Learn Basic Photography

Startrails

2011-03-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

Startrails

Startrails are becoming more and more popular since Dslr cameras are easier to come by. Many people that are unfamiliar with cameras and photography would say, "Oh that is all photoshop!", like many photos that you can't take with a simple camera phone. But Startrails are different than most kinds of photography, it's something new, something most people haven't figured out how to do. I first got interested in it when I saw a friend's photo that he captured when I first started shooting and I was blown away! I had to know how to do it!

What are Startrails?

Startrails are a kind of long exposure photography that captures the stars for a given time, giving the stars a rotation like look. But it isn't the stars that are moving, it's the earth. So you capture the stars and the earth rotates giving you a rotation look.

What do I need to take Startrail photos?

Although you can take a startrails photo without a Dslr, the results aren't nearly the same and your photo won't come out looking good at all. A Dslr camera will give you strong and sharp photos. A tripod ( Manfrotto 190XPROB 3 Section Aluminum Pro Tripod ) is a MUST! You have to have a tripod in order to take these kind of photos. You have to have something reliable in order for you to have a steady shot. Most of my Startrail shots last a minimum of 30 minutes. Lastly, I use a shutter release to start and stop my photos. The better the shutter release the better.

How do I take a Startrails photo?

First off, you need darkness, and a lot of it. Like the photo above I drove an hour outside of San Diego because there is too much city light in SD. So I drove out towards the desert and found a side road to shoot on. The darker, the better, and the more stars you can visibly see with your eyes, the more stars that are going to come out in you photo.

Setup. Setup your camera how you want your photo to be taken. Since you are trying to capture the stars, your main focus should be the stars, but make sure you have an interesting foreground also. Also since it is so dark out, I recommend having a good flashlight with you to have lighting. In the photo above I lit the road with a flashlight, called 'Painting with light'.

Once you have your camera setup to how you want to take your photo, there are a few steps you should take before shooting. What I do is take test shots, probably about 5 of them. I setup and do about 30 second exposures with a very high ISO to see how the foreground is going to come out, if my horizon is straight, and if my images are sharp. ALWAYS PUT YOUR LENS ON MANUAL! Most of the time your lens will be searching around to find the right focus, and can often change at night. It is MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to just put it on Manual and then put the focus ring at "infinity". Infinity on your lens looks like a sideways 8.

Now there are 2 ways you can go at taking Startrail photos...

First method: You can either set you camera up on Bulb and leave the shutter open for however long you want... Which when I first started Startrails, that is exactly what I did, and my photos came out like this:

The photo above is what Startrails look like if you leave the shutter open, allowing for you to only have 1 exposure. I do not recommend this method of Startrails because the stars aren't as visible, your picture comes out too bright, the photo isn't as sharp, and there is much more Noise.

Second method. After using the first method for far too long, I invested in a good shutter release NIKON MC-36 Multi-Function Remote Cord ( 33.5 inches ) that allowed me to set up shots however I wanted to. I am able to program the remote to start and stop taking pictures however I please. So instead of taking 1 shot at 60 minutes, I take 60 shots at 1 minute each.

Why use the second method?

Using the second method gives you nice sharp photos. The sky will remain dark and the stars will still come out looking bright. Your photo will have less noise by far also!

How do I stack Startrail photos?

I use this free program that I found years ago that is VERY easy to use! http://startrails.de/

What settings to use for Startrails...

If you are using the first method I mentioned I would shoot with an ISO around 400 to keep the Noise down, but it is high enough to have the stars visible. Also I would use an Aperture of 5 or so.. You need as much light going to your camera as possible. Depending on how dark it is, I would set the camera to Bulb and leave it for 20-40 minutes. This will give you nice rotation and hopefully the stars will still be nice and visible if it is dark out.

If you are using the second method, I would set my cable release OR my camera, (because many new Dlsr cameras have a setting to do mult exposures, I know my D300 does) to 400 ISO, Ap of 5, and 30-60 second photos each with 1 second at the MOST in between photos.

Now if you don't have a fancy shutter release but still want to use the second method, you can always get a cheap shutter release and start and stop your photos as you please and overlay them in the program I gave you above. Just make sure you don't shake the camera!!

Cheap shutter releases:

Startrail Tips

-Use tripod to keep camera steady and to avoid camera shake

-Use multiple exposures to reduce ISO and for better sharper photos

-Go somewhere dark, the darker the better

-Bring a flashlight to light the foreground

-Do test shots first to see what you are shooting before wasting a 30 min exposure

- 400 ISO, F/5, 30-60 second exposures each

-Excellent free program: http://startrails.de/

-Lastly, bring somebody with you or have something to keep you occupied, it can get scary and boring at night in the middle of nowhere!

Happy Shooting!

How to take a picture of a good sunset

2011-02-19T07:58:00.000-08:00

The best equipment to take a good sunset photo:

What is everyone's favorite scene to capture? The scene that is taken everyday by a cell phone, a point and shoot, a Dslr, a film camera? The Sunset. Often times people capture the sunset on whatever they are taking it with and the sky looks good, but you can't see the foreground at all (water, rocks, land, beach, etc). And a lot of the times you're taking a picture of the sun directly, which at times can be beneficial.

But I'm here to tell you the secrets of how to shoot a great looking sunset. The tricks to getting the sky perfect, having the foreground well lit, and at the peak times for capturing it. Because you don't want your photos to look like just anybody took them. You don't want your photos looking like EVERYONE else's photos that are right next to you. You want your photos to stand out and really pop! That is what photography is all about. Making your photos different than anybody else's, being unique.

Setting up for the sunset can take some time. Like any photo you take, you want to make sure it has good composition, good lighting, the right detail, and the content that will make your pictures better than anybody else's. This could mean doing a longer exposure to make the waves or clouds look like they are moving, this could mean using different apertures to make the sun look like a star giving it a "star-burst" affect. So setting up early is very important. I recommend getting there an hour before the sun goes down and start looking for places to shoot.

Things to look for while setting up for you sunset are rocks, trees, hills, plantation (the less buildings the better), light-towers, driftwood... get what I'm saying? When you are capturing a landscape sunset you want it to be landscape, not everyday buildings that we are surrounded by. The next time you visit an art gallery or photography gallery, see how many buildings or houses there are in their pictures.. Chances are you won't see any or maybe just one.Remember your guidelines for taking the sunset, rule of thirds. Like I said, they are guidelines, you don't HAVE to abide by them, but they are suggested.

