I have a confession. For most of my photography-taking life, I’ve ignored one of the coolest DSLR features: Exposure Compensation. I’ve embraced it hard over the last year, however, and it just might be my favorite feature of a DSLR camera.

It’s like Manual “Lite”

You of course know that shooting in Manual mode gives you precise control over your photos, but I find that Manual mode is not practical for everyday shooting. I simply don’t want to fiddle with multiple settings for every single photo I take. But using any other mode relinquishes “exposure” back to the camera. While my camera does a pretty good job of guessing the proper exposure in most situations, it does a terrible job in others.

What if there was a way to metaphorically take your camera by the scruff of the neck, show it who’s boss and get it to quickly and easy under- or over-exposure a photo without having to jack around with Manual mode?

Enter exposure compensation.

Exposure compensation is the control by which you temporarily adjust your camera’s definition of what is “properly exposed.” Put simpler, it’s a way to force the camera to make your photos darker or brighter to the degree that you tell it. (Try the exposure compensation sim at the top – you’ll get the hang of it!)

Armed with the power of exposure compensation, you can happily shoot away in your favorite mode (Automatic exposure, Shutter priority, or Aperture priority) and kick the exposure lighter or darker as necessary when a tricky lighting situation emerges. It’s like Manual mode ‘Lite.’

When to use exposure compensation

Simple: when you need it. I’m not trying to be coy with that answer, but you’ll want to use exposure compensation whenever your camera is not producing the right exposure for whatever reason.

There are, however, a few instances where I find myself employing exposure compensation regularly:

At dusk

Sunsets and the moments afterward are surprisingly tricky lighting situations. Our eyes do a wonderful job of adjusting for this light, but our cameras do not. At this time of day, shots tend to be grossly over- or under-exposed depending on whether you are facing the remaining light from the sunset or not.

Super bright scenes

The bright sun shining down on a white-sand beach or snow-covered landscape produces tons of light, so much so that it can confuse your camera. If these scenes are turning out a little darkish, “stop it up” with some exposure compensation. Don’t go crazy though, or you’ll over-expose your highlights.

High dynamic range (HDR) scenes

HDR is just a fancy way of describing scenes with really bright areas AND dark shadowy areas. Your eyes can resolve these scenes just fine, but cameras’ sensors have a tough time. We’ll talk about HDR photography in a future post, but you can use exposure compensation to dial in the exposure appropriate for either the shadows or the highlights. Sadly, you can’t have it both ways; you have to choose.

How to use it

One of the best things about exposure compensation is how easy it is to use. There will be some button combination unique to your camera, but you shouldn’t have to dive into any complex menus. On my Canon T3i, it’s as simple as holding down the “+/-“ button and rolling the main dial button thingy. Like this:

Warning! Warning! Warning!

When you use exposure compensation, you WILL, sooner or later, forget you have it off-center and only realize this after you’ve shot a bunch of photos with improper exposure. Then you’ll be sad. So just make a point to either reset it when you’re done, or check it before you start taking photos again. Or both.

Give it a try!

If you’re new to exposure compensation, scroll back to the top and try out the exposure compensation simulator. If you’re an exposure compensation pro, I’d love to hear how you use it in the comments below.

It’s now time to build the next version of CameraSim, but for that I need your help!

The current version of CameraSim represents a time investment of hundreds of hours, and building the next version will require even more.

To help fund my development efforts, I am offering the latest desktop version of CameraSim for Windows or Mac at a pay-what-you-want price. My hope is that enough generous purchases will enable me to work fulltime on a bigger/badder CameraSim.

Here is a quick overview of the latest desktop version of CameraSim:

Purchase and Download CameraSim for Windows/Mac

Here’s why I’m so excited about building the next version of CameraSim:

I have a great audience. I’m humbled to have thousands of visitors come to CameraSim every day from all over the world. This puts CameraSim in a good position to help a lot of people, and in doing so, help make the Internet a better place. It sounds cheesy, but that’s truly how I feel.

I’ve done my market research. All those people I just mentioned? Hundreds of them have told me what they like, what they’d like to see, and what completely sucks about CameraSim. I have no shortage of excellent feedback.

