Paint by Light

New Look Photography Website Launched

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 18:52:00 +0000

Hi all, huge thanks for the continued support of my photography blog.

As most of my regular readers my work as a photographer is for ever changing, one day shooting fashion the next landscape and location work. This being the case I decided to update my main photography website and in doing so incorporate my blog and website together.

What does this mean?

Simply, from today I will no longer be posting any new article on here, I will however be posting them over on my blog on my website. However Although I have integrated all the previous posts from my paint by Light blog (the one you are reading now) I have no plans of removing them from here. So if you have bookmarked them no need to change them.

New Photography Website

So now you know about my new website and blog, please go and check it out. Oh yes and don't forget to comment and share.

seanjconnollyphotography.co.uk

How to Reduce Light Stops Entering Camera by Using F-Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 23:33:00 +0000

A few people have asked me about the correlation between the actual camera settings the F-Number on the camera and the actual available amount of light entering the camera or F-Stop, and how to know which F-Number to use to reduce the light by a certain amount of light.

So rather than try to write a description about the numbers I decide to draw up a chart.

Please feel free to download this chart for your own use, and if you do wish to share it, please credit me. Thanks

How to use the Chart

The chart is pretty simple to understand, along the top are 3 columns, starting with Full Stop, 1/2 Stop then 1/3 Stop, reading down each column you see the camera F Numbers. The gap between the F Numbers is the amount of light you are reducing or increasing into the camera.

Lets say you want to reduce the light by 1 Full Stop of light, simply look at the first column titled Full Stops and switching the F-Number on your camera between these settings will decrease or increase the amount of light accordingly. Using the second column and switching between these F-Numbers will reduce light by 1/2 Stop and finally switching between the F-Numbers in the 3rd column will reduce light by 1/3 Stop.

I hope this all makes sense, any questions just let me know in the comments.

What is the difference between TimeLapse and HyperLapse Photography?

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 22:58:00 +0000

After posting about doing some TimeLapse photography and my test shots, I had a few people ask me what is the difference between Timelapse and HyperLapse.

So I thought I would answer them in a post, so here goes.

I will start by briefly explaining what the two are in their own right, and hopefully you will be able to see the difference.

What is TimeLapse Photography?

I will start by showing you a simple example of a TimeLapse sequence

As you can see the movement in this shot is done by the lapsing of time, hence the name TimeLapse. Simply put in a TimeLapse shot the camera position is fixed and a shot is taken at set intervals, during each interval time passes, which means when the next shot is taken the scene has changed.

These shots are then stitched together into a moving format, gif, movie or similar.

What is HyperLapse Photography?

Once again I will show you an example of a HyperLapse sequence

This time rather than the camera remaining in a fixed position, the shot is taken by the camera which is then moved between each shot, hence the name HyperLapse. So simply put we get the effect by having a moving camera position and a shot taken at each position, each time the camera is moved to a new position a new shot is taken, (at each shot the camera is fixed and doesn't move) after each the camera is moved and physical distance has passed, so the next time the shot is taken the scene has changed.

Again these shots are then stitched together into a moving format, gif, movie or similar.

So what is the difference between TimeLapse and HyperLapse?

Now you should already know the difference by to put it simple the difference is

1. Time-lapse photography allows time to pass between each shot, whilst the camera remains fixed.

2. Hyper-lapse photography allows distance to pass between each shot, the camera moves between each shot, but is fixed at the time of taking the shot, after all we are not making a movie here.

NOTE

TimeLapse is often also referred to as Time-lapse or Time Lapse Photography, as HyperLapse is often referred to as Hyper-lapse or Hyper Lapse Photography.

Experimenting with Steel Wool Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 22:30:00 +0000

As its that time of year again, and the nights are drawing in and the clocks have changed. I thought I would have a bit of a play with something I have never tried before. Shooting with long exposure steel wool, and I think the results for my first try are not too bad.

I will play around with it a bit more and add my creative spark (lol) to it and I know its something I am going to love playing around with.

So here are my first few attempts

Not too bad for my first attempt.

But a few works of caution.

Always wear clothing that covers all your body, including a hat and gloves. The sparks can get really hot.
Do your shots in a large area: The sparks fly a lot further than you think, and if you get some bit of steel flying off you could have a fire on your hands
Carry a fire extinguisher or have some method to tackle fires.

So I will continue to play with this and post back my shots.

Why your Mobile Phone is not as good as a Real Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Sat, 24 Oct 2015 23:04:00 +0000

Being the photographer that I am, I get a lot of people asking me what type of camera they should get, and more often in todays climate, why should they even buy a camera at all. Especially when their mobile phone has a camera and it has a massive? 21 mega pixels, where as a DSLR may only have 16 mega pixels.

On the face of it, you may think they are right. Surely having 21 mega pixles or 21 million pixels is better than only having 16 mega pixels or 16 million pixels!!

The answer is a very simple NO!!

The problem is with the two main elements that are the basis of photography and these are light and drawing as in the word itself.

Photo (light) graphy (drawing)

So having a good quality photograph requires that you maximise the elements involved to produce the best results.

Light

In order to get a good photograph you need the right amount of hitting the sensor (more on the sensor in a bit). This means having a lens that allows the most light in so it can create your photo. This is where one of the mistakes people make in comparing mobile phones with actual cameras comes in and that is the F Number of the lens (check out my article about F Numbers).

In most cases in order to maximise the light into the lens you need a large aperture and a fast lens, this usually takes the form of a lens with a low F Number something like an f/2.8 on the new iPhone 6s. So you will be thinking, thats great my new iPhone has the same F Number as a more expensive camera lens, so why do I need to buy a camera.

Simple - Not all lens are the physically the same size.

As you can see from the diagram above, the F Numbers on the mobile phone cameras can be the same as those on a DSLR camera, However as you can clearly see the actual lens opening (aperture) is different. Put simply the DSLR lens has a larger diameter and as such even set to the same F Number will allow a lot more light in and therefore a lot more lights hits the sensor.

In simple terms fully open the lens on your mobile will be a few millimetres maximum, where as fully open the lens on a DSLR will be a few centimetres. (this is also why some lens can allow more light to enter compared to a faster lens at the lower F Number)

Drawing

The next important element in taking a good photograph is the drawing (graphy) or information stored during exposure.

This leads to one of the biggest mistakes in comparing mobile phone cameras and DSLR cameras, and that is mega pixels.

A mega pixels is simple an area of 1 million pixels that captures the information during exposure of a photography, so generally the more mega pixels the more details and the higher resolution the shot you will take.

This is where it gets interesting, not mega pixel is either the same quality or the same size. The sensors used in most modern mobile phones are way smaller than those used in modern DSLR cameras.

