Studying Light

You've heard it before. Lighting is King in photography. One of the fastest ways to improve the quality of your photos is to learn to see and use light to create mood, texture and dimension in your images. Light (or lack there of) can make a photo or render it trash-worthy.

So how does one go about learning to see light? Well, one of my first steps toward learning about light and exposure, and how to use my camera in general, was to read Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. As a beginner, it helped me sort through all of those photography terms floating through my consciousness and make sense of the exposure triangle. I loved the detailed examples, with camera settings, as well as the suggestions for practice. It's a great book for beginners and I highly recommend it to anyone starting to come out of auto mode.

But, once you've gotten comfortable with how to achieve proper exposure manually, what's the next step toward seeing and using light? That's what I'd like to discuss here with a simple little exercise which demonstrates how light, and your camera's and your subject's relationship to it, can effect your image.
So, one of the most important things we can learn about light is what direction it’s coming from. The position of your light source in relation to your subject will have a great deal to do with how your pictures turn out. The direction of light controls which parts of your subject are lit and which are in shadow.

It is important to note the shadows because photos are two dimensional and shadows provide depth and contour to objects. They can reveal texture, which can create interest, or possibly be unflattering. To create shadows, the light needs to be at an angle to both the camera and your subject. So using some degree of side lighting will accentuate form.

The range of differing angles of light are generally simplified into three main types: front lighting, back lighting and side lighting. The way that shadows fall throughout your image can give you information about a picture that flat, front lighting can't reveal. Shooting with the light to the side of or behind your subject can create an image where shadows become part of the picture. Side light and back light usually produce high-contrast images with very bright areas, and very dark ones.

In each of the images below I kept my camera settings exactly the same and they were all taken within a matter of moments. The only thing I changed was my position in relation to my subject and the light.

You can see from the pull back that I had some window light from one direction, an open door from another, and a flashlight aimed at the subject.

You can see how the texture, shape, and color change from image to image and how that effects the mood of each photo. These images show how dramatically different your image can be by simply changing the angle and direction from which you shoot. (All images are SOOC except for resizing for the web).

This simple exercise can help you learn more about light. Give it a try like I did by simply walking around your subject and shooting from different angles. It will help you become more aware of how light effects your subject. By learning to use light to convey depth, form, texture and mood your images will become stronger.

Auto to manual mode. Easy “how to steps” to help you get started...

Are you currently shooting on automatic? and not achieving the photos you want. We’ve all been there. Really we have.
When you control the manual settings on your DSLR camera you will have complete control over what you want the picture to look like. Why not take the time to learn just how to do it? Its scary at first. I know, I was scared. I didn't want to take the chance on missing that moment because I was missing around with my settings.
But once you start you will never want to go back. Plus it will cut your editing time down because your photo will be close to perfect right out of the camera with very little fine tuning.
Lets get started shall we? 

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“Exposure triangle”

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You need to know and understand the exposure triangle. It is made up of your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Using these three components will get you light meter to zero. And once you understand just how important light is to making or breaking your photo you will be able to master the manual mode.
Your light meter will look something like this (could very depending on your camera it should be a vertical line when you look through your view finder.)  –2….1…0…1…2+ when you adjust the 3 components you will want your ticker to be at zero or a little higher/lower depending on your taste. (I like mine 1 or 2 clicks higher.)

Now lets talk about each component:

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“ISO”

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The perfect example I learned was from this sight. She explained it like this..  If you have it set at 100 think that you just sent out 100 worker bees to bring the light back to you. If you have it set at 1600 you just sent out 1600 worker bees to bring the light back to you.

Lower ISO = less light were as Higher ISO= more light
**Remember the higher the ISO the more NOISE (grain) you will have in the photo. **
Here are a few loose guidelines for ISO settings:
Bright sun - ISO 100
Overcast - ISO 200
Deep Shade - ISO 400
Indoors on a sunny day - ISO 200 – 640
Indoors on a cloudy day - ISO 400 – 1250
Indoors at night ISO- 1600+

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“Shutter Speed”

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The shutter speed is the amount of time that your shutter stays open. In most cases, you want the shutter speed to be fast enough to capture your image without any blurriness.