When to capture the sunset:

People usually capture the sunset as the sun is going down so they can get the sky, clouds, and the sun in the picture. They think since the sun is out that that is when the clouds will look the best... Not always the case. Have you ever heard of Twilight Hour? Twilight hour is known as the best time to take sunset pictures. Where you can capture a photo 30 minutes before the sun goes down, and up to 30 minutes after it goes down. I agree with about half of Twilight Hour. I believe capturing a sunset 30 minutes before the sun goes down will give you excellent results, but if you wait more than 15 minutes after it goes down, well then your photos will be nearly dark.

Whats great about this hour is you get a huge variety of colors throughout the hour or 45 minutes in my case. It can even look like you took the same photos on different days with different sunsets. Once the sun goes down past the horizon doesn't mean it's over, wait for the next 15 minutes and many times it will bring you spectacular results!

How to take a sunset photo:

Well what's there to know? You just point your camera at the sunset and shoot! Right? No. The trick to taking a good sunset (not all the time) is not even shooting towards the sun. Now why would you do this? Because shooting towards the sun will give you less contrast, more of a headache with the sun creating tons of highlights, and the sun not allowing you to balance your foreground and sky so well. I'm not saying you can't do it, because I have came out with some pretty awesome photos shooting directly at the sun while balancing out the sky/foreground. And I'll go more into in a little bit.. But back to what I was saying. During your twilight hour, try shooting at 90 degrees from the sun. (Make a L with you thumb and index and point your index towards the sun.. wherever your thumb points, shoot that way) So now that you are shooting 90 degrees from the sun you'll be able to use your CPL. Remember, you CPL works THE BEST when it is 90 degrees from the sun. When it's facing towards the sun, it will only be used as a ND filter. Now that you are facing 90 degrees, turn your CPL and see your colors shift to rich colors.

What is also nice about not facing the sun it allows you to play with your exposures more. You're able to do quick short exposures or long exposures to create movement. You'll also see that the light is softer and warmer.

Example:

As you can see in this photo, the sun is 90 degrees to the right of me. I was able to do a 1/2 second exposure to capture the water in movement. The photo as nice contrast as well and I was able to balance the whole scene. And this was taken 10 minutes after the sun went down.

Now for a photo that was taken 20 minutes before the sun went down:

Like stated above, this photo was taken before the sun went down. I was able to get soft light to give the rocks a nice warm look. Also you can see the water at a 1/2 second exposure.

What settings should I have my camera at for a sunset?
Although there aren't any set rules, I tend to shoot in high Aperture numbers to get everything in focus and to give me a longer exposure time to play with. Often times people even shoot with different Apertures and shutter speeds for one photo and combined them later in programs called HDR, but that is for much later discussion.

Shooting at a high Aperture number will help ensure that everything in your photo is in focus. Having the higher number like 18 or 22 will allow less light to come in allowing you to have a longer exposure as well. When it comes to shooting a sunset, you can't always rely on your light meter. Sometimes it is better to over expose your photo (according to your light meter) and sometimes it is better to underexpose it. Every photographer has their own style of shooting and their favorite preferences. Me, I like shooting in high numbers 90 degrees away from the sun with a CPL and doing longer exposures. But that's just me, other people prefer towards the sun.

Why is my sky coming out good but not my foreground?
Many times this is because the sky you are shooting is too bright. Your camera reads the light that is the brightest and adjusts to that. That is why when you take a sunset with your camera phone, you usually just get the sunset and not the foreground. How can this be fixed?? Easy!

Tiffen 77mm Color Graduated Neutral Density 0.6 Filter

Cokin H250A P-Series ND Grad Kit

Tiffen TCCGND9 P Series Color Grad ND 0.9 3-Stop Filter (Gray)

How does the ND Grad filter help? It helps by blocking the area of your photo that has more light (sun, clouds, rocks, etc) and helps even your exposure so the whole scene has the same lighting. This will give you a nice balanced photo all around. I HIGHLY recommend buying a ND Grad, it will change your photos significantly!

Equipment for Sunset photos:
Wide angle lens

Circular Polarizer Filter

Neutral Density Filter

ND Grad Filter

Tripod

Cable Release

The Best Circular Polarizers for Landscape Photography

2011-02-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

Circular Polarizers (CPL)

CPL's can work wonders for your photos by increasing the contrast, deepening the blue in the sky, bringing more vibrancy, and acting like a Neutral Density filter by letting less light in. But not all CPLs work as effectively. Some don't add as much contrast or deepen your sky as much. Some come out with different colors of what you are actually viewing in person. You can find very cheap CPLs at Best Buy or Ritz but those are cheap, break easy, don't have much impact to your photos and are just a waste of money. My advice is to buy a nice CPL that has durability and will last you quite some time.

Top filters mentioned in article:

Polarizers are key to giving you that contrast and colors you want in a picture!

I will display for you some of the best CPLs there are that can give you a nice blue sky like the photo on the left, with great contrasting colors.

Tiffen

Tiffen offers a great Circular Polarizer for a very nice price. The build quality is fair and if taken care of it will last quite some time. This CPL will offer nice contrast to make your photo look great. This CPL is threaded on the front allowing for more filters such as a Neutral Density filter to be placed on the front. If you are just beginning to get into photography, this a great one to have in your bag without breaking the bank!

Hoya

While many people aren't fans of having a Hoya Filter, I certainly am! I have owned many Hoya filters from CPLs to ND filters to Infrared Filters, and all if which have been pleasant to me and my photos. This CPL here made by Hoya is a nice build and is quite resistant to scratches (very important). I have used this filter on my 11-18mm and there is no vignetting at all. It gives you nice contrast and blocks out a great portion of light to give you longer exposures.

This filter is more pricey but will make your pictures pop! It gives excellent contrast while deepening the blues in your sky! It is very well built and will last you awhile. The glass is strong and precise giving it durability. It is multi-coated so it will give you accurate colors. A great buy!

B+W

A German made company that offers excellent glass all around.
This CPL can be compared to the Hoya HD multi-coat above.
I believe this filter and the Hoya are the best bargain filters without breaking the bank. They off great contrast and reflection reduction!

One of the best CPLs I have ever used! It provides amazing contrast and gives you amazing deep blues in your sky! The construction is very well built giving it durability and sturdiness! The glass is very clean and flawless all around, giving you accurate colors every time! Even though it is more expensive, it is worth every penny!

Heliopan
Heliopan is known for their amazing clear glass and the amount of contrast their filters add.. why? Because they do! This filter is extremely easy to clean! The construction on it is flawless and it cuts reflections better than anything! I highly recommend this filter!

The Best Tripods and Heads

2011-02-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

Best compatible:

What is the best tripod for a Dslr???