I gotz skillz. It’s an exciting time to be a geek, and I feel I have the technical chops to build a killer product. That, and I have a fulltime developer who is way smarter than me. All we both need is more time to make it happen.

Q&A

Q: Why not just work on this in your spare time?
A: We have been, hence the CameraSim you see today. We’ve made improvements to CameraSim over the past several months, but nights and weekends are only getting us so far. The unfortunate reality is that great products don’t emerge from part time efforts. It’s time to go for it or go home.

Q: Why not get investors like a normal startup?
A: We’re not looking to raise millions of dollars and have espresso-bots serve us drinks all day. We are simply appealing to the benevolent Internet to help us get this off the ground. Plus, we want to be beholden to our customers, not investors.

Q: I dig your efforts to help people learn DSLR photography. How do I support you?
A: Just purchase CameraSim for Windows/Mac for as much as you can and feel like you should. Thanks in advance!

Purchase and Download CameraSim for Windows/Mac

This is a little off the topic of camera sims, but it’s something I feel everyone with a camera should think about: your rights as a photographer.

Battle at the Alamo

Last week I visited the Alamo in San Antonio Texas. When I took a picture inside one of the old buildings, I was immediately reprimanded by a docent who told me that photography was not allowed. I asked what would happen if I chose to ignore that rule, and he said he’d call security and have me forcibly removed from the premises. Sheesh. Take a pill, dude.

A paranoid store owner

A couple months ago, I was walking downtown in Palm Springs California, where I saw a fellow pedestrian admiring some dishes displayed inside a storefront window. He took out his camera, snapped a photo, and the shop door flew open. “Hey! My dishes are copyrighted, and you can’t take pictures of them!” said the man who I assumed to be the storeowner. The flustered pedestrian apologized and quickly put away his camera.

Overzealous security guards

A couple years ago, while strolling downtown Indianapolis Indiana, and taking shots of building exteriors, I was stopped by a security guard who demanded to know who I was, what I was doing, and then informed me that he needed to inspect my photos. Though he didn’t use these words, I very much felt “detained” and “released.”

One more: A few years ago, I was taking photos of some friends as we walked through a shopping mall. Not only was I stopped and questioned by security, they told me I had to delete the photos I had been taking. Not knowing I had a choice, I naively complied.

Utter madness

Now, let those stories sink in for a second: Forcible removals from public places. Harassment from store owners. Detention by security guards. Intimidation to delete one’s data.

And for what? Causing a disturbance? Endangering the public? Damaging property?

Nope. Just taking a photo.

Taking…a photo. (No matter how many times I repeat it to myself, I can’t make it make sense.)

So what does the law say?

I’m no legal expert, but the internet research I’ve done so far on this topic reveals the following:

• The shop owner who scolded the guy for taking photos of his precious plates was completely out of line. No one – not storeowners or even the police – can prevent you from taking photos of whatever you want from a public place. Regarding the storeowner’s copyright cry, yes, there are laws against publishing photos of copyrighted works, not taking photos for private use.
• The security guard who stopped me while I was taking photos of downtown Indianapolis was just doing his job by being paranoid. But he wasn’t a police officer, so I had no legal obligation to give him any information, to let him detained me, or show my photos to him.
• The security guard at the mall also had no right to detain me, and certainly no right to make me delete my photos (apparently, even the police need a court order to do that.) Even though a shopping mall is private property, it’s open to the public so most private property rules go out the window. The photos I took that day were nothing special, but I am still filled with regret for letting a mall cop bend me over like that.
• I’m not sure about the Alamo situation, and museums in general seem to be a big “grey area.” Are they private or public property? Do they have a legal right to ban photography? I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.

Photographers’ rights can unfortunately be a murky and contentious issue, and I recognize that common sense and decency play as big of a role as any law. Anyone can take photos of kids at a public playground without getting their parents’ permission, for example. Illegal? No. Creepy? Yes…don’t do it.

Educate yourself

My point here, dear reader, is that you educate yourself on what you can and can’t do with your camera. Not every battle is worth fighting, but how you exercise or forgo your civil liberties should be an informed choice that you make, not a rent-a-cop.

