My friend Ray.

I hope you surround yourself with people that breathe life into you. I spent some time this wekend with my friend Ray (a real friend this time - I had just met my other friend Dave!) who is really like a life mentor to me. And it just so happens that he is a professional photographer!

Ray took me back to the basics, which I appreciated.

So, let's start with the lens on your SLR (single lens reflex - don't even ask the technicalities beyond that!). The zoom lens is either fixed or it ranges (more common). When holding the lens, look for your range. I have two zoom lenses - one is 14mm-42mm and the other is 40mm-150mm. While tempting to keep my feet planted and simply zoom in, Ray has challenged me to leave my lens on a fixed focal length and start approaching my subjects instead.

The numbers next to the zoom lens is your aperture range. My lenses read 1:3.5-5.6 and 1:4-5.6, respectively.

What is aperture (also expressed as f-number) anyway? In short, it determines how large of an opening thus the amount of light let in. The frustrating part is that the lower the f-number, the larger the opening. Sounds simple enough, but just you wait. Reducing the aperture size (larger number) increases depth of field. This increases the sharpness of your image. The look I've been trying to conquer is a sharp subject wih a blurred background. So, I don't want increasing sharpness. Therefore, I want a larger aperture size (small number - the smallest f/stop on my camera on lens #1 is 3.5;4.0 on lens #2). This may take several days to absorb, but it is the esence of apeture and depth of field. The best way to learn is to play! I will post some play pictures soon.

The easiest lesson I walked away with is that the ideal focal length for portrait photos is 80mm-135mm. This will result in the sharpest images!

Play homework -

1. Focal length - move my feet instead of zooming in!

2. Aperture - smaller versus larger opening

3. Portrait photo at focal length outside of Ray's recommendation

If you're overwhelemed, so am I!!! We're in this together; please feel free to share some feedback!

My new friend Dave.

Rockbrook Camera (http://www.rockbrookcamera.com/) is exactly 12 blocks away. I've run passed it. I've driven by it [nearly every day]. Heck, it's just 9 blocks away from work making it the perfect lunch break destination. And still, it took me a year to walk through its doors. Now you can't keep me out!


I met my new friend, Dave, who showed me a few tricks of the trade. While some of the lingo went right over my head, he made it clear that I was welcome to come back any time with more questions. Dave took this picture after I told him I'm most interested in conquering depth of field and while it gave me some direction, I still don't fully get it. And I want to get it ALL. Yesterday!


F5.6
Focal length 42mm
ISO 200


What I do fully understand is ISO. Your camera is probably set on AUTO, which is usually 100 or 200 ISO. The problem? The lower the ISO, the more light you need. The higher the ISO, the less light you need but your picture will start to look grainier the higher the ISO. There is always a give and a take.

So, take a picture on a beautiful sunny day and 100 ISO is perfect. But stop and ask yourself how many perfectly beautiful days there were the last couple of times you took a picture? Consider your lighting and play with your ISO. You are going to be amazed. I wonder if the color in the picture taken at Rockbrook (which is fluorescent lighting) would have been sharper had I had it on 400 or if I had adjusted the white balance (WB)?


And finally, white balance. Again, your camera is probably set on AUTO. But this is where you have the power to consider the elements - cloudy, incandescent lighting, fluorescent lighting, (there is a difference!), etc. Refer to your camera's manual for pictogram interpretation!

The first of many lessons.

I love Elizabeth Kartchner's blog, just us (see B for Blogs.). I often wonder if it's even legal to have as much talent as she does. In a recent post, she applied a technique that she learned from Candice Stringham complete with a 'before' and 'after' picture. I thought "I can handle that" and this, my friend, is truly what assured me that getting acquainted with my camera doesn't have to be scary at all. Check out the video and test the waters out for yourself. You're going to love it. I promise.

Note: I will always report my settings when I post pictures going forward. I need a free pass on my very first photo post :)


BEFORE (on AUTO of course)















AFTER

I bought my camera *how* long ago?!

I got my brand new digital SLR for Christmas last year. (You know how it goes... I wanted it, I bought it, and it just so happened to be Christmas time. Merry Christmas to me.) I'd like to say that I tried learning just what made my camera so ultra-cool, but seeing as how a year went by knowing nothing beyond AUTO, I have to admit that I didn't try with a whole lot of fervor. And then I got another new camera for Christmas this year (a real present this time - from the bosses). That's when it all began.

I sat down for hours playing with my new, pocket sized digital camera (Olympus FE-20, 8.0 Megapixel); even going as far as messing with the ISO. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Why was I spending *hours* on a camera that holds 1/10th of the power that my digital SLR holds? That was that. I was going to try to master it with fervor. And so it all begins...

Why Blog?

If I've learned anything about myself in the past 29 years, it's that I can't keep a journal. I have 1001 journals that have a maximum of 10 entries. It's borderline pathetic. So what happens when I can't remember what the heck f/stop means and it's entry #11? You know, the entry that was never an entry? Hence the blog.

And why not make your life easier while I'm at it?

That's why.