Many people will say the most expensive one of course! But that isn't always the answer. Carbon Fiber tripods can cost anywhere from $400 to over a a thousand. They are light, durable, and easy to carry around. This can be very good if you are hiking often or walking around long periods of time because these tripods can start to feel heavy after awhile. But what I don't like about carbon fiber is its resistance to water. Though Carbon Fiber is high quality, it doesn't stand up too well if you are a beach/sand/salt water shooter like myself. Sand and salt water can eat your stuff alive, and it has happened to many of my cheap tripods that I first started shooting with, that is why I changed to a more durable heavy duty tripod by Manfrotto. I will display some of the tripods that I think are best to use for the mountains, hiking, water, beach, sand, street, and snow.

This is the Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod. This is the tripod that I use whenever I shoot. It is very sturdy and easy to take apart for cleaning. It is light compared to others that I have used and it is very functional.

This is the Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod. My best friend has this tripod and he loves it. I have used it as well and can say nothing but great things as well. This tripod is very inexpensive and it is made out of Aluminum so it is very light and accessible. This tripod can be easily taken apart for cleaning as well. You can adjust the tripod for extremely low shots or raise it high. The sturdiness feels nice and I would highly recommend this tripod for all terrain.

Another great tripod here that is inexpensive and light to carry around. This tripod is a little lighter than the ones pictured above so it isn't as study if a wave were to hit it while taking a photo, but it will hold its own. This tripod is good for carrying around in the mountains during hiking or walking around for longer periods of time.

This is a Carbon Fiber tripod that is the lightest of them all. It is however, the most expensive as well. Even though it is very light, it doesn't lose its sturdiness when planted on the ground. The wide legs give it great support and flexibility. For those that do not shoot often where there is sand or water present, this is a great tripod to have!

Now that you have your tripod, you need a head for it to mount your camera.

There are all kinds of tripod heads that people enjoy using. I personally like mine the most and I only got it for $50. Others enjoy fancy heads that allow for quick release and panning.

Here are my favorites:

I see people all the time with this tripod head. With this head you can quickly release and mount your camera back on instantly. This head allows for 360 Degree movement in any direction. It has a set of levels to ensure that your photos are even and the horizon is perfect, which is one of the most important things that makes a great photo. With the squeeze of the handle you can move the head in any direction!

This is the Manfrotto 496RC2 Ball head. I can't tell you how many people love having a ball head for their tripod/camera. Me personally, am not a fan. Why am I showing you this? Because many people enjoy it, after all we all have our own preferences. This is inexpensive and allows for quick panning and movement. It has a quick release to allow easy on/off accessibility.

This is the Giottos MH5001 tripod head that I use. Every movement is fluid. It holds my camera along with my flash and a 70-200mm 2.8 attached to it with no problem at all. With the dual handles it is easy to loosen and tighten for the position you want. It offers a quick release and it has 2 levels on it for making the horizon perfect! I highly recommend this tripod head!

Learn Landscape Photography

2011-02-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

Landscape Photography is one of the most popular forms of photography today. You can just walk around with your camera practically anywhere and shoot a good photo... But there are certain guidelines that are easy to follow to make a good Landscape Photo.

Equipment mentioned in this article:

What makes your photos better than everyone else's?
What I believe along with very experienced landscape photographers is finding a scenery that stands out. When you are setting up for a photo, what stands out about this photo that NOBODY else thought to take or NOBODY else could take because YOU and only you have that eye for that particular photo. That is why professional photographers have galleries.. it's not because they took 1 lucky photo and it just happened to catch everyones attention, but it's because they go out of their way to find all those perfect photos. They climb mountains, they crawl in the snow, they drive for hours and hours out of the way, they wait for days and days at a time for just the right moment to capture what nobody else can. That's what makes a great Landscape Photographer.

But not everyone starts out like that. We all have to start somewhere. If it's just shooting a sunset from your backyard, or shooting a cityscape at night, we all have to start somewhere.

An example:

I took this photo my first month I began photography. I had no idea what I was doing and I had a point n shoot camera. Hell, I even took this photo on Auto. At first you may think, well I see nothing wrong with it.. Sure there is nothing wrong with it, but it's boring. There's no sunset, no clouds, no mist, no nothing! It's just boring.

But an image like this really shines! It stands out amongst the rest.There is fog, a sunset, a starburst from the sun, a nice tight crop of the bridge.

Well what makes a good Landscape Photo?
There isn't just one thing that makes a good landscape photo, but several.

Here are some things that help make a great photo:
-Clouds. A good looking sky makes a photo stand out. Clouds that show impact. I don't mean clouds that look just like overcast and all look the same. They need to be big white puffy clouds, dark evil twisted clouds, thick strong clouds.. Clouds can make or a break a photo. You can have a gorgeous landscape but with an overcast sky and that will ruin your photo.

-Contrast. Having contrast will make your photo look sharp and defined. When there is good contrast you can have rich strong colors that will stand out and make your photo shine. To have good contrast, make sure not to Overexpose your photos. Even underexposing your photos by a half stop to a stop will add nice contrast to them. Also having a good Circular Polarizer and/or Neutral Density filter will give you nice color contrast.

-Sharpness. Having a sharp photo will overall give your photo a nice touch. In Landscape Photography, it is key to having everything sharp. When you take a photo that you are proud of and want to have it enlarged and find out that many things are blurry from camera shake, you're going to be upset and disappointed! You can avoid all of that by shooting at high F-stop # and/or using a tripod.

-Depth of Field. DoF can make your photo really stand out give your viewers perspective on what is actually there.
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Well then what does a bad photo look like??

This is a photo that I took when I first started getting into photography. I didn't know anything about balancing the exposure for the sky and the foreground. I was very happy with the results of this photo when I first took it because I thought it was a good sunset and the water looked like it was moving.

I circled 3 obvious thing that are wrong with this photo. First the sky is overexposed due to the long exposure I used to achieve the moving water effect. Then there is the horizon. The horizon isn't straight and even if it is slightly off in photos when you first take them or post them onto your website, when you print them up and frame them the whole thing is just ruined! Always get the horizon straight! Next is the big black wave that looks like a wall. If I would of done a longer exposure to make that appear to be in motion it would have came out much different.

Solution for the photo:

Having the ND Grad filter would of evened out my exposure allowing me to have a great looking sunset. The clouds wouldn't be over exposed and I would have much more even tones throughout the picture.

The photo could of also looked better if the horizon was straight. There are levels that you can put on your camera and now they even have levels on tripods.

A Neutral Density filter would of blocked out more light allowing me to have a much longer exposure to have that wave that looks like a black wall look much better, like moving water.