As you can see from the simple diagram above. If we take a 4 mega pixels mobile phone camera and compare it to a 4 mega pixel DSLR you can clearly see the size of each mega pixel is larger and in turn the size of the pixels inside are larger. So we get 4 million larger pixels in our DSLR as opposed to 4 million smaller ones in the mobile phone.

This means that we get more information stored and more detail in the photograph by the DSLR compared with a mobile phone.

In Closing

In modern day mobile phones and DSLR the technology has dramatically improved, this means it is possible to take decent photos on a mobile phone in low light, this is due to additional factors such as the actual sensor type and camera chips used in processing the photos. However, the same rules apply, no matter how much jiggery pokery you get from technology, the DSLR will always produce better photos.

However even the sensors in DSLR cameras are of a difference type and size, but more on that later.

What does the F Stand for in F Number and F Stop?

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 23:51:00 +0000

The F in F Number, F Ratio or F Stop stands for Focal Length.

(it should be noted that in terms of F Stop the F can also just be Focal when viewing light not through a lens)

Focal length is simply the size of a lens or a given point on a tele-photo lens such as 50mm, 100mm, 300mm.

What are F Number / F Ratio and F Stop?

Although many people use the these to mean the same thing, they are in fact different things all together. To put it simply they are.

F Number / F Ratio

F Number / F Ratio is simply the ratio of light entering the lens aperture to the focal length of the lens.

"The diameter of the lens opening and the amount of light entering, expressed as a fraction of the focal length of the lens" Ansel Adams

For Example

A 300mm lens with an aperture diameter of 75mm has an F Number of 4 or f/4

Or 300mm / 75mm = 4

A 50mm lens with an aperture diameter of 25mm has an F Number of 2 of f/2

Or 50mm / 25mm = 2

So in order to gauge the F Number and the size of the aperture and available light, just divide the open aperture with the focal length of the lens.

As you can see from the diagram above, the larger the F Number the less light allowed to enter the lens and the more depth of field you get (more of the frame will be in focus and less Bokeh).

F Stop

A measurement of light, the current light level in your situation is always classed as 0, reducing the light level is known as stopping down, so if you decrease the amount of light by the same amount of light available, you have stopped the light down by 1.

Free Lightroom Presets

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 00:13:00 +0000

What are Lightroom Presets?

As you will already know if you use photo editing software such as lightroom, getting the exact levels right to be able to make a photo look how you want can be tough, this is where presets come in. At the click a button you can make a shot more moody, more cheery, brighter, and any number of things. Here is a sample of some of the stuff you can do with presets.

the above samples show what can be done using presets, removing the guess work from how you want your shots to look.

Lightroom presets are a preset of areas which make your photo look a certain way, they can be anything from a certain exposure, certain levels, certain filters and everything in between.

Lightroom Presets let you make your photos look a certain way without all the trial and error, which in my experience can save you hours and hours, and as time is money, this is important.

Where can I get LightRoom Presets from?

There are tons of online resources for Lightroom Presets, some are paid and some are completely free. One of the best sites around, and where the above example is from, is Cole's Classroom, where you can download a set of Lightroom Presets completely free.

How to do Timelapse (Time Lapse) Photography and what is an Intervalometer?

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Wed, 27 May 2015 23:08:00 +0000

You may have heard about Timelapse Photography or you may not have. So I will start by telling you what it is.

What is Timelapse Photography?

Timelapse Photography is a similar technique to HDR photography, expect that rather than changing the exposure setting for each shot you change the time, and take a series of images over a set period of time with a fixed interval in between them. All shots have the same exposure settings, and the only changes are the physical changes to the subject in the shot over a period of time.

Simply put, you taken a set of shots, something like 20 shots and in between each shot you have a set gap anything from less than a second to several seconds. You then end up with a set of shots that depict a section in time for your given subject. This can traffic, streets, clouds or anything else you would like to shoot.

Why use Timelapse and Not Video?

The main difference between shooting video and doing a timelapse sequence is in the name, the lapse in time. As when you shoot using video you get a realtime view of the world, so to show the sunset you have to shoot the whole thing, so you may need to shoot a video which is anything from several minutes to several hours long. By using a timelapse technique you skip parts of the time, and only show an interval of the real thing.

This allows you condense something into a few minutes or seconds, when in realtime it happened over several minutes or even hours.

Timelapse can be done using either video techniques or photography techniques, but both end up with the same effect a video showing time elapsed (timelapsed) in a particular scene.

What do I need to do Timelapse Photography

The first thing you need is your camera, but you knew that already.
A Tripod or steady place to put your camera.
The next thing you need is a remote shutter release with an intervalometer or timer.
Or a camera with a built in intervalometer. (more on this in another post)

What is an Intervalometer?

An intervalometer is a timer device or built in camera function which takes a fixed set of shots with a given interval in between. For example 20 shots taken at 1 second intervals.

How do I take my first Timelapse?

After you have found a interesting subject to shoot, such as a road, town centre or similar. Ideally for your first timelapse you want something that is fast moving such as people walking in town or cars on a road, as this will let you take a few shots with a small interval between them. For example if shooting a town centre you dont need anymore than 1-3 seconds between your shots.

My advice for your first timelapse is to set the camera to auto focus and let it focus on your chosen subject, once its in focus switch it to manual focus, recheck the focus to make sure its all still in focus. As by setting the focus to manual the camera will not readjust the focus between shots.

Then simply set your timer for the amount of shots you want to take and the interval between then and set the shutter. Remember that a smooth movie is normally shot at 24 frames per second, so for every 24 shots you take, you are in reality only going to get 1 second of timelapse. But give it a try and see how it works.

Find a good subject for your timelapse, town centre, road etc (a fasting moving subject is best for your first one)
After setting the exposure, set your camera to AutoFocus. Once its found focus on your chosen subject, switch it to Manual focus, recheck the focus and leave it.
Set your interval timer to between 1-3 seconds, try 3 seconds to start with if you are shooting town and about 1 second if you are shooting cars. remember a smooth movie is 24 frame per second (24fps) for every 24 shots you get 1 second of timelapse.
Set the shutter and sit back and wait.

How do I create my Timelapse movie?

You can create your timelapse movie simply by using either a third party piece of software or import your shots into Photoshop and create a movie (more on this in another post)

Happy Shooting.

Using Polarizing Filters to reduce Reflections when shooting through glass

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 23:09:00 +0000

We are all aware of the use of filters in photography, and mainly in the world of Landscape, Nature or Architectural photography.

But what if I was to say that they also have a place in the world of portrait and fashion.

The main filter I want to tell you about is called a Polarizing filter, if you have not heard about it, its simply removes glare by removing elements from the light spectrum, not going to bore you with all that now :)

If you want to know a bit more about polarizing filters and other filters check out my other post

So What Use is a Circular Polarizing (CPL) Filter to my fashion photography?

