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Message
OT Photographers - Shooting Manual
Posted on 6/16/14 at 11:48 am
Posted on 6/16/14 at 11:48 am
I have a Canon T3i with the standard 18-55 lens. I can take okay pictures, just messing around with the settings in Tv and Av.
Are there any recommendations of good books or something that may give me some tips for different situations? I am at the beach for a few days and would like to get some good pics of my daughter.
Are there any recommendations of good books or something that may give me some tips for different situations? I am at the beach for a few days and would like to get some good pics of my daughter.
6
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:12 pm to CidCock
First of all, if taking pictures at the beach, wait until the golden hour, sunrise or sunset (unless you just want snapshots).
Think about what you are doing.
Shoot in AV and go from there.
At sunset (or no more than an hour before), the light will be lower and the shadows darker. Set your White Balance in Auto (thats an entire different lesson).
You should have her face the sun, with the sun at your back.
Portraits are usually shot with a bigger f/stop. Your lens is probably a f/3.5, so the background will not be completely distorted, but some. Never use that lens at its max settings. So, if it is a f/3.5, go to f/4.0 or 4.5. Also, never use that lens on its max or min zoom, so set it around 40mm.
Since the light will be low, set your ISO a little high, maybe 600 or so.
Compose the shot, make sure you dont cut off important things, hands, feet, etc. If you are doing a partial body portrait, cut her off at the major joints, knees, waist, mid torso, lower neck (still make sure you capture everything else, hands, etc.)
Make sure nothing in the background will look like it is growing out of her head in the picture (trees, light poles, etc).
Look through the view finder and push down the release half way. There should be some red dots that light up. If one of these dots are not right on one of her eyes, release the button, adjust just slightly and try again. These red dots are the focal points (the area the camera is picking these points as the sharpest points of the image).
Just remember, it is near impossible to shoot a handheld camera that is shooting with a speed of 1/60 or slower. So if your time is 1/60 or slower, bump your ISO one click and check again. Your camera's max ISO is probably 1600, so if you get above ISO 1000, the image will be very noisy. If you have to bump your ISO above 1000, bump you f/stop instead, so if 4.0, go to f/3.5. It will be better than a noisy image, even though I said to try not to use this lens at its max f/stop.
One other thing you can do (if your camera has it), set metering mode to "center weighted avg", not "Evaluative metering". What this is doing is looking at the object in the center of the frame (your daughter) and deciding what time it should use (if shooting in AV). When you are in "Evaluative metering" it looks at the entire frame and sets the time. So if the background is brighter than your daughter and you are not in "Center weighted", she will be under exposed.
Think about what you are doing.
Shoot in AV and go from there.
At sunset (or no more than an hour before), the light will be lower and the shadows darker. Set your White Balance in Auto (thats an entire different lesson).
You should have her face the sun, with the sun at your back.
Portraits are usually shot with a bigger f/stop. Your lens is probably a f/3.5, so the background will not be completely distorted, but some. Never use that lens at its max settings. So, if it is a f/3.5, go to f/4.0 or 4.5. Also, never use that lens on its max or min zoom, so set it around 40mm.
Since the light will be low, set your ISO a little high, maybe 600 or so.
Compose the shot, make sure you dont cut off important things, hands, feet, etc. If you are doing a partial body portrait, cut her off at the major joints, knees, waist, mid torso, lower neck (still make sure you capture everything else, hands, etc.)
Make sure nothing in the background will look like it is growing out of her head in the picture (trees, light poles, etc).
Look through the view finder and push down the release half way. There should be some red dots that light up. If one of these dots are not right on one of her eyes, release the button, adjust just slightly and try again. These red dots are the focal points (the area the camera is picking these points as the sharpest points of the image).
Just remember, it is near impossible to shoot a handheld camera that is shooting with a speed of 1/60 or slower. So if your time is 1/60 or slower, bump your ISO one click and check again. Your camera's max ISO is probably 1600, so if you get above ISO 1000, the image will be very noisy. If you have to bump your ISO above 1000, bump you f/stop instead, so if 4.0, go to f/3.5. It will be better than a noisy image, even though I said to try not to use this lens at its max f/stop.
One other thing you can do (if your camera has it), set metering mode to "center weighted avg", not "Evaluative metering". What this is doing is looking at the object in the center of the frame (your daughter) and deciding what time it should use (if shooting in AV). When you are in "Evaluative metering" it looks at the entire frame and sets the time. So if the background is brighter than your daughter and you are not in "Center weighted", she will be under exposed.
This post was edited on 6/16/14 at 12:27 pm
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:16 pm to CidCock
quote:
I am at the beach for a few days and would like to get some good pics of my daughter.
You won't transform into a great photographer in a few days. The usual process is to shoot lots, review pics over the weekend, learn what worked and what didn't, repeat for several years. Eventually you'll do well enough to earn a pittance. A DSLR is a waste of money until you learn how to take pictures properly.
But if you just want to take something really basic, I suggest the following:
1) Compose the shot so that your subject is roughly in the middle. Not necessarily exactly in the middle, but the subject should be obviously the main part of the shot.
2) Make sure your subject isn't in shadow. If her face is shaded while on the beach, it probably isn't a good shot.
3) Make the background a bit interesting also. Don't take a picture of her lying down on the sand, take pics with the dunes or ocean behind her.
4) You should have bought a point and shoot camera and learned how to take pictures with that instead. Much less expensive. Hell, a good photographer can take good stuff with a phone camera.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:37 pm to CidCock
If this hasn't been posted yet, it is now. Great aid...
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:59 pm to CidCock
You also need to eventually learn how to use "back button" focus.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 9:43 pm to CidCock
quote:
OT
quote:
some good pics of my daughter.
Posted on 6/17/14 at 1:05 am to CidCock
Pretty good info in this thread. Honestly once you have a couple of good shots it would be worth it to jump over to manual and play with the settings...or try taking some pics before you get there around the same time of day that way you'll know around what shutter speed/ISO/aperture to use. You'll have better control over exposure than letting the camera decide for you a good rule of thumb I've always practiced is underexposing my shot by 1/3rd-1/2 a stop. Looking through the viewfinder aim your focus point at your subject and you'll notice the light meter at the bottom move left (underexposed) or right (overexposed) depending on your settings.
Another thing with composition, look at your frame and divide it into three parts vertically and horizontally like a tic tac toe board. Placing the subject in the intersecting lines coupled with a good background makes for very good images that have good depth to them .
Another thing with composition, look at your frame and divide it into three parts vertically and horizontally like a tic tac toe board. Placing the subject in the intersecting lines coupled with a good background makes for very good images that have good depth to them .
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