Another poor photo

What's wrong with this photo? Better yet, how can we make it better for next time?
The clouds look good. They show a lot of impact and they catch your eye right off the bat and they're well exposed, but whats so wrong with this photo? I see this photo taken millions of times by people and then posted on facebook soon afterwards. Well other than the water being underexposed, nothing really stands out about this photo. Your photo needs to be one that not EVERYONE takes with their iphone or point and shoot camera.

For next time, there needs to be Depth of Field. This photo looks like just a nice sky and some water at the bottom of it. What makes a great Landscape photo is great Depth of Field.You need to make the photo have Depth to it that gives you perspective of how hard the waves are crashing, how fast the water is moving, how big the ocean is, how big the rocks are, etc... Get me? Things like rocks, driftwood, boulders, piers, trees, and people add perspective and DoF.

Sooo... A good photo looks like???

What makes this a good photo??
Other than the nice colors (all natural colors with small saturation) there are many factors that makes this photo good. First you can see that the whole photo grabs your attention. You see the colors all around and the waves are in movement. The boulder, person in the background, house, and sand give the picture Dept of Field. In this photo I used a CPL, ND Grad, and a high Aperture # to allow me to give a 1/2 second exposure during the day. This photo also shows nice contrast throughout the photo as you can see the sharpness in the clouds, waves, and rocks.

In the photo above you can see a nice even exposure throughout it. ***A hint for capturing sunsets*** You do not always have to point your camera toward the sun. Try pointing it about 90 Degrees from the sun. Not only will it help you get a better exposure, but you'll get much better colors because the sun will reflect more in the clouds. As you can see in this photo the sun has already passed the pier I am on. This photo gives nice DoF with the "leading lines" (lines going toward you) from the railing, the pier, the shadows, and the light posts. Contrast is easily seen with all the different colors, shadows, and highlights from top to bottom.

Understanding Exposure

2011-01-23T07:44:00.000-08:00

We went through what Aperture and Shutter Speed were, but now we're going to incorporate that into a picture. As you can recall Aperture is how open/closed you lens is and how much light it is allowing in, and Shutter Speed is how long your shutter is open, or how long it takes to take one picture.

I was going to make a video that incorporates both the Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Exposure Meter but thanks to youtube, I happened to find a great video for you guys that explains everything.

I highly recommend watching this video, even at all levels of photography. He goes over Ap, SS, Exposure Meter, and the Histogram.

The Histogram helps you see what parts of your photo is under/over exposed and if your photo is properly balanced with the light.

Enjoy!

Landscape Photography - Equipment Checklist

2011-01-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Landscape photography is catching the interest of people daily. People see a photo they like and say, hey I want to be able to shoot that! That's how most people get into photography. Landscapes can be anything from mountains to waterfalls to lakes, streams, oceans, rocks, hills, towns, etc... you name it!

The greatest thing is it doesn't cost too must money either to get started into landscape photography. You don't even need a Dslr professional camera to get going! You can even use a point and shoot camera!

Equipment mentioned in this article:

Canon PowerShot SD780IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Black)
This is the camera that I use when I'm out traveling with friends or going to the beach for a good time. I don't always feel like taking my cameras and lenses everywhere I go, and this will suffice just great! Especially since I got it off of Amazon.com for $130. Most people think they need a Dslr to take a magnificent picture because it's a professional camera, in reality all you need to do is be at the right place and the right time with the correct composition. Just because you have a professional camera doesn't automatically make you a professional overnight. Shooting takes practice. I'm not saying that this Canon Powershot has all the capabilities as a Canon 40D, but it can take a good picture or two.

I took this picture with a Canon Powershot. I know it's not much, but it's sharp, great contrast, strong colors, and an overall even exposure.

But I want a professional Dslr!
Ok ok.. I understand.. I remember when I got my first Dslr, I was SOOO happy! And even still when I get a new camera I'm like a little kid at Christmas. And from the day I got a Dslr camera I learned something new everyday by experimenting and trying new things. I learned about filters, lenses, tripods, and what it takes to make a great photo. Here I'm going to show you what materials you should have in your bag.

Dslr:

Nikon D300s 12MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)
Canon EOS 50D 15.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Above are 2 cameras that I enjoy shooting with. They are not full frame cameras, meaning they don't have the same size sensor as a film camera. They do have/make Dslr cameras that are Full Frame. Full frame Dslr's are very expensive and are for more advanced users. These 2 cameras, the Nikon D300 and Canon 50D both have an Auto-Focus motor built inside so any lens for that brand will Auto-Focus whether the lens has an Auto-Focus motor built in it or not. *correction, some very old film lenses are not capable of auto-focusing*

These 2 cameras are superb. They offer fast Auto-Focusing, spot on focusing, high megapixels, and fast frames per second.

I shoot with the Nikon D300 and have had no problems with it at all. I have owned it for the past 3 years and it has been nothing but great to me. The LCD screen is nice and large, the camera has 51 auto-focus points, shoots 7 frames per second, it has durability, all weather protection against moisture, heat, and sand, it offers high ISO that is excellent!

Filters
If there were 3 filters that I use the most, they are my Hoya CPL (Circular Polarizer), Tiffen ND filter, and my Graduated ND filter.

CPL
Having a CPL will give you strong contrast allowing for your pictures to really pop with color! A CPL will deepen the blues in your sky while acting as a ND filter by allowing less light to come in. The CPL will cut reflections in windows and water.

Hoya 77mm DMC PRO1 Digital Circular Polarizer Glass Filter

Tiffen 77mm Circular Polarizer

B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer Filter

B + W 77mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer Coated Glass Filter

Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizer II Thin Ring Multi-Coated Glass Filter

Neutral Density
A Neutral Density filter is great if you want to do a long exposure or if there is too much light getting to your lens. A ND filter will give you more contrast and cut as many stop as you please. There are ND filters that can cut up to 10 stops allowing you to take several minute exposure pictures during the day! A ND filter will allow to you take those pictures of waterfalls that make them look like mist.

Tiffen 77mm Neutral Density 0.9 Filter

Tiffen 77mm Neutral Density 0.6 Filter

Tiffen 77mm Neutral Density 0.3 Filter

B+W 65-073102 77mm Neutral Density 0.9-8x Filter #103

B + W 77mm #110 3.0 (1000x) Neutral Density Glass Filter.

B+W 65-066534 77mm Neutral Density 1.8-64x Filter #106

Hoya HMC NDx8 - Filter - neutral density 8x - 77 mm

Hoya 77mm Neutral Density ND-400 X, 9 Stop Multi-Coated Glass Filter

ND Grad

Cokin P-Series Neutral Grey ND2 (0.3) Filter
Cokin Series P Neutral Density Filter (ND8X) (0.9)
Tiffen 77mm Color Graduated Neutral Density 0.6 Filter
Tiffen 77mm Digital Pro SLR Filter Kit, With Digital Ultra Clear, Color Grad ND.6, Pro-Mist 2 Filters, Micro Fiber Cleaning Cloth & Filter Case
Lee RF75 Neutral Density Hard Graduated Filter Set with 3 Filters

As you can see the ND Grad acts as a partial ND filter, going from dark to light allowing for you to block out a higher exposure on part of your photo. This filter is perfect for sunsets when you want to have the sky and foreground balanced to the same exposure.