We the issue came to my mind when my fiancee was having some photos taken for a magazine article, although the photographer seemed to know what he was doing and the shots taken looked great. There was a time at the start of the shoot when he had arrived at the house, he thought it would make a nice shot to shoot through our lounge window, with my fiancee looking out. Which sounds like a good idea.

So he set about setting up for this shot, he went into his bag and took out a black sheet. Which he handed to his assistant, and told her to hold it up to blog the reflection on the window. Think what he was forgetting is that he as not blocking a reflection, but just reflecting the black sheet instead.

What he should have done instead was to use a Polarizing Filter, as the purpose of this filter is to not only reduce glare, but reflections too. You can see the effect on the sky in the following shots.

With Polarizing Filter

Without Polarizing Filter

As you can see the filter has removed the glare from the shot and made it clearly, this works the same when shooting through water such as a lake or a river, as well as when shooting a subject through glass.

The main thing to remember is that if you are using a polarizing filter on your DSLR camera, you must use a Circular Polarizing Filter as it will allow your auto focus to work correctly unlike a Linear Polarizing Filter which can have an effect on the auto focus.

So remember, as I do to add a Circular Polarizing Filter to your kit bag.

Top Cash Back = Free Money

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 22:20:00 +0000

Although I normally keep my posts on the topic of photography, I thought I would share an awesome site with you all. If you have not heard about the site, its called Top Cash Back.

So What is it?

It's simple, you register on the website for free, and buy stuff online via the website, and for every purchase you make you get paid. There is everything from Argos to Holidays, TV to tech. Each and every time you buy via the website you earn money back, just the same way you would using your credit card.

So What is so Great about it?

The thing that is great about top cash back is that you even earn money when signing up for service that offer free trials, or introductory offers, for example at the moment Now TV has an offer on its entertainment bundle at £4.99 per month. Top Cash back will give you £5.25 for signing up, this means that you are actually being paid for signing up with Now TV. Awesome or what.

So How Do I Sign Up?

To sign up its easy

Just visit the Top Cash Back Website and register for free
Search the Top cash back site for an offer that interests you i.,e Search Now TV
Click the link to go the merchants website and just sign up there or buy there as normal.

Simple, Top Cash Back will take care of all the rest and you get some free money.

So what are you waiting for go check out the Top Cash Back website now

How to Create Light Trails in Photos aka Light Painting.

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 00:45:00 +0000

You may have seen photos with streaks of light in the frame, such as car tail light trails, star trails, light drawings, etc. This is a form of long exposure photography known as Light Painting or Painting by Light.

So I thought I would write a simple tutorial on how you can achieve this with your camera, and whilst the actual shots look cool the technique is not really all that difficult to do.

What is Light Painting?

You may or may not have heard of the term 'Light Painting' or 'Paint by Light' but it is the technical or posh term for doing long exposure photography that causes light trails or light streaks in photos.

Something like the ones below are done using Light Paint techniques

As you can see the effect you get from light painting is the light stays in the frame longer which create a light trail or star, depending on the light source.

So how do you do this?

Prerequisites

There are several things you need to check as prerequisites to your light painting before you can starts, these are

Camera - although you don't strictly need a DSLR to start your light painting journey, you do need a camera that has some manual adjustment on it, this normally takes the form of a dial on the top of the camera with settings such as M, TV and AV not to mention others.
Tripod - Although you can do light painting by placing you camera on a stable surface, a tripod makes your life a whole lot easier, and it doesn't have to be a carbon fibre all singing all dancing one, even a small mini tripod will do the trick, as long as it holds the camera at the right height and still it will do the trick.
Torch or other light source - this is something to play around with, but for this tutorial you just need some form of light you can move in front of the camera.

Setting your camera up for Light Painting / Long Exposure

Ok assuming you have checked your camera has the necessary settings here is what you need to do to get ready for your light painting.

Note: we are going to do this the easier way possible, as it is possible to use Full Manual mode but we will stick to using a semi auto mode for this tutorial,

Turn your camera Dial and select TV mode (although you can select M if you are happy to use full manual)
Turn the rear dial on the camera until you see 1"0 somewhere on the rear screen, normally at the bottom of the screen. You can do this by turning the dial on the back of your camera, if you look at the rear screen of your camera and turn this dial you will see the numbers on the screen change. They will read something like 1"0 or 1/80. If you don't know the number shown is seconds so the number 1"0 is 1 second and 1/80 is 1 80th of a second, this is the time that the shutter on the camera will remain open after pressing the shutter release button. Basically anything showing lower than about 1/80 such as 1/60 or 1"00 means that the camera should really be on a tripod, but this depends on how steady you can hold the camera.
Set your camera to Auto Focus
Put your camera on a tripod or other stable none moving surface such as a wall.

OK thats it you are all set to do some light painting

How to do Light Painting?

The main secret to light painting is to keep the camera still and move the light source, this way most of the frame will be in focus whilst the light appears to move through the frame. So how do you do the actual light painting? I am going to tell you a few simple steps to get you on your way and test your setup and light painting.

Set your camera up on the tripod, making sure to allow enough room in front of the camera for you to move the torch around without knocking over the camera.
Press the shutter release button on your camera and quickly run in front of your camera into the frame of the shot and swing the torch around in the direction of the camera, of course the torch needs to be switched on. Something like this

As you can see the light streaks in the frame, and that my friends is how to light paint.

Note: if you find that you don't have enough time to get into the frame, either get someone else to press the shutter button or simply move the rear camera dial and select a longer shutter time something like 3"0.

So What Next?

Well all you need to do is remember that the secrets to light painting are as follows

Make sure your camera is kept still ideally on a tripod.
Set your shutter speed using the TV (Time Value) setting on your camera to 1"0 or longer.
Press the shutter button and move some light in front of the camera. This can be a torch, traffic, stars or any other light source that moves.

So just go nuts, and have a play around. If you have any questions just let me know.

How to get published

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I have had loads of people asking about how to get their work published, this has come from fellow photographers, models, make up artists, stylists and designers. So I thought I would write a post about the best ways to get your work seen and published.

I am going to split them into two areas Direct and In-Direct. Direct is you actively approaching the magazines, indirect is being found by them.

Direct

Email and Trade Fairs

One great way to get in front of magazine is to attend trade fairs, taking along a printed version of your portfolio. You never know who may be there, but just make sure that you attend the right fairs, there is no point in attending the Ideal Home Show if you do fashion photography. Also remember to take some business cards with you to give to anyone you meet.

Also as you now how to use the internet you can research magazine websites online and contact them directly, find email addresses of editors, art departments, etc and send them your work by email. This can pay off but remember large magazines get thousands of submissions everyday so dont be put off if you dont hear back.

In Person - Post (yes good old fashion post)

If you know the actual address of a magazine you could send them your printed portfolio directly either take it in person or post it to them, but remember to try to find the name of someone to direct it too so it doesnt get lost in the junk mail pile.

