CameraRec » tips

Magical Waterfall Photos

toby — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:38:19 +0000

Okay – Magical might be a bit of an overreaching statement but I have a quick video below that outlines the steps to creating those flowing water photos. All you need is a camera with some control over shutter speed and a tripod. Watch the short video to see how it is all done.

Quick Tips:

Any flowing water will work – if the area isn’t particularly pretty, focus in close on a few rocks and capture the flow around them
Depending on the rate of water flow you might find that a shutter speed between 0.5 seconds and 8 seconds gives you the results you want
To get those longer exposures the light levels need to be low, if you find yourself with too much light try zooming in a bit

In this video I used the Canon SX230 – A wonderful little P&S but any P&S that gives you some control over the shutter speed will work. The Dolica TripodI recommend. Might be a bit overkill for a little P&S so something like the Joby Tripodwould be a bit more appropriate.

5 Simple Tips for Taking Better Fall Photos

toby — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:47:38 +0000

1/100 at f/2.0 ISO 160 24mm - I put the leaf on the fern

For us Northern hemisphere folks the leaves, they are a changing. Here are some quick tips for making the most of this photography wise. 1. If you have a camera that accepts filters purchase a Polarizer. I have written about and illustrated the effects of a CP(circular polarizer) previously. Take a moment and look that over. Be careful not to over due it and get unnaturally dark blue skies. 2. Shoot during the golden hour(s) – Around sunrise and sunset and at the very least avoid the high noon, the bright sun is just going to wash out the colors, to counteract you can try to underexpose a bit but if you really want photos that ellicit the “ooohs” and “ahhhs” you are going to need to make the effort to shoot at the best times of the day. Another benefit of the morning and evening times, more likely to miss the crowds if visiting/photographing popular places. 3. Gray and or rainy days also offer excellent photo opportunities. Get in close to your colors, leaves etc – the soft even light from a gray sky can be excellent for capturing Fall, just avoid getting much of the flat boring sky in your photos. 4. Related to #3 – get in close, instead of trying to capture a forest of colors, focus (pun intended – sorry!) on a single leaf. 5. Don’t be afraid to MAKE a photo. If you find a beautiful leaf on an ugly background pick it up and place it somewhere else.

Fireworks How-to

toby — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:42:35 +0000

With the American Independence day holiday right around the corner I thought it would be timely to have a quick how-to post on shooting fireworks.

You must have a tripod or something to hold the camera steady or a few seconds. I am not shy about sharing my love of this cheap in price but not features Dolica 62″ Tripod
Use manual mode on your camera – Shutter speeds between 2 and 8 seconds, Aperture f/5.6-8.0, ISO near the middle of your range OR if you have a P&S camera use the fireworks scene setting
Use the 2 or 10 second self timer especially if shooting closer to the 2 second side of the range. Pushing the shutter button can introduce blur caused by camera shake and using a 2 second self timer can let those vibrations settle out before the shot. It becomes less of an issue with longer shutter speeds and it even at the shorter side of things probably not a huge deal – but I offer it up as a bit of advice on how to get the sharpest possible images.
Be ready! Some of your best opportunities happen early on, as the smoke builds your shots may get hazy unless you have a breeze removing the smoke. So I suggest you start to setup before it gets dark, frame your composition and take a few test shots – use trees or light poles near the fireworks launch off spot to focus on – review the photos watching for stray objects or horizon lines that might distract from the fireworks. If you want to keep using your camera for family/crowd shots right up until the beginning and you end up setting up in the dark, use the following tips – set your ISO to MAX and your shutter speed long enough to get well lit photo, we don’t care if it is grainy, we just want to get quick feedback on focus and composition. Once you have those set then use the suggested settings in step 2 for the actual fireworks shots.
Try to time your shots to start just as the rockets head up, longer shutter speeds are going to capture more of the action
Experiment but don’t forget to enjoy the show some too
Finally watch out for the Grand Finale – shorten the shutter speed during that fireworks heavy period or you will end up with an over exposed image.

