Bring a Symbol of the Holiday Into Focus

I have made this same picture over and over and I still love it. Birthday cupcakes with lit candle, a number of fingers held up to signify a birthyday year, a lottery ticket, a dyed Easter egg, and more. This time it's the four leaf clover my subject plucked from a pot in the yard (look closely since at first glance it looks like three, but it is four). I was actually taking pictures of her cute Valentine's outfit when she found the clover and held it out to me to inspect. The resulting image is really cute and the clover pops out not only because my aperture was set wide open at F/2.8 and I focused on the clover (thus blurring the background), but also because of the contrast of the green against the red and white of her clothing. So whether it's your child's favorite stuffed animal, a perfect test score, or a special holiday object, this effect is a great way to bring focus to the event or milestone while still keeping the subject's face present in your photos.

Shallow Depth of Field Assignment #7 Results: ~Jamie

Congrats ~Jamie on a photo that clearly demonstrates shallow depth of field. Your wide open aperture and precise focusing on the judge on the left allows the background to blur and suggests a venue while keeping the focus on the story you are telling about your son's robotic competition that took place two weeks ago. You get the A+ and a Starbucks gift card! Please send your mailing address to stacie.errera@yahoo.com.

Video Tutorials Worth Watching

I usually don't post work-related stuff, but I have to say that the new 1-minute videos are worth checking out, so I thought I'd share the link to the latest video about aperture since it could help you with your photo assignment due on 2/21. See Episode Three here.

Your Assignment Is...Take a Portrait With Shallow Depth of Field: Due 2/21

This is a repeat, but one that needs repeating since I think we all want to achieve great portrait shots— even when it's just a quick candid shot we're grabbing before the cake is served or before the kids are leaving for school. And using shallow depth of field is a key to great portraits (along with expression, lighting, angle). Shallow depth of field, when the parts of the image in front of and behind the subject are out of focus, makes your subject pop off the image. The example here (a repost from the summer, sorry), for instance, shows the eye and smile in sharp focus, yet the tip of the nose, ear and hair are out of focus. Another advantage of shallow depth of field is that you can eliminate distracting backgrounds like indoor clutter, foliage, cars on the street, etc., It makes the background less defined with soft colors.

To get shallow depth of field, the key is to set your camera to the "A" mode: Aperture-Priority. You can leave your ISO setting at 200 or 400 (or higher if the lighting conditions are low) and leave your camera in autofocus. You will then use your thumb-wheel to dial in the smallest number you can, like F/2.8, F/3.5, F/5.6. Focus on the eyes of your subject, or the eye that is closest to the camera. Depending on how close you are to your subject and what lens you are using (telephoto lenses and closer proximity make the effect even more apparent), you will notice that the background is just soft to almost unrecognizable. If you want the photo to have some context of where you are (like cooking in the kitchen), then maybe F/5.6 is a better choice. But if you want the crowd in the background to go really soft, "open the lens wider" to F/3.5 or F/2.8 if you can.

Please review the aperture download card here and look at the 4 posts about Depth of Field: Blurring the Background under photo tips on the right column for more info. Then, shoot your assignment. Really shoot it and practice, don't just search your photos for one that fits this assignment. I will look at the data tags to see when it was shot (looking for images shot 1/30 through 2/12). Use this opportunity to shoot a great Valentines portrait of your family members and put them into a collage frame!

Upload your assignment that you post on your blog, flickr, photobucket or facebook to Mr. Linky's below, or email me your assignment and I will post it for you. stacie.errera@yahoo.com. Someone will get an A+ and $5 Starbucks Gift Card. Thanks for playing and Good Luck!

Your Photo Assignment Is... Participants

1. Stefanie

2. Jeanne

3. ~Jamie

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Making Snow Pictures Look Less Grey

After the snow falls and school is cancelled for the day, the first thing the kids want is to bundle up and build a snowman. And we can't help but grab our cameras and shoot the whole process. Sometimes, you'll find the snow in your uploaded photos looks slightly grey and/or the overall picture is on the darker side. One way to fix this before you shoot is to adjust your exposure using the exposure compensation dial (see photo below and be sure to look this up in your manual). See, your camera's meter reads the whole scene as very bright since there is so much white all around your subject. In turn, the camera closes the aperture a bit to make what it believes to be the proper exposure (like squinting when it's too bright out, your camera wants to put on sunglasses). So you need to trick your camera and "add" more light by holding down your exposure compensation dial (+/-) and moving the thumb wheel to add exposure by going to the plus side. I usually add +0.7 when shooting in snow. The result is a bright picture and whiter snow. So next time there's snow by you and you go snowshoeing or help the kids with their snowman, add some extra exposure (+0.3~+1.0) before you start shooting.