CT Magazine

You have probably heard of CT Magazine, its basic purpose on this planet is to publish and showcase the hidden talent in the world of fashion, everyone from photographers, models, make up artists, stylists, designers. So if you have some great shots you would like published check out the website and get in touch - http://ctmagazine.co.uk/How-to-get-published-in-CT-magazine.htm

In-Direct

Social Networks

The first thing to remember is that now thanks to the internet and social media, its easier to get your work in front of the people that matter, editors, creative directors, etc. So one think to remember is to post your shots to social media. Whether that is to FaceBook, Google+, Twitter or Flickr. The thing to remember is to post it to these sites.

now posting it onto these sites is not enough, you must then be social in your process, take part in discussions, and especially on Google+ take part in #ing events, these happen all the time and offer a great way to get your shots seen. These range widely from things such as #shoesmonday to #TreeTuesday and so on. Remember that the more people who see your shots the better.

#Hashtags

Now you will now by now what a #hashtag is, its a simple way for engines such as Twitter, Google, FaceBook to find stuff. Although its not a guarantee of being found it does help. So when ever you post a photo make sure to label it with the correct #hashtags, so what I suggest doing is post a photo to your Flickr account, then use the share options in Flickr to share your photo to twitter and then add the #hashtags for your shots, such as #fashion #outdoor or what ever your shot is about.

Twitter

Although I have mentioned social media, the benefit of twitter is that you can almost target you tweets to anyone, so as well as adding the #hashtags to your photos, make a point of finding out the magazine you would like to be published in, or and even better the person who makes the decisions for publication. For example if you would like to be feature in CT Magazine you can follow them by following them at @CT_FashionMag and if you want to get more in touch with CT Magazine you can follow the editor directly at @SeanJC you get the idea. But dont think that by simply tweeting your photo to a magazine it will get published. They need to see worth in your shots as well as creative flare.

Hard Work

But I guess the most important thing to remember is that you must put the work in, you need to keep your portfolio up to date with different shots that show your creativity, and above all else spend time actively being part of the social media world. As you now have direct links to people you never did before, but they need to see you and see that you care about what you do.

CT Magazine Issue 1 - available in print on Magcloud

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:55:00 +0000

CT Magazine - Issue 1

CT Magazine brings you the latest from the world of fashion, with a unique twist, we showcase the hidden talents behind the shots. Everyone from photographers, models, make up artists, designers to writers and editors.

Merry Christmas to all my Readers

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:17:00 +0000

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New year. Huge thanks for supporting my blog all year, cant wait til next year, loads of cool stuff. So Watch This space.

And now for a little Christmas treat

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

First 3 Months as CT Magazine Editor

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 01:37:00 +0000

Well it was way back in the hazy days of summer that the idea of CT or Creative Talent magazine was born, it came about due to my work as a fashion photographer and noticing that not enough new talent is coming into the industry. So I set it my task to change this and hence CT Magazine was born. The only problem I had was how do I publish a magazine, I found a great place to start was agreat E-Book by Ned Burke called How to be an Online Magazine. daft title but this is chock full of publishing goodness.

What you have never heard of CT Magazine

OK firstly if you have never heard of CT Magazine please go and check it out www.ctmagazine.co.uk and please like and share the facebook page www.facebook.com/ctfashionmagazine

Massive Response

As the cogs in my head turned and turned about how to make this happen, I hit upon the idea of a magazine, thus I set about laying out the online magazine using a desktop publishing program, in my case I use Adobe InDesign CS6 , but you can use any program you wish.

I have a slight advantage to this whole process as as well as being a photographer which makes me creative I am also a very techy person, as I work as a Business Analyst, and have been involved for many years building web based applications, so the technical side is pretty straight forward, this meant I knew that my magazine was going to be initially an online magazine, and must work on both desktop PC's as well as tablet computers such as Apples iPad, Amazon Kindle as well as mobiles and smartphones. (this is a hint incase you missed it, your new online magazine should work with all online platforms, and that is the beauty of using www.issuu.com as it converts your pdf to work with all necessary platforms.

Now although I was now in a position to make the magazine layout, and support for my chosen platforms, I had nothing to put into the magazine, and as the whole point of CT Magazine is to promote the amazing hidden talent I did not just want to fill each issue with all my own work. This meant a lot of time contacting people to be in the first issue, I knew that as this was a new magazine, people may not be interesting in being in it.

I kept true to my vision, hit up my contact list, and after a few weeks, I was so pleased that loads of people responded and from every area of fashion, photographer, models, designers, make up artists, stylist and everyone in between.

I am so thankful to these people who were brave enough to be in the first issue, and huge thanks to Nick Danks for being the cover star.

Thanks to these people the first issue got over 30000 readers, and I think the key to this is the viral PDF and CT Magazine

Dont Under-Estimate the Workload

I knew before I started CT Magazine that anything like this would take a lot of work, and I knew that as it grew it would only require more work. So I did not go into the project likely, but I send this warning to people out there, if you wish to start your own magazine, it will take time and work. Don't think it will be an easy ride.

I had first thing I had to do to get anywhere with the magazine, well after designing the layout and finding the right magazine template was to make sure I had content, and although I got a great response I found that alot of my time was actually going through submissions and picking out the best shots for publication, this including making sure models poses were right, make up was what I was after ang photograph worked as I needed. As I kinda made my job a bit harder as each issue has a different theme, so I have to check through for every submission to make sure it fits the theme, then if it doesn't fit the theme I have to decide if it fits a future theme if it does it gets put into that pile for later use.

As you may have guessed with any magazine content is king, and with it you have no magazine, so make sure you can continue to get good content for every issue.

Once I have all the submission together I then check for them editing, and I am lucky enough that a few digital editors are taking part in this whole project, so once I have some selections then are sent on their way for photo editing.

Upon their return its time to lay out the magazine, turn into PDF and send on its way to the world wide publisher in the sky, AKA the internet.

I spent on at least 3-4 hours per day working on magazine things, and nearer publishing time I spend around 10 hours a day before it goes out.

Some Thoughts

One of the things that I love about this CT Magazine thing is that I get to work with people from all over the world, and from all areas of the creative spectrum, and I love being able to help these people get seen in the fashion world. In the process I also get to see what others are doing and it always gives me an idea for future themes of CT Magazine.

The basic items I use to create CT Magazine

Ok I thought I would share some of the things including software I use to make CT Magazine and give you an insight into your first magazine.

