tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-295695882011-04-21T13:57:37.254-04:00My guide to the world of photography, and some humble recommendationschurlhnoreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-6311960245033653312007-07-14T19:36:00.001-04:002007-07-14T19:36:12.541-04:00

Sisters by bragurWith older cameras and cheaper cameras, you may see this effect of black corners. This is known as vignetting. It is caused by light falloff from the center of the negative, and is usually the result of the lens. However, it can also be used for photographic effect.See in the above image how the subjects are emphasized by the darkening of the corners. There are lots of different

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-33061946420598488222007-07-03T16:26:00.001-04:002007-07-03T16:36:32.204-04:00

Bokeh train tracks! by churlWhen you use a narrow depth of field, there is a significant amount of blurring of the background, and some lenses are more keen about this blur than others. Bokeh is a Japanese term meaning "blur" and it refers to the aesthetics of the blurred background.Some lenses are much better at this effect than others, and I've found that my 50mm Nikkor is quite excellent at it

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-78307097916778890752007-07-03T13:01:00.001-04:002007-07-03T16:36:22.256-04:00

Watch your backgrounds by churlSo, I thought it was about time that I took my car and did some decent shots. I went over to a bank parking lot on Sunday and made a day of it, shooting about 200 shots. I put this picture here as an example of a shot that came out well (I hope you can agree with that assessment) but still has some significant issues that could definitely be improved.First, what I

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1159079624767108842006-09-24T02:27:00.000-04:002007-07-03T16:35:57.024-04:00

Emergency Use Only by churlI'm a little torn about this picture. I thought the subject itself was intriguing, and that I got good exposure and light balance. I've done no post work on this shot. The question however is composition.It's hard to spot your own best photos. What I like sometimes turns out to be very unpopular, whereas the shot that I whimsically posted turns out to be a critical

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150725186303480942006-06-19T09:49:00.000-04:002006-06-19T09:53:06.366-04:00

The principle of bouncing flash by churl. This is another example of the principle of a bounced flash. A bounced flash is when you use a flash and instead of directing it just at your subject, you reflect it or redirect it to diffuse the light. The reason for this is obvious in the example: it creates a more pleasing image especially in portraiture.You can aim the bounce to the ceiling,

churlhnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150157537289662782006-06-12T20:08:00.000-04:002006-06-14T05:56:29.096-04:00

Fouled off by churl. I bought a new zoom lens 70-300mm 'G' Nikkor lens for my D70. It was a prize at $140, but it's not the greatest lens. Still, when no one's paying for my glass, I got to take what I can. I really like sports photography, so this is a lot of fun for me, but obviously, I need a lot of work.

churlhnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150155141502225952006-06-12T19:29:00.000-04:002006-06-13T02:48:47.070-04:00

bounce flash technique by churl. I was at dinner with the other residents, and everyone was asking me why I was shooting with the flash aimed at the ceiling, and with an index card rubber banded to my flash. I took these shots to show why.The top part is direct flash, with sharp, harsh shadows. The lower image is with the bounce, and it looks much better, I think. I don't get a lot of

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150144583270555672006-06-12T16:23:00.000-04:002006-06-13T02:49:30.253-04:00

The most common piece of composition advice is the Rule of Thirds. This is the idea that if you split your picture into thirds vertically and horizontally, the ideal location for your subjects would be a third to the left or right, and the horizon should be lined up a third up or down. STW Rule of Thirds by Lariffic. This is universally accepted to be pedantic and trite. Oh, there's truth to it

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150101026433066082006-06-12T04:19:00.000-04:002006-06-12T04:30:26.443-04:00

Zoom lenses are relatively new to the consumer market. Most all point-and-shoots offer some zoom ability, and most everyone with SLR's have at least one zoom lens. Here are a few things to remember about zooms.The more zoomed in, the more the image will blur from hand movement. So when you're using a big zoom, you may have to stabilize the camera. If you watch sports photographers, they often

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150100194597663892006-06-12T04:02:00.000-04:002006-06-12T16:09:49.596-04:00

There are many different kinds of cameras. The most ubiquitous is the point-and-shoot [PaS] camera: you point it at something and shoot. While PaS is convenient, it has its limitations. Before digital, one of the big limitations was parallax.Parallax is when what you see through the viewfinder is not what you actually catch on film. That's because they're lined up differently, and usually it's

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150099336716491772006-06-12T03:51:00.000-04:002006-06-12T04:02:16.723-04:00

You can think of megapixels in the same way as negative size. In film, you can shoot with 35mm film, or 2.5 inch negatives like portrait photographers, or in the old days, guys like Ansel Adams used 5"x7" glass plate negatives. Nowadays, it's hard to find any film other than 35mm or APS (which is even smaller) in the stores. So, more megapixels roughly translates to a larger image.As you might

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150098315886933202006-06-12T03:37:00.000-04:002006-06-13T03:49:25.570-04:00

The purpose of a flash is to add light to a subject when the situation is too dark. Also, flash can be used to add additional light to "fill" out the picture, softening shadows and bringing out a subject.Flashes have an effective distance. Beyond that, the flash is useless. It's be like trying to light up the Golden Gate Bridge with a desk lamp. So please turn off your flash when you're shooting

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150097773995760952006-06-12T03:27:00.000-04:002006-06-12T03:48:55.133-04:00

You might think that in this digital age, there's no need to talk about film, but the concept of film is valuable, and still applicable. Film varies by quality (duh) and by speed, called ISO (or ASA, the same thing). Film such as ISO 100 is very fine grain and very insensitive to light. Thus, it can be greatly enlarged without difficulty and can be used in very bright light."Faster" film such as

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150082063249828682006-06-11T23:05:00.000-04:002006-06-12T03:47:39.393-04:00

There isn't too much to understand about shutter speed. Speed is expressed as fractions of a second, so 60 = 1/60th of a second. Shutter speed moderates the amount of light allowed through the aperture. This can be used to limit light exposure, but can also be used to convey action.If something is moving faster than the speed of the shutter, then it will be blurry because the film will remember

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150065614918210502006-06-11T18:24:00.000-04:002006-06-12T16:10:42.546-04:00

Aperture is the physical opening that allows light onto the film. On a pinhole camera, this would be the actual pinhole. On a modern camera, there is a ring that can narrow or widen to change the aperture. The aperture controls two things: (1) the amount of light let into the camera at a given point in time, and (2) the depth of field [DoF].The aperture is expressed as a fraction of the full

churlhnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29569588.post-1150061298430734492006-06-11T17:12:00.000-04:002006-06-13T02:58:50.990-04:00

Understanding photography is not that difficult, and it's something that I enjoy greatly. It's an intensely powerful form of expression, and it's enjoyable on many diverse levels. Being good at photography takes an appreciation of the tools itself, and the ways it can be used. The modern camera can be intimidating, but every camera is essentially the same at heart. They all work by the simplest

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