Fine-Tuning the Color Cast in Your Photos: Custom White Balance

One of the great advantages of digital photography is the ability to fine-tune the color of your photos pretty easily. There are many ways to do this including after the fact using photo editing software, adjusting custom image settings (like portrait, landscape, etc) though menus on your camera, and even the old fashioned way: using a filter. Filters were commonly used to remove the color cast of certain lighting when using daylight balanced film, or vice versa. Today, however, you can easily fine-tune the color by experimenting with your white balance settings. First, I suggest you review this white balance download card. Second, locate the white balance button on your camera (the button is usually designated by WB and is found on either the back or top right of your camera). If you hold this button down and use your scroll wheel, you will be able to move through the various white balance settings (consult your camera manual if your camera does not operate this way). Most often, AWB (automatic white balance) does a fine job of adjusting the color cast of the lighting to make sure white looks white and black looks black. However, sometimes the photo may  look too orange (or blue, magenta or green) for your taste. To fine-tune, you can select one of the pre-set modes. Just decide what type of light is hitting your subject and set the WB to the corresponding icon (see the download card again).

If you still find the color to not be what you are looking for, then it may be time to experiment with CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE. I will admit, I have not done much with custom white balance as I feared it was too difficult and only for real professionals. However, I have discovered it is really easy to set a custom white balance and the difference in color can be night and day. I used a custom white balance this holiday season in a relative's living room that has consistently given me an issue the past few years, even when using a flash. This year's holiday photos were much more pleasing as a result.

To set a custom white balance, follow these easy steps:
1) Hold down your WB button and scroll to PRE or Custom
2) Hold down the WB button until PRE or Custom blinks
3) Point your camera at a white piece of paper that is close to your subject or hold an "expodisc" (my tool) over your lens and point it towards the light source
4) Press the shutter release button as if you were taking a photo and look at the LCD on your camera to confirm the camera states "Good" (If not, try steps 3-5 again). No photo will actually be taken.
5) Take pictures
Note: if you use an expodisc, put your camera in manual focus to take the WB shot and then put it back into autofocus before taking photos.

The samples above of "Marabelle" show a distinct change in color cast. The AWB gave me an orange cast from the tungsten lighting in the room. The preset tungsten white balance setting gave me the same result. But by following the steps above, I was able to get a more accurate color rendition of Marabelle, her clothing and the surroundings. For example, look closely at the white zipper in each photo and the black marble counter top. Places where custom white balance can make a huge difference include stage lighting and gym lighting (look for a future post on this regarding the atrocious mercury vapor lighting in the gym where we play basketball) where the camera's presets may have a hard time perfecting the white balance. So, if you are up to experimenting with this technique, I highly recommend it as yet another way to improve your photos and even save some time editing them later on. If you find yourself using a custom white balance often, then take a look at ExpoDisc or other products like it to make the job easier.

Holiday Portraits Using the Night Portrait Scene Mode

I rarely use the scene modes on my camera, but the one I find myself using from time to time is the Night Portrait mode. This scene mode is the one with the icon featuring a person and star (see below). I use this mode when I want a person as my main subject, but the special lighting in the background, like Christmas lights, Times Square lighting, or a sunset, is equally important. In this photo, my subject posed in front of the town's decorated gazebo and lit tree. The Night Portrait mode sends out a burst of the flash to capture the subject and than makes the shutter stay open a little longer to capture the lighting in the background. The trick in this mode is to be sure both you and your subject hold still to avoid unwanted blur from camera shake or subject movement. In fact, my subject did move and her hands are slightly blurry due to the very slow 1/10 sec shutter speed required to achieve the effect. But the expression was just what I hoped for, so for me, it's perfect. I boosted the ISO considerably—to 1000— and I opened my aperture to F/5, the widest setting for this situation, in order to make the lights softer in the background. Using the Night Portrait mode helped me take the guess work out of deciding how to set my flash and shutter speed and instead concentrate on snapping away until I got what I was looking for. So pose your kids in front of the tree or outdoor decorations, or position your family along the railing at sunset on your next cruise, set the camera to Night Portrait mode and see what you can get!

Images above from Panasonic website (top) and hubbardcamera.com (bottom).