Amazing creative people - without my fellow photographers, models, make up artists, stylists, designers there would be no magazine - HUGE thanks to everyone.
Time - this is the most important thing there is, as I must work at least 10 hours per day on CT Magazine, from talking to people, meeting with people, checking photos, and other stuff.
Patience - Remember Rome was not built in a day, so if you want anything to work you must be patience and keep up with it, or it will go no where.
Adobe Photoshop - Graphics program used to edit photos, and of course the stable of any fashion photographers software arsenal
Adobe InDesign CS6 - Used to layout the magazine and convert into PDF
issuu.com - The website that hosts the online version of CT Magazine - Check out the latest issue now

So as you can see there is some work to getting a magazine up and running, but I suggest that you take the plung and go for it. Just be aware that it will mean alot of long days and some very late nights, especially if you deal with people overseas. But I wish you luck if you decide to take the plunge, and please dont forget to check out the CT Magazine website - www.ctmagazine.co.uk

So my first 3 months as the editor in chief of CT magazine has been filled with fun and hard work, and it has been so rewarding, I am seeing work from people who otherwise would not get the chance to shine, which makes me feel great. That is the whole point of CT Magazine "showcasing the hidden talent in fashion". I love my job and I love the people I work with everyday.

So Thank you for everyone so far for being part of this awesome fashion magazine with a difference, and if you want to get involved get in touch.

www.ctmagazine.co.uk

CT Magazine and Darlington College

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 23:31:00 +0000

As you may have noticed recently one of my current projects is a new magazine publication called CT magazine or Creative Talent Magazine, now I have started a new partnership with Darlington College and I am really excited about it.

What is CT Magazine

CT Magazine is a new magazine which is aimed at showcasing the hidden talents behind the fashion photography that we seen everyday. The idea for the magazine came about after working on a variety of different shoots for clients and I noticed that although there is always a huge team of people involved in putting together and taking these shots, only a small amount of them ever get credit for their artistic work.

I mean have you every looked at a model in a magazine and thought I would love to work with them, but dont know who they are. Well with CT magazine the idea is to show everyone off to their full potential and give full credit for their work.

So every image published in the magazine is accompanied by full credit, including contact details and in some cases a bit of editorial about them, giving you an insight into their world and how they got where they are today.

To check out CT Magazine please go visit the website www.ctmagazine.co.uk and read the latest issue and find out more about the magazine.

Get Involved

So by now you are probably thinking that a great idea and how do I get involved. The first thing to do is to go and give the FaceBook page a like www.facebook.com/ctfashionmagazine and get in touch either via facebook or email at getinvolved@ctmagazine.co.uk

Darlington College Fashion / Art & Design Students

As the idea behind CT magazine is to promote the hidden and unknown talent of people in the fashion industry, I thought that it would be a great idea to work with the local college to showcase the excellent work done by the students, and at the same give the students both an idea of what its like to work on a professional brief as well as helping promote their work.

I was asked by Darlinton College to come in and speak to the students about CT Magazine and the possibility of them being involved. So on Thursday I went along to Darlington College and was planning on talking to maybe a couple of students about the whole idea. "drum roll please..."

However, after talking to a senior lecturer I was asked if I would be happy to talk to all the students on the course at once, so in total I was talking to about 50 students at once. This may sound scary but I am more than happy to talk to large groups of people and the response I got was amazing. The students are all really excited about being part of CT Magazine, and although the talk was initially about the magazine, I decided to open the floor to questions and kinda opened the flood gates to all sorts of questions about what I do, and about photography in general. I have to say this was really cool, I really believe in education and think that in this digital world it is way to easy to buy a camera and call yourself a photographer, or buy a software package and call yourself a designer. So passing on advice to students and the true value of what they are doing was amazing.

So after my talk I had a further meeting with the lecturers and they came up with the idea of setting the work for CT Magazine as part of the students course work, and that way they can add it to their portfolios and help them get into uni. This to me is a great idea, as I love the thought of being able to help people get on in life, and showing students just how things work in the real world. Kinda helping them to bridge the gap between theory and practise.

I find this a really good idea as its too easy to learn something and not see it truely applied in a real world context, and get a shock when you get out into the world, but combining CT magazine and Darlington College students allows the magazine to showcase their amazing talents, as well as helping them to gain valuable industry experience they simply would not get anywhere else.

So I have managed to go back to college and come away with some homework, a thing I have not done in quite a few years. But I am so looking forward to working with Darlington College and the amazing students that go there.

If you want some more info on the work of Darlington College please check out their website http://www.darlington.ac.uk/ or follow them on twitter www.twitter.com/darlingtonfe and remember to say that I sent you.

So watch this space for exciting development with both CT magazine and Darlington College...

CT Magazine - get involved - get published

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 23:35:00 +0000

So there I was waiting in a meeting for my other side of my life, that of a business strategist and I started reading a magazine. There was a spark of inspiration as the photographer in me noticed that in most of these magazines there is not credit given to all the people involved in making the shots happen.

So I decided to change that and produce CT Magazine - a fashion magazine with a different. The aim of CT Magazine is not only to show you the latest fashion trends, but to showcase the talent behind the photos, everyone from the photographer, model, make up artist to the designer, stylist and studio. Its my goal to show people just how much hard work goes into making fashion photographs and its not all glitze and glamour, although that is part of it.

Where do I find CT Magazine.

You can read the latest issue of CT Magazine right inside facebook just go to the CT Magazine facebook page at www.facebook.com/ctfashionmagazine and click the Read CT Magazine link.

Or if you prefer you can read the latest issue on the CT Magazine website at www.ctmagazine.co.uk

Do you want to get published?

So the aim of CT magazine is to help people show off what they can do. So if you work in the fashion industry as either a photographer, model, make up artist, designer, stylist or anything else, please get in touch. We are always looking to show off what people can do and how much hard work they put in.

You can get in touch with CT magazine by any of the following

@ctfashionmagazine
@CT_FashionMag
getinvolved@ctmagazine.co.uk

Alternatively check out the website for more details about the magazine and how you can get published in the next issue.

www.ctmagazine.co.uk

Do you know your High Fashion from your Haute Couture

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:33:00 +0000

After being invited to watch the Burberry and the Yves Saint Laurent shows a few weeks back, I got to thinking about High Fashion and Haute Couture. So after searching online for ages and seeing loads of images and photographs posted all claiming to be High Fashion, I thought it was time to give an idea of what these are exactly.

So I thought I would write a blog post about just exactly what is High Fashion and what is Haute Couture.

Haute Couture

Haute Couture is the top end of the fashion tree, and it actually a licensed term in France due to the exclusive nature it. This type of fashion is typically custom made, one of a kind items, typically not off the peg stuff.

So when shooting clothes that are classed a Haute Couture you will normally be dealing direct with top end fashion houses, and shooting one of a kind pieces or one of a kind ranges, typically stuff that has a high price and is by a well known top end brand, such as
Jean Paul Gaultier, Frank Sorbier, Elie Saabwere, Maison Martin Margiela to name but a few.

Simple rule is you cant normally just buy haute couture on the high street.

