing missed.

g ). After it all

Get the finished prints to the Bride & Groom as soon as possible, that’s good business, You will want them to see the prints while the day will still be fresh in their memory. Do not get caught in the middle of any disputes-The prints are always to be delivered to the Married couple, and not to anyone else. (unless arranged otherwise). If someone other than the Bride & Groom is paying for the photography, it should be explained to them beforehand that the Bride & Groom get the prints.
When sorting out the finished prints, take out the blinks, and the ones that aren’t up to par.

The Photography

A blow by blow account of a typical wedding - Ceremony at 4pm

You have your little schedule cards on a loop of string
You have your flash/strobe set to ¼ Iso (for fill-in, or all outdoor photos if you want to play safe, use at full Iso for indoor shots)
You 18-55 zoom lens on camera

1. At Groom’s house 10:00 am - 11:30am ( All times can only be approximated)

Groom, getting ready,
Groomsmen, playing around
Groom, in mirror
Groom dressed, GQ pose, jacket over shoulder
Groom Full length
Groom with mother Close-up
Groom with Father Close-up
Groom with both parents full length
Groom with both parents close-up
Groom with Grandparents Full length
Groom with Grandparents close-up
With sisters
With brothers
With immediate family
Groom and Best man full length
Groom and Best man Close-up
Groom and best man shaking hands
Groom and all groomsmen

2.At Bride’s house 12:30am - 3:00pm

Bride dressing
Mother helping with veil
Mother/maid of honour adjusting veil
Bride looking in mirror
Bride with mother looking in mirror
Bride putting on garter
Bride putting on garter with bridesmaids looking on
Bride full length
Bride half length
Bride close-up
Bride with Mother close-up
Bride with Mother full length
Corsage being pinned on Mother
Bride with Father full length
Bride with Father close-up
Bride pinning-on Father’s button-hole
Bride with both parents, full length
Bride with both parents, close-up
With Grandparents close-up
With Grandparents full length
With sisters
With brothers with immediate family
Bride and maid of honour full length
Bride and maid of honour. Close-up
Bride with attendants
Bride with flower girl/ring bearer
Bride leaving house with parents and Bridesmaids
Father helping Bride into limo



3. At the Ceremony 3:30pm - 4:45

NOTE: If the wedding ceremony is to take place in a church, or an other low-light venue, you’ll often need to hand-hold your camera. Hand-holding in these situations is tricky, because of the chance of blurry images. (Too slow of a shutter speed) The answer to this dilemma, is to up the ISO; 800 should make things fail safe.
(or use flash-refer to part two of this series)

Groups of guests and everybody [ 28mm or 28-70mm zoom]
Flower girl walking down aisle
Ring-bearer walking down aisle
Maid of honour walking down aisle
Bridesmaids walking down aisle
Father walking down aisle with Bride
Father “Giving Bride away”
Bride & groom exchanging vows
Bride and Groom exchanging rings
The Kiss, request beforehand that they allow you time for a couple of shots
Bride signing register
Groom signing register
Bride and Groom walking back down aisle
Bride and groom outside church
Bride and Groom getting into limo 3

4. Formal Photos 5:00 – 6:30

NOTE: start with everyone, and then as you shoot them, release them to go to the reception until you’re left with just the bride and groom again. When coping with large groups,st aperture at f11,and focus on the eyes of people in the front row. This will ensure a good depth of field for the group, getting everyone in focus.

Bride alone Full length
Bride alone ¾
Bride alone close-up
Bride alone head shot
Bride alone peeping over flowers
Bride & groom Kissing
Bride & Groom full length
Bride & Groom close-up 3
Groom full length
Groom ¾
Groom close-up
Close-up of rings
Group shot of bride & bridesmaids [18-55mm zoom]

5. At reception

Wedding party announced
Bride and Groom announced
Bride & groom’s first dance
Wedding party dancing
Bride’s dance with Father
Groom’s dance with Mother
Best man toasting Bride & Groom
Bride & groom toasting each other
The cake
Bride& Groom posed at cake
Cutting cake
Bride & Groom feeding each other cake
Throwing bouquet
Bouquet catch
Groom taking off garter
Groom throwing garter
Garter catch
Bride & Groom with catchers
Guests leaving 4
Posed departure of bride & Groom ( Kissing, waving etc.,)
Bride & Groom leaving reception venue
Bride and Groom leaving in limo
Close up of invitation
Picture of band or DJ

