A. GREAT question! I most often use ‘AF point expansion’ and change the zones continuously using the quick button available on the 7D (see the end of this post for more about that).

Focus is really the most confusing thing I’ve had to learn about my camera. There are SO many factors to achieving perfect focus and this can get really confusing. Lens quality, camera shake, motion blur, focus points, MF, AF, AI SERVO, One Shot AF. All of these can be highly confusing for new camera users. All of what Im about to explain is using my knowledge of the Canon 7D but the principles are the same for most other cameras that have the abilities of the 7D.

{Auto Focus Modes}

Ok so first I’m going to explain the different modes available when you’re shooting in manual.

The screen on the top of the camera looks like this:

If you press the button on the top, that makes all the other numbers on the screen disappear and leaves the DRIVE speed lit and the FOCUS MODES lit. You use one turning wheel (the small one) to adjust one and the bigger wheel to adjust the other. Since I mentioned it, the different ‘drive’ modes determine if you do one click shooting, high speed continuous (holding the shutter button down and shooting up to 8 images per second) or slow speed continuous. Ok so the focus modes. ‘One Shot’ (as seen on the screen above) is good for non-moving or slow moving subjects. You press the shutter halfway down to focus and then the rest of the way down to shoot. The next option as you turn the wheel is called AI Servo. AI stands for ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and this mode uses mathematical algorithms to predict the movement of the subject you’re tracking. I always have my camera in this mode because I’m usually chasing kids around. While holding the shutter halfway down and tracking a moving subject, you’ll see the little focus point squares jumping around allover the screen as the focus continually changes. Press the shutter down the rest of the way when you’re ready to take the shot.

{Focus Points}

Now to the original question about focus points. When you’re shooting in Full Auto, your camera will be using all of the available focus points to auto focus your shot. This can make for wonderfully sharp photos, but you lose all control over what is and isn’t in focus. If you manually select your manual focus point or select which auto focus points to use, you have more control over your image. The first step to accessing this part of your manual settings is to view your screen like this and toggle to the arrowed area:

When you click this box, you are presented with 5 different focus point options. The first is ‘Manual Selec.: Spot Auto Focus’:

In this mode (see the photo left) you use the small and larger turning wheel to move the focus point around on the screen. Then when you are shooting through the viewfinder, you will see a little box in the chosen location. You can then be sure that whatever that spot is focused on is what will be sharp as a tack. This mode is useful for adults who aren’t running around, portraits where you want to be sure that the focus is on the eye or whatnot. Also useful for product photography or photographing the same thing over and over. For photographers like me, I would be most likely to use this for those baby head shots, sharp as a tack newborn shots of the feet with everything else out of focus, etc. And if you’re a strictly 1/3rds guy or gal, you can set your spot to accommodate for that. This mode isn’t useful when you don’t have control over what you’re photographing because there’s no telling where your subject will be from one moment to the next. If you are a total control freak and HAVE to know what spot is in focus AND you have lightening fast manual settings skills, you can constantly change your focus point.

The second mode is called ‘Manual Selec: Single Point Auto Focus’. This works exactly the same as the above explanation for the first mode which is similarly named. The difference is that Single Point AF has a slightly larger area of focus. So where the above mode (SPOT point AF) can produce pin-sharp results, it can be very hard to maintain focus between pressing the shutter half-way and all the way. Use this Single Point mode if you want to manually select your focus point but have a bit of an easier time achieving it. See the first mode explained above to see how Single Point AF mode is useful. Please note that focus points can be changed mid-shooting. See the end of this post for how to do that.

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The third mode is called ‘Manual Selec: AF point Expansion’. Manual AF point expansion is such a useful mode. It allows you to manually choose any one AF point to be the primary focus, but also makes additional surrounding points active, useful for sports photography and other moving subjects. This means that you can focus on the middle of a portrait subject’s face while also knowing that the area around is also focused. In this mode, you do still need to use the wheels to choose where the points of focus will be placed.

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The fourth mode is called ‘Manual Select: Zone Auto Focus‘: This Zone AF mode is only available on the 7D. It allows you to select a cluster of focus points (middle, left, right, upper, lower). This is a great option for most types of photography and is great for a beginner who is concerned about poorly focusing an important shot.