High Fashion

High Fashion is kinda the next step down on the fashion ladder, and although it does not have the same exclusiveness as Haute Couture, these clothes are still very top end of the labels designs, and can be on occasion one off pieces, such as cat walk styles. Again the designers tend to be high end such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Prada and alike, basically not the stuff you will get on the high street, although it is possible to by off the peg high fashion due to the nature of the lines, and the fact they dont tend to be all one off pieces, although some are.

So basically to give you an idea of high fashion clothes, they are not clothes that you pick up in Primark or normally on the high street, they are designers doing what they do best, although you can buy cheaper versions of some designers clothes such as Yves Saint Laurent at some stores, these lines are not the high fashion end of the range.

I hope this makes some sense and gives you an idea of what Haute Couture and High Fashion are, just keep in mind that these two terms have nothing to do with the type of shoot, they have everything to do with the clothes.

Models Bringing Chaperones to Photo Shoots

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:26:00 +0000

Ok this is one of those subjects that pop up time and time again, the subject of chaperones, whether that is the model, mua, stylist or photographer bringing someone with them to a photoshoot.
First off I will start by saying as a photographer I don't have any problems with anyone bringing someone with them on the shoot, I would rather have someone happy on the shoot and if that means being having someone with them, thats cool with me.

Now the reason I don't have a problem with this is that on most of my shoots, there are normally a lot of people on set, or if its a location shoot and a public place, of course there will be people around.

I don't have a problem with it because when I am taking photos I am only concerned with what I can see through the camera, and as I am professional and my concentration is on this, people around me aren't a problem and don't effect my photography.

I find it really hard to believe that anyone has a problem with someone else bringing someone with them on a shoot, especially if the shoot is something like lingerie, implied, topless or nude. I mean you have to look out for yourself, and if you are unhappy on a shoot not only will you have a horrible shoot, but your photos will be effected, but it just amazes me that some people throw their toy out of the pram when a model turns up with someone, even more so when they say they will be fine if the escort was female but have a problem if its a man, my question to them is "why do you have a problem?" and "why is it different is someone brings a woman?" my only conclusion is that your are either up to something you shouldn't be or you are not confident in your work to have someone watch you while you do it.

So in closing I will finish with this, if you want to shoot with me and you want to bring someone with you, thats fine with me. I am even happy with it, when someone turns up with a chaperone and I was unaware of them coming to the shoot, as my feelings on this is that, the shoot is about everyone, not just me as the photographer. Every must be happy and feel relaxed on the shoot in order to get the best results. So a little message to my fellow photographers, keep in mind that your job is to take photos, and if you cant do that with someone watching your in the wrong job or at least the wrong type of photography, remember the shoot is not just about you, its also about anyone else involved models, make up artists, stylists and anyone else.

Without the whole team there can be no shots.

New Online Fashion Collaboration Project

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 23:09:00 +0000

After getting inspired by the recent Fashion weeks worldwide everywhere from London, Leeds, Newcastle to Milan and Paris. I have decided to launch a fashion project with a bit of a difference.

I read alot of fashion related material and always wonder how the latest cat walk trends will end up on the high street. As we all know that in reality what we see on the catwalk never really gets anywhere near the high street, well not in the shape and style we see on in the shows anyway. So I got to thinking about a new kind of fashion magazine, centred around street style and the art of collaboration.

My plan is to publsh a magazine featuring artists from all over the UK and the world, and unlike most fashion publications every artist featured will get full credit as well as a brief description about them and their work. The magazine will be an online magazine, aimed at showcasing peoples talents, from photographers, models, make up artists to journalists and beyond with the first edition lauching before christmas 2012 or possibly a bit sooner, but definately during the Autumn / Winter season in terms of fashion.

The magazine will be a full colour publication, with both photos and articles, basically a magazine aimed at showcasing street style, and will give anyone the opportunity to show off what they can do.

How You Can Be Part of This Project

So although in the perfect world I would love to publish a magazine with only my work in it, I know this would make it very boring and one sided. So what I need is any of the following people who are interested in getting work published, in my new magazine.

Photographers
Models
Make Up Artists
Stylists
Fashion Editors
Fashion Journalists.

And basically anyone else connected with the world of fashion or hair and makeup.

So if you are interested in being part of this project please get in touch.

You can Email me at sean.connolly@seanjconnollyphotography.co.uk
FaceBook me at www.facebook.com/seanjconnollyphotography
Tweet me at www.twitter.com/SeanJC

I look forward to hearing from you and look forward to showing off your work.

Thanks for reading
Sean

Burberry Prorsum Spring Summer 2013 Mens Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 23:57:00 +0000

I was lucky enough to be invited to watch the latest lines to come out of Burberry for next Spring Summer season as part of Milan Fashion Week, and have to be honest I was pleasently surprised. In my head I was still picturing the Burberry line as being a very chav driven line with the traditional check pattern on caps. But to my surprise there was not a cap in sight.

Instead there was a whole load of colour and very smart looking lines, suits and formal work wear are very much on the agenda for the Spring Summer 2013 range from Burberry.

This makes me very happy as this in my view is what Burberry are all about, smart clothes and professional people, it was such a shame that there line got taken over by chavs, but it seems they are back on track and very much on target.

Burberry Spring Summer 2013

Colours

I was actually taken a back first by the use of bright colours on what would normally be very dull things, suits, formal trousers, jackets etc. But after a while I found them very appealling, nothing better than bringing back the suit by adding a whole load of bright colours to it. When I say bright I mean bright, reds, yellows, blues are as bright as you can imagine.

And in my opinion this works, as the suit in general is on the decline so its nice for Burberry to not only get back to their roots, but to bring their roots bang up to date.

Eye Wear

One of the key features of the new lines is eye wear, and again although they are very traditional looking sun glasses, they are splashed with colours, and bright colours. Almost made me think of kiddy sunglasses for adults. But again it worked.

Bags (no not hand bags)

Another huge thing next season is the continues rise of the bag or man bag as some people call them, I see a bag like this myself being used not on a daily basis, more of a replacement for my briefcase. As you look a bit silly dressed smart - casually but carrying a briefcase, and this is the market and exactly where the bags fit in.

In my view most men will use them just as I do, as a work bag, dont think many men will actually use a bag daily as a woman does her hand bag. Yet again the look of some of the new Burberry bags are on trend, not feminine as you would expect, although some were at bit girly for my tastes. But I am just happy that after all these years these bags are being mass produced, I remember a few years bag I could not find a casual briefcase replacement anywhere, so well done Burberry for bringing them up to date.

Foot wear

Now as you will expect there are some very smart looking shoes in next seasons line up, just the fairly normal work and casual wear. But and here is the bit that I will never get, there are sandals, yes sandals although the bright colours feature on these again. The fact that they are paired with socks just screams old man, just like your grandad would always wear his sandals with socks.

So my advice would be take sandals out of the range, I dont know anyone would would wear sandals with a suit, that is unless you live in a hot country, but even then only at a stretch.