And your shots don’t have to be limited to fireworks of the aerial type – long shutter speeds pointed at folks with sparklers can be quite fun too.

5 seconds at f/9.0

10 seconds @ f/6.3

Loads more fireworks photos with Exif data to give you an idea of possible settings for your camera.

Geotagging your photos

toby — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:16:51 +0000

These days a fair number of Point and Shoot cameras and accessories sold for DSLRs offer the ability to geotag your photos without carrying a second device and messing with software after the photoshoot/walk, but until camera makers stick a GPS chip in all cameras we will need alternatives. One fairly painless option involves using your smart phone. Both Android and iOS devices have multiple apps capable of recording a “track” that can be later used to write the location into the image file. It is ~~important~~ critical that your camera time match your phone time so that the matching is accurate. For those without a smart phone you can carry just about any other GPS, including many car units, with you or you could consider the Garmin 405 GPS Wrist Watch. A benefit of the 405 unit. . it is a watch, gets a solid 8hrs of battery life when tracking and it is a watch Nothing bulky to carry around. A downside to the 405 is that it exports a TCX file,not all geotagging programs accept TXC files and you may need to convert the track to a GPX file first, something that is easy to do with a program like http://www.gpsbabel.org/ or if you have windows you can go straight from TXC to geotagging with http://www.geosetter.de/en/ Why Geotag? For me it is another way to classify and categorize my shots, I can easily find all images taken in Vermont or at a certain photogenic area when I am planning a return trip. I also enjoy seeing my images plotted on a map. Do you Geotag your photos? UPDATE – the Garmin 405CX is on gold box deal today $174

Fantastic Photography Book. . you could WIN!

toby — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:32:08 +0000

Fantastic Foundation for Photography

There are loads of photography books out there, some try to be funny, some are packed with ridiculously basic information and some are filled with fluff(a problem closely related to the basic info problem). And then there is this book. I don’t think it matters where you are in your knowledge of photography and cameras this book is highly worth your time. The information is straightforward, explained with excellent photographs and I find the sections to be just about perfect in length – Giving what you need to understand how your camera “sees” without overwhelming or getting too technical. Check to see if you local library has a copy, mine did, or pick it up at Amazon for a reasonable and very worthwhile price of $15. Or you could win a copy from me Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera

99 Cents = 20GB of Online Storage + Lady Gaga’s newest album

toby — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:32:08 +0000

This might look a bit like a spam post but today and today only Amazon is offering Lady Gaga’s newest Album for 99 cents – the whole album AND they are still offering the deal where you get 20GBs of online storage space for a year, useable for music, documents and PHOTOS. That is a hard deal to beat. Get 20GB for 99 cents TODAY! We will be back to our regularly scheduled posts soon Topics coming soon. Delving into Time Lapse Photography, The Camera Bag I hate and photography cookbook, getting creamy water flow photos. Would you take a moment and make my day? Take a second and click the like button to the right. Pretty Please? Thanks!!

Avoiding Camera Shake

toby — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:31:40 +0000

The folks at Camera Technica have a great post and video illustrating the effects of shake on slower shutter speed captures.

DSLR Mirror Vibration from Camera Technica on Vimeo.

My tips for avoiding camera shake, repeating some of what they discuss-

Avoid shutters speeds below 1/20 of a second – not only are you going to get camera shake but if any of your subjects are moving they will be blurry as well.- Avoid the slower shutter speeds by adding more light through larger aperture or increasing the ISO or physically adding more light to the room/situation.
If you need to shoot below 1/20 of a second you should
- Be using a tripod ($40 for an excellent Dolica- no excuses not to have one) If you find yourself without a tripod look around for something to set or brace the camera on, last resort- brace your elbows against your chest and slowly exhale as you gently and smoothly press the shutter. You may want to try live view, the focus will be slower but the mirror will already be up and out of the way.
- On a tripod use mirror lockup and the 2-second timer built in to most DSLR or a remote. The 2 second timer gives the mirror vibration a chance to settle out before snapping the shutter.
- Take multiple photos, you are more likely to get one that is acceptably sharp- this is especially important if you are handholding and you may want to try switching your camera to burst and snapping several in succession as your slowly exhale.