Lenses
There are number of lenses that can be used for landscape photography. When you have a Dslr that isn't a full frame camera, you have quite a bit more variety. Depending on your brand of preference you can buy same brand wide angle lenses which can be costly. There are also Third Party lenses that are very respectful and used by many professional photographers. Some of these lenses are the Tamron 11-18 and the Sigma 10-20. These two lenses are very popular for landscape photography. They allow wideness and detail at the same time.

Tamron 11-18

Tamron AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 SP Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Lens for Nikon AF with Built-in Motor Digital SLR Cameras

Sigma 10-20

Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Tripod
When shooting landscapes a tripod can be almost as important as your camera. Having a tripod ensures sharp photos instead of blurry ones from hand-shake. A tripod will allow you to get everything lined up correctly and straight. I recommend buying a durable tripod instead of a cheap one. I have bought cheap tripod after cheap tripod after cheap tripod until I kept running out of money because of it. So I decided to buy a durable one that I can take apart and clean for those wet days in the ocean. Suggested brands are: Manfrotto and Giottos.

Manfrotto 190XPROB 3 Section Aluminum Pro Tripod

Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod Legs (Black)

Manfrotto 055CXPRO3 Carbon Fiber 3 Section Tripod with Q90 Column and Magnesium Castings (Black)

Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 3-Section Pro Carbon Fiber Tripod without Head

Manfrotto 190XDB 3 Section Aluminum Tripod

Remote

Lastly, a remote can be very beneficial under any circumstances. During night photography, sunsets, and even during the day a remote is highly advised. Why? Because whenever you press down on your camera button there is shake, even if it's a small one. And when you go to have your pictures blown up nicely and notice that not many things are as sharp as you thought they were, it's most likely from camera shake. So avoid that small camera shake and get a remote.

This Nikon wireless remote can be purchased for under $25!

Then there are remotes like these that plug into your camera. They offer many functions to allow you to program your camera to take a certain a number of pictures at certain times, for certain times, a frequent amount of times, and for however long you want. This remote may not seem like much, but I don't shoot without it anymore!

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Happy Shooting!

Different Kinds of Photography

2011-01-22T09:25:00.000-08:00

There are so many different types of Photography! Once you find you niche, you can even specialize within. For example, a photographer may prefer to shoot landscape, but specializes in just long exposures or black and white. Some people enjoy shooting everything to gain all around experience.
Types of photography include:

Landscape
Macro
Wedding
Studio
Animals, plants, and nature
Photojournalism
Street
Urban
Still life
Commercial
Conceptual
Abstract
Architecture

As you can see there are many different kinds of photography. Finding your type may take a day, it may take years. I suggest going out and shooting everything to find out and see if it's for you or not.

Examples:

Landscape

Landscape can be shooting anything from mountains, to water, streams, ocean, hills, etc... Landscape photography is one of the more popular types of photography today. With galleries open daily displaying their landscape photography, many are inspired to buy a Dslr and shoot. The photo above was taken at Black's Beach in San Diego, CA.

Macro

http://littlemewhatever.deviantart.com/art/Ice-Crystals-191206654

Macro is a type of photography where you have to have a keen eye, patients, and a macro lens.Macro is about being up close and personal, whether is with a plant, ant, snowflake, flower, eye, or anything else that you can think of. The art of Macro is a unique one and it takes a lot of practice to achieve excellence. Macro is definitely a specialized kind of photography.

Macro lenses aren't as costly as most lenses are, but that's because you can really only use them for Macro photography. The good thing about having a Macro lens is however that most allow you to shoot at 2.8, meaning their is a lot of light coming in and allowing for you to have a lot of nice bokeh (blurry background).

If however you can't find, afford, or just not sure if you want to spend hundreds of dollars on a lens that you can only use for one thing, there are alternatives.

There is a device that separates your standard lens from your camera body, called an extension tube. What this does is it changes the focal point, thus allowing for you to get closer to your subject.

These extension tubes are great, cheap (around $100 for all 3 of them) and it gives you a 1:1 perspective to the object you are shooting.

But lets say that you didn't want to buy the Macro Lens and you didn't want to buy the extension tubes because you just weren't sure about either or you didn't want to spend too much money. Well there is an even cheaper way to shoot macro photography. What we have is called a close up filter. It's like any other filter that you screw on to the front of your camera and it acts as a magnifying glass.

As you can see it's clear and and it screws right in. These filters come in different grades of magnification. There is +1, +2, and +3. They can all be combined for even closer up. These can be found online ranging from $20 to $250 if you are looking to buy a whole set of them.

Now you may think wow, it doesn't get much cheaper than all of that? Well... it can. What some people do, and it doesn't always work is they take off their lens and place it backwards on their camera body. So the part where you would normally screw in the filter, is where you would place cover up the whole to your camera. This acts as a magnification glass from all the glass that is inside of your camera. Zoom in and out to try and get different results!

Head shots

It seems more and more people want and need head shots lately. Whether it is for their graduating, if it is for a job interview, or because they want a good looking picture of them. Head shots are a great and easy way to make money. I have taken head shots of my friends in my backyard and the results came out great. With head shots you want to come in close and make everything about them. The main focus are their eyes. Their eyes always want to remained perfectly focused. Also you want an even tone throughout their upper body, hair, and face. As you can see above how all the highlights, shadows, and midtones are all even... There isn't any harsh light and the picture is all about her.

Wedding Photography

Wedding photography is a very demanding job. Many people are afraid to shoot weddings because you can only get it right once. During a wedding you have to always be attentive and shooting at all times. Having the proper equipment can be quite costly as well. It's good to have 2 camera bodies, at least 3 different kinds of 2.8 lenses, and a flash or 2. Shooting weddings are stressful and serious. I recommend shooting a wedding as an assistant before shooting one by yourself or as the main photographer.

Studio

Studio shooting can be fun. There are flashes, strobes, and lighting fixtures everywhere! However, it is very expensive. If you wish you to own your own studio, there are a number of strobes you'll have to purchase along with reflectors, back drops, and stands. In many big towns such as LA, San Diego, New York, and San Francisco there are studios that are available to rent hourly or daily.