But all in all I really like the new Burberry look, they are going back to the formal style where they started from and lets hope that in doing so the Chav element disappears.

Well done Burberry for a great show, cant wait for the ranges to hit the shops

Thank you for supporting my Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 22:28:00 +0000

Just thought I would say a Huge thank you to everyone for reading, sharing and commenting on my blog. I always love sharing my knowledge with others and being social in general.

Now on the subject of being social I was thinking my readers must have their own blogs ro being on social media websites so why dont we share with each other our blogs, social network profiles, twitter handles, etc.

So I will start, you know the url of my blog already as this is what you are reading, but here are my other social networking presences.

Twitter - @SeanJC
FaceBook - @SeanJConnollyPhotography

So please follow me on twitter and give me a like on FaceBook. Once you have done that please add your own social network presences and blog links in the comments. After all thats what social media is all about.

And once again thank you for reading and supporting my blog
TTFN
Sean

HDR (High Dynamic Range) - Good or Evil?

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Mon, 28 May 2012 23:40:00 +0000

Ok as most of my work involves the fashion side of life, I dont really take many HDR shots. But I decided to try out some of a few places just to see if firstly I could get it right and secondly what it would look like. I would highly recommend the Expert Video Guide to help you improve your photography skills

So what is HDR or High Dynamic Range

If you dont know HDR standard for High Dynamic Range, and its a technique that by combining multiple of shots you get to have a broader range of exposure and colours than a single shot. What this means is that you get more details in your shots, as you may have experienced when you take a shot and some of your subject is in the shadows, if you expose for the shadows the rest of the shot is over exposed, if you expose for the rest of the shot the shadows are under exposed and lack detail.
This is where HDR comes it, by combining shots taken at different brackets (or exposures) into a single image you get the best of both world shadows have detail and high lights are not over exposed.

If you look at the two shots below, you can see that the one on the left is exposed for the sky, which has meant that the grass is too dark or under exposed. The shot on the right is exposed for the grass, which means the sky is too bright or over exposed.

Ok so in order to get the perfect shot, we have the option of using filters such as Polarizing or Neutral Density to correct the exposure. OR and this is where HDR come in we can combine the two shots and produce a single perfect image.

Now you can see that the detail in this final HDR shot is way better than either of the two shots above, by making the HDR we have been able to combine both sides of the dynamic range to get a better shot.

"But this shot looks surreal"

One of the problems you can get with HDR is that the end shot doesn't look real, and I personally quite like this look in some shots. I think it adds something. But you don't always have to be so extreme when producing an HDR shot, you can get a result that looks just like a normal shot. Just with more detail.

As you can see the shot above is perfectly exposed across the whole shot, and yet it looks just like a normal photograph.

So is HDR Good or Evil?

So is HDR good or evil? I like the extreme colours thats come with HDR and that surreal feeling it can give an otherwise boring shot particularly of night time shots, yet I love the way it can make a shot look perfect without any bells and whistle, simply correcting the exposure.

If you are still hungry for more take a look at Tony Pages Tool Box for everything you could ever want to make your shots creative.

Being Social with Media

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:53:00 +0000

OK so we all use social media just about everyday, whether you are liking something on FaceBook, tweeting something on Twitter, +1'ng something on Google or Pinning something on Pinterest. The question I put to you is how many of you don't use if correctly?

Now I am not going to go into how to promote your stuff online or the best ways to increase your twitter followers or FaceBook likes, but the point of this post is that it has become apparent to me that their is an increasing amount of people who seem to think the point of social media is to just advertise their own stuff.

I am sick and tired of people who post things and expect to get people to share, like or whatever yet on the other hand these people dont share other peoples content, nor do they even go as far as to like other peoples work. I mean for example I work as a fashion and advertising photographer, which means I dont do weddings, so what do I do when someone asks me about doing a wedding. I refer them to someone I know who does do weddings, I intend to stick in my area of photography and not move into areas I dont do.

You will no doubt have seen the types of people I am talking about, you read on their profiles such comments as "friend requests will be ignored" or "if I am interested in working with you I will get in touch". Now dont get me wrong this behaviour comes from people in all areas of life photographers, models and MUA's so what I dont get is that if these people are not wanting to be social, how do they know anyone in the first place to get work.

This post may sound like a bit of a rant, and I guess it is, but then its my blog so I can rant if I want. But in all seriousness here are the GOLDEN rules to being social and winning at social media.

Comment on other peoples work
Like other peoples work and pages
Refer work to your colleagues if its something you dont do
If you really like someones work, share it.

Here are the GOLDEN DO NOT DOES

Don't just post your own stuff everywhere
Don't ignore your fans / followers
Don't write such stupid things like "friend requests will be ignored" on your profile, that is unless your a twat.

So I think you get my point, we are all on this world wide web to connect and we are not going to do that by not being social, so go forth my friend and be social.

Dont forget whilst your being social to like my FaceBook page or follow me on Twitter

How to Setup Canon 7D to take HDR shots / Bracketed Exposure

noreply@blogger.com (Sean J Connolly) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:14:00 +0000

Ok so you have heard the word HDR, Bracketed Exposure and Auto Exposure Bracketing. But what do they mean and how can you use your Canon 7D to take these sorts of shots.
Ok first things first what is HDR, Bracketed Exposure and Auto Exposure Bracketing.

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, and it is a technique in which you merge several shots together all with a different dynamic range or exposure. HDR is mainly used in landscape photography as it allows you to show light at all levels of the image, bringing out details and colours you would not see in a single shot. These shots are created using software packages such as Adobe Photoshop Elements which let you create the HDR effect or final images, check out the excellent video tutorials by Just4Photographers.com on using Photosjop.

One of my favourite HDR photographers has to be Trey Ratcliff I think his work is astounding.

A fantastic E-Book I recently bought How to do Trick Photography by Evan Sharboneau is amazing, is really takes some of ym article concepts to a whole new level, adn I recommend downloading and giving it a read, you will not regret it.

Bracketed Exposure is a term used when referring to a set or series of the same image each one taken at a different light stop, in short the first image will normally be dark (under exposed), the second will be "technically" spot on and the third shot will be bright (over exposed).

Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) or Auto Bracketing (AB) is the ability of the camera to be setup to take a series of photos all with different exposure levels, this means that you dont have to manually make changes to get your set of Bracketed Exposures, the camera does all the hard work

HDR (High Dynamic Range), Bracketed Exposure, Auto Exposure Bracketing on the Canon 7D

So before we can create any HDR photographs we need to collect a set of images that have a different exposure, and in short the more the merrier. Now there are two ways to do this the Easy way and the Hard way.