Stop Action Photo Assignment #6 Results: Laura

I love this photo of a runner in the rain. Laura successfully caught the action by freezing the muddy water flying up from the stomp of the runner's foot. A fast shutter speed was needed to stop the action. Laura, please email me (stacie.errera@yahoo.com) your mailing address so that I can send out your Starbuck's gift card. Congrats to all who played. And congrats to ~Jamie who has successfully completed the course! She turned in six out of six assignments. Way to go! I will email you your certificate of completion to post on your blog, Jamie. Look for the next assignment to be posted soon (the holidays and work have slowed my posting down a bit, and I apologize).

Using Flash for Indoor Photography

I have to admit it. Flash is my least favorite type of photography. I suppose since it seems so technical and the results can vary from situation to situation, looking artificial, too dark or too washed out. Luckily, today's flashes can run pretty much on auto pilot and can be used for creative effect with just a little practice. But this time of year, and for the next four or five months, we're all stuck indoors a great deal of the time, especially during the holiday season when we take so many candid photos at get-togethers. So I thought I'd share just a few basic flash tips to improve your indoor photos.

1) Your pop-up flash, the one that is part of the camera and pops up automatically if you are shooting in the "green box" total program mode, can cover just a short distance. Most of the time, any subject further than ten feet cannot get enough of the flash illumination for a properly exposed shot and that is why they look dark. You can boost your ISO to higher than normal to try and get more reach. 2) When you position your subject too close to a wall and use your pop-up flash, you are bound to get harsh shadows behind your subject. Eliminate this by having your subject step a few feet away from the wall and by shooting from a little bit above the subject (which is also a more flattering angle for portraits). 3) Your pop-up flash can cause red-eye quite often. This is because the flash is so close to the lens. It is worse on point-and-shoot cameras than DSLR cameras, but typical in either case. To eliminate red-eye, you can use the red-eye reduction function that throws out a pre-flash to make your subject's eyes close down, but I find often that people think you're done and move before the photo is actually shot. You can also try turning up the lights in the room to help the iris naturally close down a little. 4) If you are in a very dark room, the camera/flash may over-expose your subject (you know, the white face that appears to have nothing but eyes and lips) since the camera reads the room as very dark and wants to make it brighter. This also happens if you are too close to your subject. One solution is to back up to correct the latter, and turn up the room lights if you can for the former. If you cannot control the lighting, try moving your subject closer to a room light like I did above.

On-Camera Auxiliary Flash

An on-camera auxiliary flash, like the one for my camera shown above, elevates the flash away from the lens and helps to reduce red-eye dramatically. This type of flash also helps in other ways: a) it can throw the flash further allowing you to be further away from your subject; and b) you can change the position of the flash to get more even lighting with much less shadows. This is called "bounce flash." The photo above of my very Thanksgiving-weary subject was taken with the auxiliary flash in a bounce position. The flash bounced off of the ceiling and back down onto my subject. You can see the lighting looks much more natural and softer than in either of the two photos below (top: pop-up flash; bottom: straight-on auxiliary flash) where the shot looks more artificial and harsh. In the photos below, you can also see the harsh shadow under the lamp and on the futon frame. And, there are hot spots on her cheeks. You can also see how quickly the flash "drops off," meaning the couch gets darker, whereas in the photo above, the couch and subject are all evenly illuminated since the bounced flash showers the whole area with light. One caution--always bounce off of a white wall or ceiling as the flash will take on the color cast of what it is being bounced off of (e.g., a green ceiling will produce a ghoulish effect).

Like learning how to control your depth of field to blur backgrounds, mastering your flash is a must for anyone who is looking to take better people photos. So this season, try to remember some of the tips above when shooting your flash candids at family gatherings. And if you can get an auxiliary flash made for your camera onto your wish list, it will be a worthwhile investment for many years.