Odd extra shots:
The bride’s shoes
The bride’s dress hanging on a hanger
The bride’s tiara, necklace, etc.
The wedding invitation
The sheet music played at the wedding
The guestbook (once a few people have signed it)
Their champagne glasses
Name cards at the reception
Their wedding rings
The bride’s bouquet
Any fine detail in her dress


That's it for weddings


Next: Photoshop recipes, (Updated November 25, 2013) Just a few tricks That have worked for me, that I pass on to help you to enhance your images:

Noise (Chroma-colour noise)

- Image> Mode> LAB Colour> Channels
Channel “a” Gaussian blur 5 pixels
Channel “b” Gaussian blur 5 pixels
Channel “lightness” Filter> noise> despeckle
Image> Mode> RGB colour

-Noise (Luma -Grainy noise)

-lasso area and apply smart blur at default setting (For small areas)
-Or Ctrl+J
-Smart blur-Then eraser tool to expose background features

Lateral chromatic aberration (fringing) Removal

Ctrl+J select brush tool and click on the quick mask tool.
Choose a brush size to match the width of the fringe.
Draw all the areas that have fringing. When done, click icon next to quick mask
Select> Inverse.
Image> Adjustments> Hue/Saturation and pick the color closest to your fringe color Click
eyedropper on the fringe color on your image.
drag Saturation slider to the left until the fringing goes.
Select> deselect
Save

Quick method for fringe elimination

Using lasso tool select area with fringing
Image> adjustments> Hue/Saturation
De saturate fringe color
Select> Deselect
save

Transverse chromatic aberration (Moire banding) Elimination

Filters/blur/Gaussian Blur at 1.5 pixels radius\

HDR

(Camera on tripod )
Expose for highlights-take a shot
Expose for shadows-take a shot
Add highlight image to shadow image as a new layer (hold “shift” and drag move tool)
Select> Color Range, Click “highlights” check “invert”, click “OK”
Add layer mask.
Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur 250 pixels.
Flatten and save.
Local Contrast Enhancement

Ctrl+J
Filter> sharpen> Unsharp Mask
Amount 10
Radius 50 pixels
Threshold 0
Flatten and save

“Pop”

Ctrl+J
Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp mask
Amount 30
Radius 60 pixels
Threshold 10
Blend mode> Luminosity- Flatten

To sharpen - Smart sharpen

Ctrl+J
Unsharp mask amount 18%
Radius 40 pxls
Threshold 0
Unsharp mask amount 150%
Radius 0.3 pxls
Threshold 0
Edit> fade Unsharp mask 100% Darken
Unsharp mask amount 150%
Radius 0.3 pxls
Threshold 0
Edit> fade Unsharp mask 50% Lighten

Smart sharpen ( Alternative)

Ctrl+J
Select> All> Edit> Copy
Channels> New channel (alpha 1)> Edit> paste
Filter> Stylize> Find edges
Ctrl+L move sliders for clean edges
Filters> Blur Gaussian blur1.5 pixels
Select> Load selection-Check “invert” click “ok”
Select RGB channel
View> Show> “selection edges” uncheck
Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp mask- Amount 500
Radius 0.2
Threshold 0
Select> deselect> dump alpha channel
Blend mode “luminosity”
Ctrl+shift+E


To lighten under-exposed images

Ctrl+J
Blend mode Screen
Adjust opacity to suit before flattening/save

To darken over-exposed images

Ctrl+J
Blend mode Multiply
Adjust opacity to suit before flattening/save
- To Vignette portrait images
Create an ellipse around subject, using elliptical Marquee tool
Select> Inverse
Feather radius 250 pixels
Edit> Cut

To reduce skin redness in portraits

Add new adjustment layer> selective color
Set to Reds
Click, hold drag magenta slider to left

Polarizer

1.Ctrl+J
2. Window> Channels
3. Red Channel
4. Ctrl+A; Ctrl+C
5. Lab Colour (Don’t Flatten)
6. Channel> Lightness
7. Ctrl+V
8. Image> Mode> RGB (Don’t Flatten)
9. Select top layer- Layer> Layer mask Reveal All
10. Click on layer mask thumbnail
11. Image> Apply Image
12. Layer-background; channel red; “Invert” Ticked Blending-Multiply-opacity 100% Flatten and
save.