Photojournalism

Photojournalism can be very powerful. Photojournalist are always on the hunt looking for that picture that is striking. These pictures are often pictures that tell a story. You've heard the saying, a picture is worth a thousand words... Well, these are the kind of photographers that take those thousands of words.

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These were just a few examples of what kind of photography there is out there and what you can choose from. Don't be afraid to try new things and be different. Photography is all about being unique and taking a picture somebody else can't take. Good luck!

Composition

2011-01-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

Composition

Simply put, Composition is known in the photographic world as using "The Rule of Thirds". What is the Rule of Thirds? It's a rule or guideline used to make your picture is well balanced and interesting. I say the Rule of Thirds is more a guideline instead of a rule because once you find your niche, you may not always follow the Rule of Thirds, and at times, the Rule of Thirds just doesn't always look good. Besides, Rules are meant to be broken right?? :D

Like I said, the Rule of Thirds is more of a guideline, but a good guideline to say the least. The theory of the Rule of Thirds is that if you place a subject (trees, people, water, etc.) on the lines or at the intersections of the lines, then your photo will be more balanced.

Where the red dots are are known as points of interest. Many photographer like to line up what they are shooting at those points of interest.

Here you can see I used the Rule of Thirds, bottom 1/3: river. center 1/3: trees and mountain. top 1/3: sky

Here you can see I used the Rule of Thirds by only using 1/3 foreground and 2/3 for the sky.

But Rules are meant to be broken!

You can see in this picture the horizon is directly in the center, 50% water, and 50% sky.

Also to compose a good photo, it's important to fill the photo with interest. Make sure when you take your photo, you know what your point of interest is/are. Bring it in close if it's a person.

Bring them in close so you know where the center of attention is and you're not distracted. Don't be afraid to tilt your camera and add your own style.

You can see how bad this composition is by the bad points of interest, there is no depth of field, there are many empty spaces, and you can hardly see any details in the man. Also the photo is very busy, there is a lot going on. As you can see there are people walking in the background, other people sitting and they appear to be eating. Your focus is taken away from the man they initially intended to shoot.

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As you can see, Composition is what makes a picture. Its the what makes the picture interesting or not interesting. It is what makes a person go "WOW! I really like that photo!" or go "cool". The simpler the photo, the more it says. The more complex the photo, the less the photo says. You can really create a stunning, powerful, and meaningful photo with less.

Example of a too busy bad composition photo:

The photo above was taken by me. This has terrible composition. It doesn't follow the rule of thirds, but more like a 4 square ball playing court. There is a lot going on here. You have the driftwood on the bottom, you have the water behind it, red pedals on the ground, a big tree taking up half the picture, and some sky in the corner. This photo is not simple and it leaves you looking at everything. Nothing is spectacular about it, you just go, uh huh. There isn't anything that stands out and makes you go wow, that catches my interest. A picture like this you go, should I look at the deep blue sky? Should I look at the bright green tree? How about the driftwood?

But a photo like this is simple and powerful. It's strong, sharp, and simple. I took this by just getting a flower from outside, putting it on a black table and shooting my flash to light the flower. The pedals casted a nice yellow shadow to go underneath. This photo isn't busy, it doesn't have you looking all over the place, it leaves you with the single subject.

Ways to take a picture with good Composition:

1) Use the Rule of Thirds. If you feel that your photo looks good with the rule of thirds, then go for it!

2) Points of Interest. Are your subjects lined up or along your Thirds line? Is your subject interesting? How about the rest of the picture? Does it look good and balanced?

3) Bring your subject in close. Lets see some detail. If you need to zoom in or crop your photos, then do so. Sometimes you may not have the zoom to bring in your subject close enough, don't be afraid to crop your photo!

4) Take multiple photos with different angles. Go back and put the photos on your computer. Sometimes what you see on your LCD screen doesn't look as good as when you put it on your computer. You'll be surprised with what you get from different angles and views!

5) Don't be afraid of adding your own style and view of things.. Add a little tilt to your portraits.. But always make sure your landscape horizon is straight!

6) Change the your F-Stop. When you're taking a landscape photo, 99% of the time you want everything in your picture to be sharp and visible; so you should shoot with a higher F-stop number. When you're taking a head shot or portrait photo you want your focus to be on that certain person, so you'll want to shoot at a lower F-stop number, creating bokeh (blurred background).

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jiscdigitalmedia/3344478674/

http://www.smashandpeas.com/starting-out-in-photography/

Filters

2011-01-18T10:20:00.000-08:00

Filters
What is a filter? A filter is like sunglasses for your lens. They protect your lens and allow for less light to come in, allowing for your photos to have more contrast, polarization, longer exposures, and with sometimes special effects.

I used to think that filters were useless and they didn't do anything to your pictures, just a way for a company to make money. I mostly thought this because I bought cheap filters from Ritz camera that were poor quality and well, didn't have any impact to my photos. I later on purchased a ND (Neutral Density) filter and a CPL (Circular Polarizer), both from Hoya. The filters changed every single one of my photos making a huge positive impact!

One of the most commonly purchased filters is the UV (ultra violet) filter which is only used to protect your lens.

CPL is the filter you should always have if you are shooting landscape. A CPL is best used when facing 90 degrees to the sun. Make a L with your index finger and thumb and point your index finger toward the sun... Now wherever your thumb is facing will give you the greatest impact while using your CPL. CPL gives you deep and strong contrast while giving your sky a nice rich deep blue color. Also using a CPL will block out light giving you a longer exposure time to let you have those pictures of moving water, people, etc. Suggested CPL's are HOYA, B+W, Heliopan, LEE, and Singh-Ray. Having a good CPL will really make your pictures stand out, so invest in a good one!

This is a photo that shows the difference between not having a CPL and having a CPL. As you can see the photo on the right has deeper and richer colors all around.

Neutral Density filters are like non-polarized sunglasses. They block out light to give you a longer exposure. ND filters are used to make that moving waterfall that you want when it is too bright outside. ND filters will also give you richer colors and more contrast as opposed to not having a filter on. ND filters come in several grades from .3 (low) to 400x (very dark). There are filters like the Hoya ND400x that blocks out 10 stops of light letting you take several minute exposures during the day.

Above is a picture that I took for 1 minute during the day of the Pacific Ocean in San Diego during the day using a 10 stop ND Filter.

Above is a 5 second photo that I took at sunset. The .9 ND filter allowed to grasp all the deep colors and give me a longer exposure that I wouldn't normally be able to have without it.

