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

Backup Your Images

Nothing is more important than backing up your data. Unfortunately, this is something that gets pushed to the wayside so we can get a new camera or lens gets. What good is all that camera equipment if we lose all the images taken with it???

It all boils down to storage... Here are some helpful suggestions on how you can preserve your images for years to come:
1.) Do not format your memory cards until you have backed them up. It is important to have yourself "at least" two copies before formatting your memory card!

2.) Invest in quality not quantity. It is easy to see a hard drive for $80 and want to pick it up. However, be sure to do your research and make sure that these hard drives are reliable. We wouldn't want to get into a car that wasn't reliable and take it for a drive across country now would we? Same goes for your hard drives.

3.) Go for speed. Look for hard drives in the 7200rpm or faster range. Also ensure that your external hard drives have various input jack options. These 250 gb rugged external hard drives by LaCie are portable and can withstand a good beating. Trust me, I have tried and they are still kicking!



4.) Things are always better in pairs! Do your research on data redundancy and set yourself up a nice RAID system. The basic nuts and bolts of RAID is that you can have your hard drive mirrored meaning that one could crap out and you will have an exact replica to takes its place. Furthermore, you can put a new hard drive in the old one's place and have the RAID mirroring kick right back in. LaCie also makes amazing products for redundancy. This particular model is the LaCie 5 Big Network NAS file server and it can expand to offer you up to 7.5 Terabytes of data!!!


Front:


Back:



5.) Upgrade your CDs and DVDs from the Walmart brand to archival grade. The cheap DVDs have an average shelf life of like 5 years. Go with the more expensive, but more reliable, archival disks. These last well over 90 years and are more scratch resistant.

6.) Keep a backup off-site. Take one of your hard drives or keep a running record of DVDs and send them over to your mother-in-laws house. Just keep them somewhere safe and away from where you keep your other hard drives. This goes with the saying about having all your eggs in one basket. Heaven forbid you had a fire or a natural disaster hit your house... Having an off site backup ensures that you have one copy somewhere else that is hopefully going to be out of harms way.

One can get pretty overboard with backups so be sure to do your research and follow a backup regiment that will suit your needs and fit in with your already existing workflow.

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Top 10 Tips for Better Landscape Photography

Top 10 Tips for Better Landscape Photos:

1.) Use a tripod. I think that one is self-explanatory. Tripods stabilize your camera and ensure that your shots will be sharp. A lot of photography techniques, such as blurring waterfalls, requires a steady camera and a long shutter speed so we need that camera to be steady. I also should point out that you should look into also using a remote shutter release to also prevent any unnecessary camera movement. If you wanted the benefit of this on the cheap or if you forgot to bring your shutter release with you then you could always use the timer feature of your camera. Set it to 2 or 5 second delay and that will ensure that the camera isn't affected by you pressing the shutter.



Using a tripod allowed me to take this 16.5 minute star trail in Joshua Tree National Park. Good luck hand holding your camera that long!


2.)Use Mirror Up Mode. I am not sure if every camera has this feature but it further prevents any camera movement at time of capture. With this setting enabled, you press the shutter once to snap the mirror up and then the second photo simply takes the exposure without any internal mirror snapping. Anything to reduce movement on the camera.

3.) Do your Research. If you are planning a trip somewhere or are ready to go out and shoot then be sure that you know when the sunup/sunset times are, what the weather is like (and dress appropriately) and where the best setup locations will be. "Chance favors the prepared mind" so the more prepared you are going into the shoot, the better your images will be. A GPS is also your friend and is a great tool for landscape photographers.

4.) Invest in Filters. Certain filters are essential to taking amazing images in camera. Sure we could take multiple shots and HDR them but I am talking about technique here. Many have the "I'll fix it in Photoshop" approach to photography which I am trying to break one person at a time here. If you are just starting out then HDR your heart out until you can save up for decent filters. Call me old fashioned but I want to see an amazing image on the back of my camera in order for me to feel good about an image. Many times, this requires the use of filters. I would recommend circular polarizer filters (reduce glare and gives images more of a color pop in-camera.), ND filters (Come in various levels of intensity. These darken the overall exposure and allow you to shoot at slower shutter speeds), graduated ND filters (these are gradients that go from dark to clear. Their purpose is to darken the sky and even out the overall exposure of a landscape) and filter holders (such as the Cokin Z-Pro).

5.) Be Unique. There is only so many ways someone can take a photograph. If you are visiting a popular location frequented by photographers year round then chances are you will be taking a photo that looks just like theirs. Be unique and come up with different ideas. Maybe shoot details around the area, use tighter crops, try panoramas or use obscure things in the foreground. Just be different.

6.) The Early Bird Gets the Worm. Be willing to venture out early enough to catch sunsets. This means waking up well ahead of time, getting a good breakfast and get out to your location wit your camera ready to go just before sunset. Remember "chance favors the prepared mind." If you are a late riser then there is always sunsets to look forward to. The reason for this is that the sun isn't at an extreme such as high noon and the light is essentially fanning across the landscape. The colors in the sky are also the most impressive during these times.

7.) Composition is Key. Remember the basics such as the Rule of Thirds, the Golden Ratio, triangles, figure eights, leading lines and other compositional rules. Always strive for a foreground, mid and background to give a sense of depth and dimension. If you want to portray size then try to always have something in the photograph to serve as a reference. This could be a person hiking while you capture a majestic mountain. As always, rules are meant to be broken so if it looks good to you then chances are you have yourself a winner. "There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs." - Ansel Adams





8.) Bracket Your Shots. I've had it happen to me where you get so caught up in the moment or things are a rush so you may forget to check your settings or your exposures on the back of your camera. By bracketing your shots, you can ensure that you will at least have a couple usable images from the set. On that note, always run through your camera settings to ensure they are set to what you want. For landscapes, I recommend using the largest RAW file in Adobe RGB. This will give you larger files but they will have more data and contain the most color. Film was expensive but memory card real estate is cheap so use up those memory cards. It only will cost you more time behind the computer when going through them all.

9.) Travel. Life is short. Go out and see the world. Unless Yosemite or Yellowstone is in your backyard then chances are you will have to travel some to get great images. Sure you can look for some gems in your backyard and search for local getaways but the real magic comes when you do a little traveling. I know I get burned out living in the same spot with the same things to photograph... Traveling to a new location is an eye opener and serves as a much needed revitalization. I find a whole new level of inspiration when in a new state or county. Take the wife and kids or go on a photo safari by yourself. Exotic animals and unique landscapes will not be ringing your doorbell so you have to go out and search for them. Just be safe and take a guide with you if you are unsure of your surroundings or what you will be getting into.



Not everyone has one of these in their backyard! Photo taken in Chichen-Itza, Mexico.


10) Get To Know the Area. Camp out and become a part of what you are photographing. The moods and feeling you get should be the fuel for your photographs. When you understand what you are photographing then you will be able to truly capture it's essence.



This photo tells a story to me. I shot this image after proposing to my wife in Allegheny State Park. Don't tell me that it didn't have an effect on my feelings. I find this image to be very calming, mysterious and pleasing to the eyes. I could go on for hours about this one since I think it is my favorite image to date.


Ansel Adams said the following quotes that should really hit home:
"A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed. "

“Simply look with perceptive eyes at the world about you, and trust to your own reactions and convictions. Ask yourself: "Does this subject move me to feel, think and dream? Can I visualize a print - my own personal statement of what I feel and want to convey - from the subject before me?”

“You don't take a photograph, you make it.”

I hope this helps in your quest for better photographs.

Enjoy!
Mike