Shooting RAW is Good for your Health

toby — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:19:23 +0000

I have talked about this before but recently came across another excellent example of the benefits of shooting RAW. My parents now have chickens and I took a quick shot on a cold day a few weeks back. The heat lamps were on and casting a serious red hue on everything in the coop. I left my white balance set on auto and fired on a few frames before closing the door to keep the little guys warm. Later while reviewing the pictures I realized that the heat lamps played havoc with the camera’s sensor and the images looked blown out with red, didn’t seem like the camera even made an attempt to adjust. Because I shot Raw I clicked the WB selector in Lightroom and clicked on the back of one of the chickens, they are a lovely light tan or buff color and voila the image instantly looked MUCH closer to reality. I always love an opportunity to showcase the power of shooting RAW so I took an unedited RAW version, exported it as jpeg and reimported. How well would the WB selector be able to adjust a JPEG image? Take a look at the results below

Raw Before and After Auto WB

Jpeg Before and After Auto WB

Common arguments against shooting RAW is the hassle of dealing with the files. . . I don’t see a hassle – Even if I shot JPEG I would still need to download the files to the computer, make adjustments, tag and export. Lightroom(and other programs inlcuding iPhoto, Picasa etc) make this process identical, it doesn’t matter if my files are JPEG or RAW. The RAW files do take up more space and take longer to offload the flash cards, but with storage being as cheap as it is the trade off is more than worth it for me.

Best Batteries

toby — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:02:39 +0000

Consumer Reports recently tested a variety of non-rechargeable batteries- First place was the Energizer Ultimate Lithium battery. Second Place was the Energizer Advanced Lithium and last place was the Energizer Max alkaline battery. And yes they tested other popular brands. Under the rechargeable heading the Sanyo Enloops (which I have raved about before). And although the initial cost is 2x’s the best Energizers they last and last and their output is amazing.

Halloween Tips

toby — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:26:42 +0000

My Photo - Not My Pumpkin

As we near Halloween in the U.S. I thought I would share a few tips for better images. Halloween means two things two me – marauding kids in costumes at dusk and jack-o-laterns. For costumed kids I recommend you set your camera in Shutter Priority with the shutter speed around 1/60 of a second, this will make sure you don’t get any blur, ISO 800 and use your on camera flash or even better an external flash to fill in some light. The benefit of popping up your on camera flash is the focus assist that provides on Canon cameras so you can be sure you are getting sharp focus on your spooky(or cute) subjects. BUT you want to make sure you dial down or diffuse that flash, no one looks spooky(or cute) if they have a bright washed out look from too much flash in the face. Use your center focus point, usually the fastest most accurate focus point on DSLRs to grab a sure focus in the lower light. Feel free to have fun as well and try some shots without the flash, slower shutter speeds can give your costumed kid exciting motion blur and in some cases add a very spooky look to ghosts and gouls and other costume wearers that go bump in the night. These lower light shots are a great excuse to use the 50mm f/1.8 or even the f/1.4, they will let you capture some of the available light with their very large apertures. And a general tip that helps when taking portrait pics is to fill the frame. Get close to your subject(s), don’t leave empty space, that will probably just be dark, all around your subjects and have your subjects get close to each other. As for the pumpkins – ditch the flash and expose for the light coming out of the pumpkin. This is a great time to switch to spot metering and and meter from inside the mouth. Some folks find that a single candle just doesn’t do it though and temporarily add another or a bright flash light inside to get that pumpkin beaming.