Normally I never shoot anything under 1/80 unless I put my camera on a tripod. Settings below that could cause blurriness. Basically when I shoot photos of Wyatt I try to keep my shutter speed at 125 or higher just because I know that he will be a toddler on the move and I want to freeze the moment instead of blur that moment. 
The lower your shutter speed is the more light you will let into your camera because the shutter is open longer. The higher the shutter speed is the less light will enter into your camera.
More light = more blurriness Less light = less blurriness

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“Aperture/ F stop”

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Changing your aperture affects the amount of light that's in your shot and the scale used to measure the aperture size is the “f-number” scale. This sounds much more complicated than it is. There is one trick to understanding it: A smaller f-stop number indicates a bigger aperture opening.(F-stops are indicated by these numbers on your camera: f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16 ect.)

When shooting at a lower f/stop (ie: larger aperture: f/1.2 – f/2.8), the ‘in focus’ part of your image will be smaller and the background will be blurry - this is great for portraits, flowers and still life. Small apertures (ie: f/8 and above) cause more of the background to be in focus this is great for shooting families, interior, buildings or street life.

Remember: Lower number aperture = more light and a blurrier background / Higher number aperture = less light and a sharper background

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Here's a cheat sheet to help you remember…

[via]

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So in what order should you adjust these? Well it depends on what you like but what I do is this:

1. Set my aperture – I like to first control if I want a “blurry” background.
2. Set my shutter speed – remember try not to go below 1/125 you don’t want a lot of motion blur. Now if my light meter (remember this: –2….1…0…1…2+ ) is not where I want it then I…
3. Change my ISO – I try to do this one last just because I like my ISO to stay at the lowest number possible so I have less “noise/grain” in the photo and you should be able to get the exposure you want by just change the first 2 depending on how the light is where you are shooting.
Now guys this takes time to master and the only way to get better is by practicing and try out your settings and really when I started out learning manual mode I would switch it to Auto and snap a photo and then look at what settings the camera set and then I would adjust those in manual mode. Do what feels right to you and don't get discourage, keep practicing and soon you will love that you made the change to manual mode.

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Audrey from The Daily Wyatt

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Knowing your camera.

When I first attempted photography I was in high school. Maybe 10th grade. I didn't pay attention, didn't care to learn the tips or secrets of all that went into taking a great photo and I only took one class. I then never thought about it again until I had my son Wyatt and even then I didn't think about how to get a certain shot or what it all involved I just began to shoot. I shot what I saw with my point and shoot camera, I then began to blog, read and think about what I shot and then I bought my Sony A550 DSLR.


But does that mean once you get your DSLR you don't need to work at it? NO and NOOO! I want to stress that because I believe that to be a good photographer you First need to have an EYE for it. You need to be able look at something and see what others cant see. Can this be taught? maybe... but not likely.
Secondly you need to have the passion for it. you need to live eat and breath it. if that's not there then what's the point?
Third you need to KNOW your camera. Get off that AUTO mode and go manual. You will be happy that you did trust me.
Here is a little cheat sheet to help you plus ASHLEY already talk about how to go manual and I read THIS months and months ago which made me do it too.

I know how scary it can be to get off that Auto mode. it took me months after I bought my camera to make the switch. I was scared that I wouldn't get the photos I wanted or that they would turn out awful. I didn't trust my eye. But once I did... it was wonderful... the freedom I had! 
After you go manual make sure you know YOUR camera. their not all a like.
First I just want to state that I AM a Poor working mom who can not afford all the great lens or equipment that comes a long with being a photographer. All I have is my Sony A550 (any other Sony users out there? I would love to meet you. ha-ha!) and my 18-55 kit lens. THATS IT!
I refuse to let that make me not take the pictures I want to take...
If you read my BLOG you know that I LOOOOVE macro shots. Love 'em and by reading my camera manual and PLAYING around with my camera settings and pushing EACH button on my camera I have taught my self that I can take those macro shots I love so much...

    These are completely SOOC.

My settings were 1/100 F5.6 ISO 400

How I got those two shots were by first adjusting my settings to what WAS best for the photo. (refer to the cheat sheet posted above.) Secondly, I had my lens as close I as could with out making it blurry or making the drops fall. Third, I have button on my camera that allows me to zoom in x1.4 or x2.0 I don't know if any other cameras have that. but its wonderful so I used that. Fourth, I first auto focused my shot then I went into the manual focus. (read your camera manual on how to do that for your camera. I believe its different for each one.) So it would allow me to actually snap the shot. That's it. I know if I had a macro lens I would have been able to accomplish this shot a lot easier/fast and might have had more detail but YOU don't need one as long as you KNOW you camera.