Polarizer (Alternative)

1. Ctrl+J
2. Mode> soft light-click “OK”
3. Press ”D”
4. Press ”G” for gradient tool - Select Black to transparent Linear gradient
5. Mouse cursor at top of image, click-hold-drag down to horizon-release
6. Click on background layer; Click, hold on b/w circle in layer palette
7. Choose selective colour Cyan/magenta 100/100 (Cyans)
Cyan/magenta 100/100 (Blues)
8.Flatten and save

Graduated Neutral Density Filter effect

Add adjustment layer> levels
Drag right slider to left
Drag middle slider to left (These moves enable you to get the foreground how you want it)
Press “D” or "X" to make foreground color black
Press “G” for gradient
Choose linear gradient -black to transparent-2nd icon from left
Drag cursor from top of image down to horizon
flatten/save

Black & White conversion from colour #1

Ctrl+J
Image> Calculations
Background layer
Red
Background Layer
Red
Multiply
New channel
Image> Mode> Greyscale
flatten/save

To black & White Quadtone

Ctrl+J
Image> Mode> Duotone
Choose type: Quadtone
Load> quadtones> pantones
Select last option Bl 541 513 5773. Hit LOAD. Hit OK.
Image> Mode> RGB Color
Flatten/save

To convert to Black & White then selectively colourize

New adjustment layer> Hue/Saturation
De-saturate
F7 (or click on layer mask)
Press ”D”
Click on brush tool
Brush over parts to colourize
Flatten/Save

-To Isolate Objects against a white background:

Photograph your object using any background, Then:
a) Zoom in 200-300%.
b) Use the pen selection tool to chart an exact path around the object.
Get it perfect.
c) Click on working path Icon in paths palette
d) Select> Modify> Contract by 2 pixels.
e) Select> modify> Smooth by 3-5 pixels.
f) Select> Inverse-.
g) Select> Feather by 0.2 - 0.5 pixels.
h) Make sure foreground black/background white - Press Delete.
You now have isolated object on white background.

-To Correct Converging verticals

"Select > All"
"View > Fit on Screen"
"View > Show > Grid" .
"Edit > Transform > Perspective"
Eight small squares will appear around the image edges.
Using the Left mouse button select the small square
at the top left or right corner and drag in the opposite
direction to the way the verticals are tilting.

Sepia/color

1 duplicate layer,
2. then select background copy layer and select background layer invisible
3. select layer and go
image -> adjustments -> Match color...
4. then set luminance to 200 and color intensity to 1
5. then select background layer to visible and take the eraser tool
6 on "background copy" layer start delete the all what you want in real colors

For landscapes

Step one- To bring out detail

1. Ctrl+J
2. filter> other> high pass 1.7 pixels
3. Change blend mode to "hard light"
4. Ctrl+Shift+N
5. Edit> Fill - black 100%
6. Click on eraser tool-set brush size 300
7. Click once in centre of blacked-out image
8. change blend mode to "soft light" Adjust opacity to suit
9. Flatten and save

Step two- To enhance colors:

1. Ctrl+J
2. Image> adjustments> Match Color
Luminance 119
Color intensity 126
3. Flatten/save

Soft light portrait

Press ctrl+j to duplicate the layer and press shift +control +u to de-saturate the new layer.
Click on Add layer mask button
Click on layer mask thumbnail to active it and go to Image> Apply image :-
Layer- merged
RGB
Multiply
100%
Now, click on image thumbnail to active it. ( It is located just before the layer mask thumbnail ).
Now do two things :-
1. Go to filter> Blur> Gaussian blur and give 2.5 radius.
2. Change the blending mode of the layer to Multiply.
Duplicate this layer again and change its blending mode to Linear dodge. You now have soft light
effect on your image. If you want more light than change the blending mode to Color Dodge.