What about you? Have you ever been unfairly harassed for taking photos? What about all you folks from outside the US?…what are the photography laws in your country?

I would love to hear your stories in the comments below…

Further reading:

• www.krages.com/phoright.htm
• content.photojojo.com/tips/legal-rights-of-photographers/
• www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/photography_law_rights.html

Hey everyone, I’m trying to get CameraSim translated into as many languages as possible so that it can be of use to more people. That, and global domination sounds pretty cool.

In exchange for a thorough translation, I’ll happily give you credit and a link that will appear wherever your translation is used (currently web, mobile devices, and the soon-to-be-released desktop version).

This is not an exclusive list, but here are the languages that I’m aiming for:

[updated 11/20/2012]

• Afrikaans (South Africa) (offer received…confirming)
  
• Arabic
• Bengali (offer received…confirming)
• Chinese (offer received…confirming)
• Czech (offer received…confirming)
• Danish (Thanks, Afroninjaen!)
• Dutch (offer received…confirming)
• French (Thanks, Collège of photography Marsan!)
• German (Thanks, Claus Baaden!)
• Greek (offer received…confirming)
• Gujarati (offer received…confirming)
• Hebrew (Thanks, שחר‎!)
• Hindi (offer received…confirming)
• Indonesian (Thanks, Damawan Bayu Aji!)
• Italian (Thanks, Francesco Baldessari!)
• Japanese
• Korean (Thanks, 조한흘!)
• Malay (offer received…confirming)
• Malayalam (in progress)
• Marathi (offer received…confirming)
• Norwegian (in progress)
  
• Polish (Thanks, FREEPERS!)
• Portuguese (Brazil) (Thanks, Joaquim Araujo!)
• Portuguese (Portugal) (offer received…confirming)
• Punjabi (in progress)
• Romanian (Thanks, Stefan Andrey!)
  
• Russian (Thanks, Photo Wave!)
• Serbian (offer received…confirming)
• Spanish (Thanks, Ronald Rojas!)
• Spanish (Argentinian) (Thanks, Novidades Tecnológicas!)
• Swedish (Thanks, PO Englund!)
• Tamil (offer received…confirming)
• Turkish (in progress)
• Ukrainian (Thanks, Фотошкола!)
• Any others??

Do I have any volunteers? There’s a fair amount of text involved. It might be more than you think, so take a look at this Google doc before deciding if you’re up for it. If you’d like to help with a translation, please drop me a line!

CameraSim is not really a tech/gadget blog, but the Lytro camera represents such a profound development in the history of photography that I feel compelled to document it here.

But I’ll keep it short. Here is what I saw:

Shoot now, focus later

This is without a doubt the killer feature. Because the camera captures light fields, you focus after you’ve taken the photo. You focus using the camera’s touch-enabled LCD, or with the bundled software after transferring the photos to your computer (mac-only for now). In that way, what RAW is to “exposure,” light fields are to “focus.”

Great design

Put simply, this camera is sexy. It weights about as much as a smart phone, and with few controls (only a shutter button and strip where you slide to zoom) it is not intimidating to use. It’s almost Apple-like.

I did have some nitpicks, however.

Tiny touchscreen

The small touchscreen makes interacting with your photos on the camera rather tedious, and it’s not a very impressive display from a color or resolution standpoint either. Granted, my eyes are accustomed to Apple’s retina display, but it just seems like Lytro cut a corner here.

Low, low rez

You can export standard 2D images (JPG, PNG, etc.) but only at 1.2 megapixels. This will of course improve in future versions, but I’ve not been limited to resolution like that since 1997.

No motion blur

This can be good or bad. Light field technology captures all kinds of data in that precise moment, but it doesn’t currently capture data over a span of time. In other words, you can’t do any long shutter stuff like motion blur, light streaking, etc.

Square photos

I might learn to appreciate this somehow, but I don’t like that the photos are square. It just seems like Lytro threw composition out the window, or perhaps they intended it to be yet another task offloaded to when your photos are on your computer.