Now you are getting to grips with the AEB I recommend checking out Geoff Lawrences guide to Digital Photography you wont regret it

Hard Way to Take Bracketed Exposure Photographs on Canon 7D

Setup your camera with the normal setting you choose to use and take a set of photos, the more the merrier and for each shot alter the shutter speed, normally setting it too high such as 1/400 sec or similar, so that your first shot is too dark, then reduce your shutter speed to say 1/350 sec and take another shot. Then repeat this process until you have a set of images, 5 is a good minimum but like I said before the more the merrier. For some amazing example of the techniques we will cover here please take a look at the International Hall of Fames Terry Day's work and his course.

You now have a set of bracketed exposure shots.

"Not really all that technical now was it"

"But Sean" I hear you shout "you said there was an Easy way and a Hard way, so whats the easy way?"

Technicall there are two easy ways one is to take a look at the Focus Emagazine as it has loads of tips and snippets for your to use, or follow the tips below.

Easy Way to Take Bracketed Exposure Photographs on Canon 7D

The instruction and guidance here are specifically based around Canon DSLR's in particular the 7D, all decent DSLR Canon, Nikon, Hassleblad are capable of auto exposure bracketing, but the setup will be different.

Setting up the Canon 7D for auto exposure bracketing (AEB)

There are 3 main steps to taking auto bracketed shots.

Set the camera drive to High-Speed Continuous
Set the Exposure Bracketing Sequence
Set the Exposure / Auto Exposure Bracketing

Note - these instructions are done with the camera set to full manual or M mode.

1. How to set the Canon 7D camera drive to High Speed Continuous

The first thing we need to do is set the drive speed on the camera to "High Speed Continuous", this can be done in a variety of ways. My personal choice is to use the button on top of the camera and then set the speed either by using the top screen or the back of the camera. Although for this tutorial I am going to use the quick menu "Q" option.

a. Press the Quick Menu "Q" button on the back of the camera, located to the left of the screen.
b. Using the little joystick, located to the right of the screen. Select the Drive Mode menu and press the set button

c. Now select the High Speed Continuous option, the second option along on the screen, and press the set button.

2. How to set the Exposure Bracketing Sequence on Canon 7D

The next thing we need to do is change the Bracketing Sequence, this means that our photos will come out in the correct order from dark to light.

a. Click the menu button on the back of the camera (located just to left of the rear screen)
b. From the Custom Function Menu, second from the end in the top row of options in the menu screen, select the Exposure menu (CFn I: Exposure) option and press the set button.

c. Then scroll through the menu options to number 5, Bracketing Sequence, and select the second option, the one marked "-,0,+" and press the set button.

Ok now press the menu button to come of the menu, and you have now set the bracketing sequence. This means that when we take our shots we will get a dark photo, a normal photo and a light photo.

It should be noted that due to a slight limitation on the Canon 7D it is only possible to take 3 auto bracketed shots at once, hence the option of only a dark shot, normal shot and a light shot. But dont worry I will let you in on a little tip later to overcome this.

3. How to Set Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) on the Canon 7D

Now we have set the order of out shots we must now set the Auto Bracketing Exposure (AEB)compensation for the shots.

a. Go back into the menu, if you forget where the button is its still located on the back of the camera to the left of the screen.
b. Select the Exposure / Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) option, the first option under the second icon along on the menu screen and press the set button to enter the menu

c. Now press the set button and using the small wheel, location on top of the camera, move the indicators apart until you have the indicators either side of the centre pointing at number 1.

d. Press the set button to save the option, then use the menu key to out of the menu.

Ok your camerais now setup to take a set of three shots, each one with a different exposure. Again note that due to the limitation of the Canon 7D you can only take 3 auto bracketed shots at once.

So what you need to do to get a complete set of photos Auto Exposure Bracketed photos for your HDR is take your first set of 3 photos, then go do the following

a. go back into the menu, and yes it is still located on the back of the camera to the left of the screen.
b. Again selected the Exposure / Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) option, the first option under the second icon along on the menu screen and press the set button to enter the menu

c. Now this time when you select your Exposure Compensation / Auto Bracketing Sequence (AEB) more the indicators to number 2.

d. Then press set and use the menu key to come out of the menu and take another set of 3 shots. Then redo steps a - c above but this time set the indicators to number 3.

e. And again press set to save and use the menu key to exit the menu and again take your shots.

Now you will have a series of photographs that are all at a different exposure, all you need to do is disregard the two repeated shots from the second two sequences, basically in the first sequence you took photos that were exposured as "-1,0,+1" you then took a set of shots that were exposed as "-2,0,+2" and finally you took shots that were exposed as "-3,0,+3". As you can see you have 2 repeated shots both at normal exposure or "0". So you can just deleted these shots from your series or just leave them and let your HDR software worry about them, thats up to you.

You can now simply load the shots into your chosen software package and create your HDR photos. I will post later about how to do this in Photoshop, but there are tons of HDR packages available and even website that can do ti for you.

"But Sean what about your little tip?"

Ok before you send round the heavy's I have not forgotten about my little tip. So here it is.

When you are using your camera to do any type of Auto Exposure Bracketing, due to a limitation on the Canon 7D it only allows you to do 3 shots at a time, and have a set of 3 photos with different exposure. This means that each time you do any HDR shots of any decent level of AEB photography you are left with insufficient shots, and need to repeat step 3 above, each time change the indicators for each set.

You also don't want you camera settings to stay on these setting for most of the time you use it, so in order to make life easier heres my little tip.

The Canon 7D has the ability to save camera settings for future use. If you have ever wondered what the C1, C2 and C3 options on the top mode selector control dial are for they allow you to recall preset saved settings simply by turning the dial.

How to Save Custom Camera Setting on Canon 7D

In order to save your setting ready for your next Auto Exposure Bracketing photos, simply follow the steps 1 to 3 above, so that you have the final indicators pointing at number 1. Save the options and come out of the menu. Then do the following

1. Go into the menu using the menu button, that is, yes you guessed it, located on the back of the camera to the left of the screen.
2. Select the third option from the right and select the Camera User Settings Menu

3. In this menu select the Register Option

4. Now select the option for Mode Dial: C1

5 Press the set button and then select OK and click set to save.

Now repeat the setup steps above to setup your camera for Auto Exposure Bracketing, but when you come to step 3 make sure the indicators are pointing at the number 2.. Now repeat the steps here and instead of the Mode Dial: C1 select Mode Dial:C2. Then repeat again making sure the Auto Exposure Bracketing indicator is pointing at 3 and then select Mode Dial: C3.

Once you have done this, you can either reset your camera setting using clear all camera settings, as seen in step 2 just above, or manually put your camera back to your normal settings.

Now each time you want to do any Auto Exposure Bracketing you can simply select C1 on the mode dial, then C2 and finally C3, you camera will do all the work for you and when your finished just return your camera back to what ever mode you normally use.

Doing this little tip allows you to recall the right Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) setup without the manual hassle simply by turning the mode dial.

Ok thats it, now go off and take some nice photos and if you are using a mac you may want to try Remo Recover to safe guard your cool new shots.