Graduated Neutral Density (ND Grad)

ND Grad filters are just like ND filters but the whole filters aren't dark. Most ND Grad filters are square and you can't screw onto your lens. ND Grad filters generally start off dark and gradually get lighter until clear about halfway through the filter. What's the point of a ND Grad? ND Grads can really make a photo stand out. For example, when you are trying to take a picture of a sunset at the beach you take your first shot and the sunset comes out great but you can't see the foreground (sand, water, rocks, ground) at all! A ND Grad balances your picture to give you a full even exposure throughout the whole scene. So what you would do is place the ND Grad with the dark part on the top half where the sun is so your camera recognizes the scenery as one even exposure.

Above are what ND Grads look like. There are also ND Grad filters that you can get with color such as a popular ND Tobacco Grad filter that gives your photo a touch of orange/yellow color. See below!

Infrared Filter (IR)

Infrared is a type of photography that was commonly used for film that gives your photos a great twisted look. Well since now and days most people shoot digital, they created an IR filter that blocks out the Infrared rays from the sun. The filter is very dark, very expensive, and rarely used, but when used right, there is a pleasant result! An IR filter is so dark that you will need a tri-pod to use it because you have a long exposure to take it or you can remove your hot sensor from your camera (not recommended).

Below are some examples of how IR photography looks while using an IR filter. Enjoy!

Buy a DSLR

2011-01-17T12:56:00.000-08:00

Nikon or Canon?

Many people often have a hard time choosing which camera brand is better, Nikon or Canon.. Kinda like how people choose between Hp and Dell. When I first started I chose Nikon because it was $50 cheaper. Really, that's why I went with Nikon. Am I happy with my purchase? Def! But does does it really make a difference?

If you are a beginner and you're are just looking to get into photography, I'm going to have to just say no, it doesn't really matter what brand you get. Many people are even going with Olympus or Sony as their first choices as well. Which are equally good beginner cameras. But if what I would suggest doing when buying your first Digital SLR are the following:

Buy the cheaper Dslr. Most likely you're not going to be going professional with your first Dslr. Many of the Dslr's now and days all have at least 10 megapixels. However, one thing to consider is some Dslr cameras do not have an auto-focus motor inside the body. And not all lenses have an auto-focus motor inside of them.
Test out the camera first. Canon and Nikon's lens' turn different ways, feel different in the body and lens, have different functions.. See which one suits you the most!
Check to see what your friends have first. I was the first of my friends to get Dslr's and now they are all starting to get them... Some in Nikon, some in Canon, but those that have the same brand make it MUCH cheaper when it comes to using lenses and other equipment. Being able to borrow lenses, flashes, and camera bodies from your friends will be much cheaper than having to buy extra gear.
Do some research. Sometimes when new products are released there are bugs and problems, resulting in recalls. Make sure you're not buying that model.
Don't buy both lenses! Often times the sales person will pressure you into buying the camera body that comes with the 18-55mm lens AND a 55-200mm lens. Many people want to buy both of them so they can have reach as well, which is fine if you're a parent and just want to shoot your children playing soccer or football. But in my opinion the 55-200mm is a waste of money and you won't end up using it as much as you thought you would. Stick to 18-55mm till you begin to learn the fundamentals of photography OR you can buy the 18-200mm lens. (Nikon offers one that is good for all around shooting)
Just because you buy an expensive camera doesn't mean that your pictures are going to look professional. People think that if they buy a "professional camera" that all their pictures are going to come out looking like Ansel Adam's photos. Photography takes a lot of time, practice, patience, and a keen eye to achieve a good looking photo. There are so many photos that factor into what makes a photo good, and I think aspired photographers don't really realize that sometimes.

If you are looking to purchase another DSLR or looking to upgrade because you need something more advanced, there a much more things to consider. When I am looking to buy a new DSLR I look for ISO readings, the less noise all around the better. Some Canon cameras have ISO readings that allow you to get down to ISO 50! Unfortunately that is not the case for Nikon, for their lowest is 100. Either way, I look for which cameras handle ISO the best in the Lows and the Highs. I take in consideration the amount of pictures per second for when I shoot weddings or sports. Durability, is the camera heavy duty or is it all plastic and will break if a drop were to occur. These are some of the many things you would want to consider when purchasing and upgrade of your first DSLR.

Hope this has been helpful! Happy Shooting!

Understanding Depth of Field

2011-01-14T02:50:00.000-08:00

Depth of Field (DOF)

Depth of Field is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. One can think of DOF like drawing for the first time. When you first begin to draw your images are usually flat looking, for example drawing a triangle. The triangle is flat, and once you get better at drawing you learn how to make it 3-Dimensional... followed by being able to draw a pyramid with an appearance of a town/mountains/people in the background.

This photo shows good DOF by having the first person in focus followed by other people/objects in the back, adding depth and significance to the picture.

The picture above is one way to represent how DOF can be played with a landscape photo. Many times DOF is strongly shown during a portrait/headshot photo. Many people want to have that "background blurriness" effect called Bokeh. The way Bokeh is achieved is by having a high F-stop number and as most photographer say, "wide open". When somebody is talking about shooting wide open they are referring to shooting with their Aperture low in number, allowing a lot of light to come in. These low numbers are usually F/2.8, but can get down to F/1.4 or lower.

The more open your lens is, the more DOF you're going to have.
-F/1.4-F/4 = A lot of light in, focus on 1 thing, a lot of DOF
-F/5-F/12 = Less light in, many things in focus, less DOF
-F/12-F/22 = Little light in, everything in focus (mostly), little DOF

This photo was taken with prime 50mm at F/2.0. Shooting so wide open allowed for a lot of light to come in and allowed for me to focus on just the one subject (the little girl).

If I were to have shot this photo above with the same shutter speed but with at F/16 then you would have seen her and bushes/flowers in the background ALL in focus and clear. But having the option to shoot at F/2 I was able to have good DOF and Bokeh.

Below is an example of BAD DOF

This photo* is an example of bad DOF. Everything is sharp, there appears to be no background other than the clouds, and it looks flat (not 3-Dimensional).

*http://www.flickr.com/photos/24203918@N00/146599451/

How Does ISO, F-stop, and Shutter Speed all work together?

2011-01-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed all play together.
How do they all play together? Well follow close and I'll do my best to try and explain.. and if you have your camera with you you'll know what I'm talking about.

As explained in my last post ISO was how sensitive your camera is to light, Aperture was how much light your lens was allowing in, and Shutter Speed is the length it takes to take the picture. These three elements took me quite a long time to understand how they work together, especially when I had nobody to show me how things work. So if you don't understand it right off the bat, no worries, just experiment and it'll come to you with time and practice.

Lets start it off: Having a low ISO (lets say 100) will make your camera have a lower Shutter Speed. Easier put, lower ISO=lower Shutter Speed.

