Stop Using Program Mode!

There are well over 2.5 million people out there who own a digital SLR camera... That is absolutely awesome! Digital SLRs are where it's at! Sure they are bigger and bulkier but they produce a much better image overall and allow you to do a whole heck of a lot more than what a point and shoot can. However, they are only better when you throw a little know how into the mix.... If you take the camera out of the box and keep it at Full Auto or Program Mode then you are really limiting the camera's true potential and are essentially just making it one big, overpriced point and shoot.

There are three main camera settings that will do the trick. If you memorize these three the same way you know your name, address and phone number then you will be off to a real good start.

I wrote up a nice detailed blog post about shutter speed, aperture and ISO that you should definitely check out here:
Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO Explained

Please remember at least that there are other settings beyond Full Auto or Program Mode. It isn't all about what brand or model of camera you have either. If you have an old DSLR then it all of a sudden isn't broken or obsolete when a new model comes out... That new model will not do everything for you either. It takes time and work to be a better photographer. I have been shooting film a whole heck of a lot more lately so imagine how "obsolete" I must be with my $300 film camera??? Yet, I am getting some of my best work out of it!

Listen, If you want to make your pictures look better or if you want to take your photography to the next level then you have to play around with Manual Mode and Aperture Priority Mode. I am going to just briefly talk about Aperture Priority mode for sake of boring you to tears so listen up and listen closely.

Aperture Priority Mode is one of the camera settings on almost every digital SLR out there. 9 times out of 10 I find myself being more concerned with depth of field (or lack thereof) than worrying about motion blur or camera shake... Therefore, Aperture Priority is PERFECT! You set the ISO and you pick the ideal aperture for what you are shooting and the camera does the rest and decides on the shutter speed for you. There is a nice button on the cameras that has a little "+/-" icon on it. This is the Exposure Compensation button and you can set this to a higher or lower value and it will tell the camera that you actually want your image to be brighter or darker than what it is going to "assume" you want. I say assume because a camera is just a tool and it can (and will) get fooled. From experience, I can tell you that photographing someone who is strongly back lit requires around +2 exposure compensation and typically 0 to +1 for pretty much everything else. I am mostly a portrait photographer so my subject's are always people. Things are different if you shoot nature, wildlife or landscapes and you may need to use the negative exposure compensation.

Now you're probably asking yourself "but what should I set my aperture to? I'm scarred help me!" No worries people.

Just remember, a good rule of thumb is to set your Aperture value so that it is equal to or greater than the number of people in your picture. If there is one person in the picture then use f/1.2 or higher. If there are two people then f/2 or higher. For five people, use f/5.6 or higher and so on... If you are shooting landscapes then a good default is f/16 to ensure that everything is in focus.

The only hurdle you may encounter with this guideline is that your lens may not allow you to go lower than f/4 or f/5.6... This is common in kit lenses that come with the camera body in a set. However, this is the beauty of being able to change out lenses. You can add to your gear slowly but surely and phase out the kit lenses in lieu of ones that do what you need them to. If you want to go a little nuts while not spending a fortune then check this lens out. It's great for portraits of your kids and stuff like that where you may want a shallow depth of field. The lens is a 50mm prime lens (no zoom). It has a fixed aperture (that won't change on you when you zoom obviously) and allows you to be able to shoot in real low light or so you can have real shallow depth of field all courtesy of that f/1.8 aperture. All this goodness for a modest price of $125 or so:

For Nikon:
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens at B&H

For Canon:
Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens at B&H

For Sony:
Sony 50mm f/1.8 Lens at B&H

B&H Photo Video has the best prices and I use them all the time so they are a great company with great customer service. You can't get that off eBay or from a no name company that no one has ever heard of. Stick with the companies who are legit whenever you consider picking up new camera gear.

That's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by!
~Mike

Shutter Speed, Aperture And ISO Explained

Who could imagine that these three terms could stump so many people? I don't know about you but I wanted to control the camera ASAP when I starting off and didn't want my camera to control me. So turn your camera off auto 'P'ilot and let me help you get a grasp on shutter speed, aperture and ISO once and for all. Ready to turn that dial to Manual mode???

First off, these three settings are meant to be used in conjunction with one another. It is one big balancing act where you focus on one setting over the others in order to do different effects with your image. They are to photographers what various paint brushes are to painters.

I will talk about each setting in the order in which they should be addressed before you take a photo.

ISO: Also known as ASA back in the film days. This is the first setting you should address when you pick up your camera. The ISO is something that you set based upon what you see. If it is real bright and sunny outside then you will want to use a LOW ISO number like 100. As the natural light around you gets darker, maybe you are in the shade or indoors, then there is less ambient light so you will need to use HIGHER ISO values like 400, 800 or more. The ISO is a setting that you control based upon your surroundings. In case you care, the ISO is your film's (or digital sensor's) sensitivity to light. The lower the number means the more light needs to be used to affect the exposure. Just remember, that the higher the ISO is, the crummier the image may look due to noise and grain to being introduced.

Aperture: The next setting you should move to is the Aperture. Aperture is a the one trouble setting that is VERY hard to understand. The aperture is measured in f-stops. The higher this value is means that less and less light is entering the camera. The higher the value also means that more and more of what you are photographing will be in focus. If you are still confused then just remember that your Aperture should be set to a number that is equal to or greater than the number of people you are photographing. If you are taking a picture of your dog or child then you can use an aperture of f/1.4 or higher. If you are shooting both your dog AND child then you should use f/2.8 or higher. If it is a family portrait of FIVE family members then you should set your camera to f/5.6 or greater... Get the picture? This should hopefully help you demystify the elusive aperture!

Shutter Speed: This is all that's left now that you have two of the three settings figured out... This is the home stretch. The shutter speed is what freezes or blurs motion. Sometimes you want your image to convey motion or sometimes you want everything as sharp as a tack. Since two settings are already figured out all you really need to care about it looking at your the light meter that you can see in your viewfinder.

TANGENT: The light meter is your bread and butter. It is simply an indicator of how your image is going to look if you take the picture with those settings. If the needle on the light meter is too far to the negative then your image will be too dark and vice versa if the needle it to the plus. I typically aim for +0.3 or +0.7 for the most part.

So with this in mind, set the shutter speed to either a higher number (to center the light meter if you have too much light) or lower one (to let in more light) until the needle in the light meter is centered. The only thing you need to check is if the shutter speed is less than 1/60" of a second. Anything slower will introduce camera shake and your image will suffer. Just make sure your over 1/60 and you should be good to go for just starting off. If you simply cannot keep your shutter speed over 1/60" then this is a good indication that you don't have your ISO set up properly. Go back to the drawing board and use a higher ISO and go from there.

Still need more light? Move to a brighter location or throw a flash on your camera.

Hope this helps!
Mike