These nitpicks are unfair because I’m comparing the Lytro to my DSLR camera, and even Lytro says that this camera is not a DSLR replacement. It’s an amazing device, and I’m eager to see how it fits into the photography landscape in the coming years.

If you want to geek out for a several minutes, check out the Lytro presentation videos below:

Taking a photo with the Lytro light field camera

The Lytro light field camera software

Shifting perspective in a Lytro light field photograph

Sharing a Lytro light field photo

Focus. Frame. Shoot!

Try it for yourself right here, and then keep reading for a more detailed explanation:

UPDATE: Here’s a quick video overview…

Be a photographer, not an assassin.

I’m doing a lot of traveling right now, and when I’m snapping photos of my family at some scenic stop, it’s not uncommon for a kindly stranger to offer to take a photo of me and the fam using my camera.

I can usually guess within seconds what style of camera they likely own. How? Because those unfamiliar with DSLRs point the camera at us like it’s a gun, and then press the shutter button like it’s the trigger.

…and consequently our faces get positioned right smack dab in the middle of the frame. (I don’t mean to sound like such a photo-snob; I truly am grateful for the kind gesture!)

But do you know what I see when it’s an experienced DSLR user?

Focus.

Frame.

Shoot.

Now, some of you may be whining thinking, “Really? A blog post about how to snap a photo? How hard can it be to push a button??”

And therein lies the reason behind those bad family travel photos. So stay with me. Let’s start with Focus.

Focus.

First, you’ll need to make one setting change to your DSLR. Here’s the deal: every DSLR camera has several auto-focus points that it uses to focus an image, and you want to shut them all off except for the center one. On my Canon, I change this in the “AF point selection” setting but it may be called something different on your camera.

Seriously, don’t skip this. Don’t rely on your camera to guess at what you want to focus on because it will guess wrong at some point. Focusing is your job, not your camera’s. And one more thing: at least with Canon DSLR cameras, you have to be in one of the so-called “creative modes” for this change to go into effect (but you’re already using one of those modes, right?? ;)

Now it’s just you and the lone center auto-focus point. Aim your camera and hold the shutter button halfway down to lock in the focus on your subject. Keep that finger still; now you’re ready to frame your shot. (TIP: when taking a photo of a face, lock the focus on one of the eyes. Not the nose. Not the mouth. An eye.)

Frame.

It’s darn near impossible to talk about framing without getting into the principles of photo composition (how you position stuff in your photo). We’ll get to photo composition in a future sim (I’ve already started building it), but for now let’s just focus on the mechanics of snapping the photo. Just know that wherever you point the camera to get focus is hardly ever the right place for a nicely framed photo.

Shoot!

Once you have good focus and have framed up a nice shot, just push the shutter button the rest of the way down to capture your prize photo.

Hopefully this doesn’t sound like a lot to think about because it’s not. And before long, you’ll have the muscle memory down and it will be second nature.

Until then, may a little voice chatter away in your head:

“Focus. Frame. Shoot!”

If you want to practice right now, jump back to the sim up top. Have questions? Post ‘em in the comments below!

Hey, more DSLR camera sims are coming!

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Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving (here in the U.S., anyway), which means it’s officially time to get your holiday on. It’s also the perfect opportunity to improve your photo skills.

One of the biggest advantages that professional photographers have over us non-professionals (other than awesome photography gear) is that they are out shooting photos for a purpose. They’re not just capturing moments; they’re creating them. And something about that process of trying to execute an idea using photography makes them a little smarter than they were before, regardless of whether their idea even works out.

A real photo assignment!

As non-professionals, we don’t naturally get that opportunity. We may snap a lot of photos, but without an end product in mind, there’s little risk – or reward. That, dear reader, is where the holiday card comes in.

Think about it. Doing your own holiday card is the perfect photography kick in the pants:

• You’re the client; you can do whatever you want, but you have to do something!
• You have a deadline, so you can’t procrastinate!
• Sending your card to friends and family is a safe audience for your photography work
• You’ll wish you did some part of it differently, better, etc. This is how you learn and why this makes you better!

