- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
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 12:21 pm to theantiquetiger
quote:
theantiquetiger
Totally agree with all that.
I do however like to take one or two shadowed pics(sun behind her) and artificially brighten a shadowed face. Washes out background but makes for an interesting pic.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:24 pm to foshizzle
quote:
A DSLR is a waste of money until you learn how to take pictures properly.
People say this. But when I first got a DSLR all I wanted as a father of a bunch of small kids was:
1. manual control of ISO for indoor shots.
2. better pictures when zoomed
3. most importantly, the FPS on continuous.
are there now p&s cameras for $300-$500 that can shoot 3-5 fps consistently and where iso over 800 doesn't cause a bunch of noise for indoor shots no flash? If so I really see myself going back to p&s on next camera.
This post was edited on 6/16/14 at 12:25 pm
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:28 pm to theantiquetiger
quote:
theantiquetiger
Thanks for the info, I plan on messing around with the camera a good bit the next few days.
I just read a tutorial that recommended shooting Av only if you have a tripod.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:31 pm to foshizzle
quote:
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.
I agree, but I got a good deal on this camera off of Craigslist, so I am giving it a go.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:33 pm to CidCock
quote:
I just read a tutorial that recommended shooting Av only if you have a tripod.
What ever you just read in that tutorial, don't listen to it. Thats the dumbest thing I have ever heard. The only time you really need a tripod is when the speed s slower than 1/60. AV is nothing but where you decide the f/stop and the camera decides the speed based on the f/stop (and ISO) you set.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:34 pm to theantiquetiger
I shoot in Av 95% of the time.
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 12:40 pm to wickowick
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:41 pm to Bamadiver
Thanks guys, gonna buy that now.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:43 pm to theantiquetiger
just remember, if you move one setting one way, another setting must move in opposite direction to compensate for it (if the settings are good to start with).
So for example:
you are shooting in AV at f/4.5, speed 1/100, ISO 600.
The image is way over exposed. There are two things you can do
1 - move the f/stop to a smaller setting (remember, f/stops are backwards, higher number, smaller the setting). So you can move the f/stop from 4.0 to 4.5 (or even the next one), this will lower the exposure.
2 - lower the ISO.
A good basic thing to know, what these things are doing
F/stop is telling you how much the aperture is open. The more it is open, the more light gets in.
The speed is how long the aperture is open, so the faster the speed, the less light gets in
ISO is how sensitive the sensor is to light, so a higher ISO, the more sensitive the sensor is.
These three things work together, if one is moved, another one (or both) must be adjusted to compensate.
So for example:
you are shooting in AV at f/4.5, speed 1/100, ISO 600.
The image is way over exposed. There are two things you can do
1 - move the f/stop to a smaller setting (remember, f/stops are backwards, higher number, smaller the setting). So you can move the f/stop from 4.0 to 4.5 (or even the next one), this will lower the exposure.
2 - lower the ISO.
A good basic thing to know, what these things are doing
F/stop is telling you how much the aperture is open. The more it is open, the more light gets in.
The speed is how long the aperture is open, so the faster the speed, the less light gets in
ISO is how sensitive the sensor is to light, so a higher ISO, the more sensitive the sensor is.
These three things work together, if one is moved, another one (or both) must be adjusted to compensate.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:44 pm to wickowick
I was coming to post that wickowick.....good book.
Shooting in Apereture mode is what most photographers probably shoot in. Play with it until you learn more about how the different fstops act and also how to use ISO....then you can switch to manual.
As Antique said, try to always keep your speed above 1/60, otherwise you are going to most likely have blur.
If you have a tripod, set your camera up on it in aperature mode and set f stop at around 22, frame a picture of the water/beach at sunset, and you should get a nice pic of some silky water action.
Shooting in Apereture mode is what most photographers probably shoot in. Play with it until you learn more about how the different fstops act and also how to use ISO....then you can switch to manual.
As Antique said, try to always keep your speed above 1/60, otherwise you are going to most likely have blur.
If you have a tripod, set your camera up on it in aperature mode and set f stop at around 22, frame a picture of the water/beach at sunset, and you should get a nice pic of some silky water action.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:52 pm to Kingwood Tiger
simple question - what file size do you guys use?
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:54 pm to CidCock
quote:
simple question - what file size do you guys use?
ALWAYS shoot in RAW....I suggest you get Lightroom to edit pictures if you don't have it already.
Also, when taking pictures of daughter or someone on the beach and their face is darkened out, just adjust the exposure compensation until and snap a shot until you are able to see their face.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 12:54 pm to CidCock
In camera? RAW, always.
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 1:02 pm to CidCock
quote:
simple question - what file size do you guys use?
I like my picture files like I like my sex, RAW.
Posted on 6/16/14 at 1:15 pm to Kingwood Tiger
quote:
ALWAYS shoot in RAW....I suggest you get Lightroom to edit pictures if you don't have it already.
Yep. Get "Understanding Exposure," Lightroom and shoot in RAW. If you know a little about composition you can make great photos with these tools.
Page 1 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News