Now, having an Aperture of 22 (remember that means the lens will be letting in little amount of light) will make your Shutter Speed lower as well. Lower Aperture= Lower Shutter Speed

Here is an example*:

As you can see, as the Shutter Speed reduces (while keeping the same Aperture) the picture gets brighter because your camera is allowing more time for light to come in.

Wonder how people get water to look like mist? They make waterfalls and waves look like they are moving in the picture? Many people like myself years and years ago went, "oh that's just Photoshop, duh!". Well, no.
If you can use what I explained above, you can create "long exposures" to make beautiful pictures that not even your brain can capture in real life. Though there are many methods of how to create a long exposure, I'm going to tell you the most basic.

Materials needed for Long Exposure:
-Camera
-Tri-pod
-Low ISO (100)
-High Aperture # (F/22+)
-Low Shutter Speed (1/25-->1 second)

ISO 200, Shutter Speed of 3 seconds, and F/22. I was able to achieve such a long exposure because I wasn't facing the sun, using a low ISO, a high F/#, allowing me to create a 3 second Shutter Speed.

In my later tutorials I will explain what filters are and how they can be used to create very long exposures during the day.

*http://www.shortcourses.com/use/using1-8.html

Understanding the Functions of your Camera

2011-01-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

What is Aperture? ISO? Shutter Speed? F-stop?

Many of these functions can be be simply explained and related to an eye, and you'll see what I mean soon.
First off: Aperture

Aperture (A) can be easily put how open or closed your lens is. Like the pupil in your eye, it opens and closes to adjust to the amount of light in front of you. Like when you walk from a dark place to a light place, your pupil goes from wide open to smaller. Aperture is another name for F-stop. So when you adjust the A to lets say 5.. you would say that you have an F-stop of F/5. In photography, the higher the number example, F/22 the less amount of light the lens is allowing in. It also means that more of your photo will be sharp. Using an F-stop of 22 would mostly be used during long exposure photography during the day, allowing for a longer exposure time.. I'll explain later. Using an F-stop of 2.8 is allowing a lot of light to come in. When A is adjusted to 2.8 it is ideally used for headshots, people, sports, macro, and various other types of subjects to create a "blurry background" aka as Bokeh. (I'll explain that later too)

This is a prime example of what your lens looks like through the stages of F-stops/Aperture

ISO: ISO? What is that? Better yet, how do you even pronounce it? ISO is pronounced like I.S.O. so each letter individually. Or quickly like (Ay-So). Now that we know how to say it, what is it? Easily said, ISO can be described as to how sensitive the light is to your camera. ISO ranges on digital cameras from 50-300,000 now and days. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive your camera is to the light. So having an ISO of 100 is very low and is often used for landscape day photography. Having a low ISO creates little Noise.. Noise is similar to film grain. Using High ISO numbers such as 2,000 are usually used in settings where flash isn't allowed or during low light functions and flash isn't available. Having a 2,000 ISO will create more Noise in your pictures and the quality of your photo won't be as good.

Still having a hard time understanding ISO??

Think of ISO like a bad headache or migraine. When you have either one you're eyes and head are very sensitive to light.. So the lower the # of ISO, the less sensitive it will be.. The higher the #, the more sensitive you will be and more painful.. Going to high up in the ISO will create Noise and 'increase your headache'. Just think of higher ISO being bad and try to avoid it!

In the top left 1250 is the Shutter Speed, 8.0 in the center is the F-stop (F/8), and at the bottom 1000 which is the ISO

Shutter Speed
Shutter Speed (SS) or exposure time can be described as how fast your camera (shutter) takes the photo. Next time you take a photo listen to your camera taking a picture. Take one during the day with sun out and you'll here 'click click'..You may just even hear one click because it happens so fast. But then take a photo at night or inside in a poorly lit area and you'll hear 'click.........click', where there will be a pause in between. A shutter speed number might look like this: 1/125, 1/250, 1/1000, 1", etc.. and what those numbers represent are the amount of seconds or fractions of seconds it takes to take the photo. Having a fast shutter speed of 1/000 would be used during a bright day outside. Taking a picture of a person in shade for example, you would want to set your shutter speed to be around 1/125. Shutter Speeds can be even a few seconds long during the day or night. Sometimes they can be even a few hours! Having a few seconds of your shutter being open can create that water "misty moving" feeling.

This photo above had a shutter speed of 6/1 (6 seconds) to create the moving feeling in the clouds and water, an ISO of 100 (for good quality and to allow my camera to be less sensitive, thus allowing me to have a longer Shutter Speed), Aperture of 9 (F/9) allowing me to let in light have a sharp focus allowing light in but not too much.
A focal length of 18mm letting me get nice and wide.

Focal Length
Focal Length is pretty easy. Simply it is how zoomed in you are on a subject. You can adjust your focal length by zooming in or out on your camera or your lens (depending on the kind of camera you have).

As you can see this picture is zoomed in quite a lot. There isn't really anything else in the photo except for the flower itself. This is zoomed or has a Focal Length of 200mm.

In this photo I used a Focal Length of 14mm to really show the whole scene of what is going on instead of just a single person. Details: Focal Length: 14mm, ISO: 100, F/5, Shutter Speed: 1/160

The Beginning

2011-01-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

Many people want to learn photography after seeing a few stunning photos, or something that they have always wanted to do. Some people really want to, while others just say they want to. Many think you need to invest thousands and thousands of dollars to make inspiring shots, while that isn't the case. For those that have always wanted to learn photography or the basics of photography, I'm here to show you what it takes.

This is a photo of mine that I took for 30 minutes...

On this site I will be showing you some of my photos, how I achieved them, and how you can take them yourself. I will show you what Aperture is, ISO, Bokeh, Shutter Speed, how to shoot in Manual, Depth of Field and much more!

The photo above was taken in Mentone, California on a side street that I stumbled upon. I knew what photo I wanted to take and I knew how I wanted to take it. That is what takes the most amount of time... seeing the photo in your head before you take it, once you see it, then all you have to do is click. Once I saw this photo I set up, put my Nikon D300 in Manual, set my Aperture (A) to 5.0, set my ISO to 400, and put my exposure time or shutter speed onto Bulb, from there I pressed the button and sat for 30 minutes capturing this image. In the last minute of this photo a car drove by and I thought my image was going to be ruined, however it made my image stand out! Thanks random car!

As you can see I enjoy taking landscape photography. Many people do. It's your chance to be at peace with nature and it is relaxing. It takes your mind off of things. I enjoy taking a nice photograph with some music playing. I took this photo using a 1 second exposure to create a moving feeling in the water, like you see in many photos with waterfalls and streams.. And I can show you how to do that with any camera!