A word about printing

You gotta print it, right? I guess you could email your card out, but that’s lame. Here are your basic printing options:

• Use a local print shop: This is what I’ve done the last several years. It’s the most expensive of these options, but it’s also the easiest and I get to see a proof before it goes out to the world.
• Use an online photo service: I’m a big fan of Shutterfly for getting prints of digital photos (disclosure: that’s my affiliate link). The quality is excellent, and they have several options for turning your photos into a greeting card format. It’s inexpensive, but you have to wait on the mail.
• Use your own printer. I recommend this be your last option, as the pain-in-the-butt factor is pretty high. Plus, with the cost of ink, it’s more expensive than it seems.

For your inspiration

Here are a few of my cards from recent years that I hope will inspire you. Most of these involved some heavy Photoshop work, but they ALL have good ol’ fashioned photography as their foundation.

Making my own holiday card has been a tradition in my family for the last 11 years, and each year I pick up a new chestnut of photo-knowledge. We tend to learn by doing, and this is great way to “do” photography. You’ve still got time. Get cracking! Good luck!

An annual holiday tradition in my family is to make our own (hopefully) creative Christmas cards. Here’s the last 12 years of our work that I hope will inspire you to produce your own creative Christmas cards. Enjoy!

(Note: these are presented in chronological order; skip to the end for the good ones :)

2000

Ok, this isn’t mind-blowingly creative, but this was our first pass at actually designing a Christmas card rather than just shooting a nice family photo (not that there’s anything wrong with that — there’s not!)

The lesson: Your Christmas card doesn’t have to be some wild design in order to be meaningful and highly satisfying.

2001

No real improvement over the previous year design-wise, but we did enhance the snowflake pattern with a spray varnish (it basically just made the snowflake edges shiny on the paper).

The lesson: The creative part of creative Christmas cards doesn’t just happen in the camera or on the computer; it can happen with a spray varnish, a unique paper choice, or some interesting folding pattern. (I swear I’ll do a pop-up book Christmas card one of these years.)

Christmas 2002

I feel like this was the year we turned a corner with a pretty unique concept, and this remains one of my favorite Arnold Christmas cards. Perhaps what is most surprising to me is how little Photoshop work was done here (I just had to remove the camera from the reflection). And this was old-school film, folks; I didn’t have a million digital takes to get it right, I just got lucky.

The lesson: Sometimes things turn out way better than you planned simply due to dumb luck. Celebrate it when that happens.

Christmas 2003

That Christmas we were expecting our third daughter, so I went with a “this is the present we’re getting this year” idea. I still like the concept, but this has been my least favorite card. I think I did a crap Photoshop job, and overall it feels contrived. The only thing that gives it a hint of genuine charm is the pointing finger of my then-youngest daughter. Again, more luck.

The lesson: The lesson is either 1) it doesn’t matter how great your idea is if it’s not properly executed, or 2) sometimes your ideas aren’t as great as you think they are.

Christmas 2004

I think this was a step up in our creative Christmas card endeavor, and also the first of a slightly subversive, anti-commercialism tone that would appear in later Christmas cards as well. This was also the year I finally figured out the lighting technique for a pure white background right out of the camera, so I was thrilled to get to use it here.

The lesson: Lighting is everything.

Christmas 2005

This year we wanted to incorporate a little bit of family news into our Christmas card, so we made a board game. The descriptions on the game board corresponded with the events of the year. And yes, we even included game pieces. I had a lot of fun making all of this, but it took too long and was starting to feel like overkill.

The lesson: Don’t get carried away. Keep your ideas manageable so that the whole process stays fun.

Christmas 2006

This was the year our business, our family, and life in general seemed to have gotten hectic and complicated. It was a tough year, but I’ll bet no one outside looking in would have noticed. But isn’t that how we all are?…putting up a certain facade on the outside, but inside we’re a bit of a mess? Seemed like a perfect idea for a Christmas card, though! The “picture” on the front cover was actually cut out, letting the smiling family from the inside show through. Open the card, however, and one sees the real picture. (I love those burning curtains!)

The lesson: Being real trumps being creative.