Here are some more recent shots I took using basically the same settings.

 

So remember its not about the type of camera/lens you have. Its if you know how to use it, have an eye for it. plus a ton of passion... and GET OFF OF THAT AUTO MODE!!!!! DO IT! YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!

  -Audrey from The Daily Wyatt

Tutorial: Go Manual or Go Home!

Before I get started, I should mention that Chelsey suggested I write this piece A LONG TIME ago - seriously, it's been in draft mode for months. I've been dragging my feet and I apologize. With that said, I really hope this is helpful.

So you've bought your first DSLR and you're ready to take better pictures. One problem...you have the exact same camera as "so and so." Their camera takes beautiful photographs, but your photos still look blah. Well, it may be the photographer (just kidding…kinda)...but, it could be that you just need to stop using AUTO and start shooting MANUAL!

Symbiosis by RSL Photography

The good news is that if you want to learn how to shoot in manual mode, now is the time to do it. With digital photography, mistakes don’t cost you an arm and a leg, so you can experiment without wasting several rolls of film in the process of learning. In fact, once you start shooting manual, you won't want to shoot any other way. If I'm honest, your photos may take a turn for the worst at first, but over time, you'll find that it is actually much easier to capture a moment in manual mode.

For example, I recall doing one of my first portrait sessions with a friend. I thought to be safe, I should shoot in Aperture Priority Mode. After breaking out into sweats because I was so nervous, I realized that every one of my shots were underexposed. I made a split decision to go back to shooting manual. Wah lah, 100% improvement.

Now, if you follow my blog, you know that Jill and I started a new photo challenge called Shoot and Edit at the beginning of the year. Each week, she provides a photography tip on Monday while we link up our SOOC shots based on her advice. Then on Thursday, I provide editing tips and encourage you to link up your edited shots based on my tutorial. Jill truly knows her stuff when it comes to photography and is teaching us to work towards proper exposure in camera.

 

Perfect exposure is definitely our goal. We want our subject to appear on "film" just as they do in real life. However, sometimes “perfect exposure” can be misleading. I remember when I was first trying to understand the exposure triangle (ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed); I was convinced that I would never understand because there were just too many calculations to remember. In fact, I ran into people whose brain seemed to operate like a massive calculator. It scared me!

I am not as concerned about "the calculation," but I do want you to understand the difference between the combinations to create a nice depth of field or motion blur (depending on what you’re interested in). Remember that photography is a creative and subjective art form – as much as my “engineer-brain” husband (and many other men out there) would like to believe that it’s all about the numbers, it should be a creative process…let’s not make it more complicated than it has to be.

Manual Mode is as simple as setting up a tripod. Like a tripod, each leg needs to be set properly, but it’s really not that difficult. So, let me quit rambling and provide you with four simple steps for going manual:

1. Visualize the shot and determine what you want to control. Do you want to a nice depth of field or motion blur?
2. Adjust your settings: 
1. Set your ISO speed:
• ISO 100: Great for bright sunny days, at the beach or on the snow.
• ISO 200: Great for overcast daylight pictures (noise levels may increase, but in most cases not noticeably).
• ISO 400: Great for lower lighting conditions (indoors, night time) or when you need to capture faster moving subjects in lower lighting conditions. 
• ISO 800 or above: Generally used for lower light and night time settings, but can produce a lot of noise.
2. Set your aperture:
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3. Balance your light meter: Using your in-camera light meter, adjust the “balance control” – whichever control is not fixed. I will almost always fix my aperture and adjust the shutter speed to balance. While camera manufacturers tend to stick to a theme across all their cameras, every camera is a little bit different (thus the reason I recommend looking at your manual). But to give you a rough idea, here’s how mine works. The goal is to set the “balance” so that the meter reads zero. If your shot will be overexposed, the meter fills in to the right; underexposed and it fills to the left. Nikon’s metering system is very similar, except flipped. So in Step 3 above, you’ll adjust the balance control until the meter reaches zero. And to be honest with you, I tend to over-expose just a touch.
   
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4. FOCUS! 

Your Camera is now perfectly set up for the shot.

With that said, if you haven't already...go out and experiment in manual mode. Practice these easy steps – Visualize your shot, adjust your settings, balance and focus– and learn how simple manual mode really is. It's really that easy and you won't go back to shooting any other way!

Day 228 by Allie Photography