Your Assignment Is...Take a "Stop Action" Photo: Due 12/11/09

Freezing a droplet of water or a smiling face zipping past you on a bike both require using a fast shutter speed and usually a higher ISO setting. I prefer to set my camera on aperture priority in order to prevent under-exposing my shot. In this shooting mode, using a wide open aperture like F/2.8, F/3.5 or F/5.6 will let a lot of light into the camera, and the camera will then automatically choose the fastest shutter speed it can—given the ISO setting and your lighting conditions. If it is a bright day, the shutter speed will be higher in this mode when using a wide aperture. And the higher you set your ISO, the higher the resulting shutter speed will be. So start with your camera in the "A" or "AV" mode, set the aperture to a wide open setting, and set your ISO at 400. Look thru the camera and see what shutter speed your camera says it will use. If it is slower than 1/500th of a second, then boost your ISO to 800, or 1000. Keep in mind that if your subject is moving very fast, you may need a very high shutter speed, like 1/1000th or 1/1250th in order to freeze the motion. To refresh your memory about aperture priority, take a look at the aperture download card posted here. Take a break from raking leaves, grab the camera and take a few shots of autumn fun. Or, if it is already snowing in your part of the country, take some creative snowball fight shots. Use a fast shutter speed to capture sports action, falling confetti, sprinkler water and more. Use Mr. Linky's below to turn in your assignment after posting on your own blog or flickr or photobucket, etc account, or feel free to email me your shot and I will post it for you (stacie.errera@yahoo.com). Assignment #6 is due 12/11/09. Someone will get the A+ and a $5 Starbucks gift card. Good luck!

Your Photo Assignment Is... Participants

1. laura 2. Stefanie

3. Cris 4. ~Jamie

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Photos by Candlelight

Taking a photo by candlelight can be a little tricky. But boosting your ISO and opening your aperture to its widest opening can really help. In this photo, I asked my subject to move his face close to the cake (but not so close as to get burned). My ISO was set to 1600 and my aperture at F/5.6. I held my camera as steady as possible and used the image stabilizer on my lens. I metered on his face and zoomed out a little to compose and focus. The result is a warm image from the candles, and a nice highlight in his eyes. Use a high ISO and position your subject close to candles for any birthday celebration, or for the lighting of the menorah this holiday season.

Next Photo Tips Download Card Set: What would you like to see?

Hi Everyone. I am thinking about my next set of download cards and wanted to ask all of you what you need help with. Some ideas I have are panning, ISO, leading lines, time exposure? Let me know what you would like to see. Thanks.

Isolate Details for a Different Look at Landscapes

When you say "landscape" I'm sure the vision you have in your mind is a panorama of a sprawling field, distant mountains or grand canyons taken with a super wide angle setting on your zoom lens. However, telephoto zoom settings can also be used effectively for landscape photos. When you zoom in on the details of your landscape, you can bring out something special. Here, in Nikko, Japan, I captured the majesty of the not-quite peaked fall season by isolating a few brilliantly colored trees clustered together in the still mostly green landscape. The resulting picture says "fall" unlike the wide angle shot I could have taken. Next time you're shooting landscapes, zoom in and see what interesting detail you can find: a single tree, a mountain peak, a reflection in the lake, and more. When you use the telephoto setting, you compress the distance between objects and achieve a flat, almost painterly 2-D effect.

Worm's Eye View Photo Assignment #5 Results: Scott

With each assignment, it gets more difficult to choose just one image to get the A+. I loved all of the architecture shots and the couple of cool portraits from a different perspective. I selected Scott for the A+ since, as his caption on Flickr states, you feel like you're there. Please do check out his photo here since this small thumb nail does not do it justice. I really do feel like I'm on the trail when I view his image. Congrats Scott. Please send your mailing address to stacie.errera@yahoo.com and I will send out your gift card for Starbucks. I'll post the next assignment after I return from an overseas trip. So be on the look-out for assignment 6. And if you've played along since the first assignment, you'll get your certificate of completion after turning in #6!

Your Assignment Is...Take a Photo from A Worm's Eye View: Due 10/31/09

Getting low on the ground and shooting up towards your subject can create a dramatic effect. This is called a "worm's eye view" since you are essentially viewing the subject just as a worm would. As opposed to a bird's eye view, well, you get the picture. Now, I literally laid down on the ground and shot up to make sure I could get the full length of the lighthouse in my shot. However, crouching down can achieve the effect. So can raising your subject. For example, your subject is up on a ladder, or porch, and you are on the ground. Use your imagination to get below your subject. You will see how you can crop out distracting backgrounds, include more sky, or incorporate something special in the photo. You can also give the illusion of height, power, strength and more when you shoot upwards. Assignment #5 is due on 10/31 and you can use Mr. Linky's below to link your assignment from your own blog, your Facebook page or your Flickr page. Or, as always, you can email it to me (stacie.errera@yahoo.com) and I will post it for you! Someone will get the A+ and a $5 gift card to Starbucks. Good luck and don't forget to download the free photo tips card to help you out with this assignment.


Your Photo Assignment Is... Participants

1. laura 2. Laura D 3. Shauna @ They Call Me Lucy

4. Jamie 5. Jeanne 6. Amber D.

7. Denene 8. Stefanie 9. Scott

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