Infra-red

1. Ctrl+j
2. New adjustment layer-Channel mixer
Check "monochrome"
3. Set Red to +100
Green to +200
Blue to -200
Set constant to between 27 and 32
Click “ok”
Flatten and save.


Red eye Reduction

Double click Quick mask icon
Change masking color to green-opacity 60%
Paint mask over eyes
Click icon next to Quick mask
Select> Inverse
Image> adjustments> Desaturate
Add new adjustment layer-Levels
Move both input sliders towards the centre of the range until you are satisfied.
Layers> Flatten image

To Whiten Teeth

Ctrl+j
Select quick mask icon
Select brush tool 13 pixels soft
Brush over teeth
Click icon next to quick mask
Select> Inverse
Image> adjustments> Hue/Saturation -60
Add new adjustment layer-Levels
Click and drag right slider to left until whiteness looks good
Flatten and save

To “POP”Color Using Lab mode

Here's how to "pop" the color using LAB (Lightness-Alpha-Beta; Not"Lab" color.
Image>mode>Lab color
Ctrl+ M -This brings up a grid-by holding the "Alt" button and clicking on the grid, you will get
either large or small squares
Press "alt" and click on grid to get small squares.
Selecting Channel "a",Hold and drag cursor a short distance ( about one and a half squares-right
to left) along top right corner of grid, and do the same to bottom left corner (left to right). Channel
"a" allows you to fine tune reds and greens. Just adjust until the color is good for you.
Repeat the exercise using channel "b"-this fine tunes the blues and yellows.
When you have got it how you want: Click "OK"
Image>Mode>RGB color

Correcting Colour Balance 1

Hover your mouse over a pure grey area on your image
Use the info palette and note down the red green and blue values of the grey area
average out the greys (r+g+b/3)
Open a curves adjustment layer and select the red channel
click anywhere on the curve line and then enter the original red value into the input box
Enter averaged value in the output box
Repeat last two steps for the green and blue channels
Click ok and you're done

Correcting color balance 2

Ctrl+J
Filter>Blur>Average
Click new adjustment layer>Curves,or layers
Click on middle eyedropper, cjick on image
Delete middle layer, flatten and save

Tri-X

1. Desaturate color
Use either the hue/saturation or de-saturate command to remove all color from the image.
2. Add monochrome noise (about 3-5%)
3. Adjust levels
This step can really add to the mood of the shot
Overexpose Highlights
move the highlight slider to the left
Darken Shadows
move the shadow slider a very small amount to the right - this will make the shadows a bit darker
and increase the image contrast; ideally you should barely be able to detect some grain in the
black areas.
Adjust Mid-tones
adjust the mid-tone slider to taste - affects the overall brightness of the image.

Digital Velvia

1. increase color saturation (optional)
To further exaggerate the color, increase the saturation by a few percent.
2. Sharpen (optional)
3. add monochrome noise If you choose to add noise/film grain, try the "monochrome" noise
option. this monochrome noise looks similar to the grain structure of some slide films.
4. adjust brightness/contrast
Increase the image contrast by a small amount - experiment with moving the brightness - also a
slight amount.


.


Copyright: © Kenneth William Caleno (Dip Phot) 2012 and beyond....

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Please explain "he doesn't understand diffraction".
Because I think you are wrong.
I just think that he realises that it is not always the problem that people overblow it to be.

nekon Loc: Carterton, New Zealand

He denies it

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Show me?

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

If it is not fun, you are doing it wrong. :wink:

billjohdoittoday Loc: Arkansas

Y'know, I think I may spend the next six weeks doing nothing but studying this course. Blessings upon your head.

Bill

Ace and Deuce Loc: Right behind you!!

Yeah, I read some of it and it seems like some great information, and easy to understand.

~Ace

nekon Loc: Carterton, New Zealand

He recommends f16-f22 for landscapes- bad!

Great depth of field but diffraction at these apertures invites soft images at infinity. f11 will give a better, sharper image,and adequate depth of field.