Christmas 2007

Ok, I’m not going to feign humility here: we nailed this one. And I don’t mean just the actual card, I mean the whole experience of making it. Our girls were old enough to participate and have fun during the photo shoots, and being a huge movie buff, I loved the whole action-movie metaphor of family life. It was a lot of work, but we had a blast making it, which I think gave us all an extra sense of togetherness and ownership in this annual Christmas card tradition.

The lesson: Think of a creative Christmas card idea that hits upon your particular interest, and you’re bound to execute it masterfully (or at least have a lot of fun working on it).

Christmas 2008

I got this idea from one of my daughters’ Where’s Waldo books, of course. Here we are acting out different events and details from the previous year, and the card itself included a poem of what to hunt for in the picture. I knew this would be a bit of a Photoshop challenge but it was fun and satisfying to see it all come together. The photo shoot was one of those fun family activities that I’ll never forget.

The lesson: Feed the kids first for maximum fun and cooperation. See that pizza? That wasn’t just a prop; that was dinner.

Christmas 2009

Time to take another jab at commercialism (the inside caption read “May your only excess be of peace and love”). Our photo shoot, unfortunately, was going nowhere.  Everyone was a tad grumpy and it was showing, so we changed our strategy and made it into a game. With everyone lined up on the other side of the room, we set the camera timer for a couple seconds and then would run to the couch trying to get in place before the shutter fired. Just a few tries at this, and we got our shot. And had fun.

The lesson: Your best photos will come when you’re having fun, something no amount of Photoshopping can fake.

Christmas 2010

I think my favorite card is still the Maximum Turbulence DVD from 2007, but our 2010 card is a close 2nd. We had a lot of fun as a family making it, and I like the anti-commercialism vibe that it took on. Producing this card also turned out to be a notable Photoshop challenge with that plastic packaging effect. I can honestly say that doing this card stretched my Photoshop skills, so that felt good too. (Watch a time lapse video of this card being made.)

The lesson: Don’t overlook the simple things you can do once the card is printed.  While I love the Photoshop work on this card, I was struck at how much rounding the corners and adding a hole to the printed card made it feel like real packaging.

[UPDATE: I've had several people email and ask how I did the plastic cover effect. I don't have a tutorial, but I do have a Photoshop PSD that you can dissect. (The basic trick is to use an image of indoor lighting, stretch it, "shape" it with the Liquify "Bloat" tool, and lay it over something else with a "screen" blend mode.) I want to be careful not to get off topic -- this blog is about learning how to use your SLR camera -- but I'm happy to geek out on Photoshop in this post!]

2011

My family and I have been traveling in an RV since the summer of 2011, so we knew we wanted to do something travel related. For the first time in a decade, however, I was plumb out of ideas. Fortunately my wife Amy came up with a great concept: a mosaic made from our trip photos, and as a postcard no less.

I did just a little tiny bit of color enhancement in Photoshop to bring out the tree, but all the hard work was done by MacOSaiX, a wonderful free photo mosaic app. When (if?) we return home from our travels, I’m going to make a full size poster of this; it’s mesmerizing to look at all the little photos close up.

The lesson: While I’m super please with the overall design of this, what is most satisfying is how appropriate it was for us this year (the travel photos, the postcard, etc.)  Clever card ideas are great, but they should also have meaning.

2012

The flip-side of this card had the quote “Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away” along with a personal message “Hoping you’ll make the most of every moment this Christmas season.” The traveling circus idea seemed like an appropriate allusion to our RV travels, while the inside life-is-short sentiment is sort of a mantra now. I love old-time-y posters, so I thought the design would come easier than it did. In truth, this was new design territory for me and I’m sure I anachronistically mashed up elements from disparate time periods. No matter though; I like the way it turned out and I’m glad to have another memorable snapshot of my family’s history.

The lesson: Don’t be afraid to spend $25 for the right font if it will make or break the design. (I’m so cheap — I never buy fonts, but in this case I’m glad I did.)

So there you have it; our last 12 years of trying to do creative Christmas cards. I hope this gives you some inspiration for some creative Christmas cards and family traditions of your own.