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The fifth and last option is called ‘Auto Select: 19 point AF’. This is the mode used by the camera when in full auto, although as we see here, it’s also available to us when shooting in manual. This allows the camera to use any of the available 19 focus points to focus on what IT thinks is the subject you’re photographing. This can be tricky for more creative photographers and I wouldn’t recommend using it if you want to have total control over your images.

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{Some stuff I think you should know}

I so so with that everyone reading this shot with a 7D like me. I hate that I’m sharing information that might not be exactly the same for every reader. But if you know your settings and your camera’s inner brain pretty well, you should be able to find most of the options I’ve spoken about within your camera’s settings menus.

So here are a few cool things I’ve discovered about focus points and my 7D.

Changing your focus points while shooting

While you are shooting through the viewfinder, you can move the focus points you’re using without going into the menu. You very simply press this button and then move the focus point around with your turning wheels. Easy!

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Checking your focus after you take the shot

In the main menus, there’s an option to display a red square on the main point of focus when viewing your images on your camera’s screen. This way, I can take a shot and quickly look down to be sure that the focus is where I wanted it. You can access this by selecting menu –> navigate to the second blue icon —> AF point display –> enable. Again, this makes a red square display at the main point(s) of focus when viewing the image on the camera’s screen.

Please use the comments below to ask any questions on this topic and I hope this has been helpful!

Some more really massively helpful information on this topic:

• All about The Canon AF system from the Canon education website
• A great video I found on YouTube showing you all about the 7D

How do the clouds alter the quality of the light?

Diffusion. The light rays from the sun travel relatively parallel creating a highly directional beam of light. When the sunlight enters the clouds, the light rays pass through the cloud molecules scattering the light in various directions. The resulting sunlight is transformed into a mile wide source that was once, perspectively, a 3 inch spot in the sky.

Fog, smoke , and haze are other types of natural diffusers that will scatter the light and work great within the image frame too, they can add an interesting mood or effect to a photograph. The only problem is these beauties are almost impossible to control.

A soft box uses a diffusion material to soften the light

So, when you want a diffuser you can control, any kind of transparent or translucent material will work. Fabric, like silk, linen, nylon, and muslin are great. You can also use glass, plastics, your bed sheet, or even your shower curtain. If you want professional gear, manufacturers like Rosco or Lee make dozens of grades of diffusion gels and you can get it by the sheet or the roll at your favorite photo store or website.

The size of your diffused light depends on how much light is illuminating your diffusion material and the size of the material itself. If you have a light that is 6 inches in diameter and it ‘fills up’ 20 inches of material with light, you now have a 20 inch light source. Pretty simple, right? Keep in mind, If you are using a large piece of diffusion, you may need multiple lights to illuminate all of the material.

The quality of the light depends on the thickness and density of the material. The denser the material, the softer the light will become.  Also, the light will appear to be dimmer because the light’s intensity is spread more evenly across the diffusion material instead of being a concentrated spot.

Warning! Be aware to keep the shower curtains and sheets far enough away from those  HOT lights or you’ll end up with a very large orange light source. The professional quality diffusion gels are made to be heat resistant, but NOT proof. Just use your brain on that stuff.

A diffusion gel attached to the barn doors of a light with a commonly used clothespin (aka C47's).

My final comment, no matter how stupid it looks, don’t be afraid to use any kind of diffusion you can get your hands on to get that perfect effect that you want from the light. I’ve even used food storage containers…empty of course.

That’s it for today, thank you for reading and join me on every Techie Tuesday. Please leave any comments or questions.

Peter

Peter Pechacek is a photographer and filmmaker in Orlando, Florida. He contributes weekly on Techie Tuesday.

• In addition to the cute traditional hand-bag style handles, there’s a strap so I can throw it over my shoulder
• The zipper is super chunky, super strong. I’m sot worried that it’ll bust while packed to the brim with my most valuable possessions
• It’s adorable (clearly!)
• The inner compartment separators are adjustable depending on what you want to pack in it and allows you to section everything off.
• When all my camera gear isn’t needed, I can just pack the little things I need and take this unassuming bag with me rather than my huge, often pretentious looking ‘professional’ rolling case.

There are a couple things I wish were different:

• I wish that the velcro for the compartment separators was stronger and stopped things from slipping underneath them into another compartment (like sneaky little batteries)
• I wish the outside decoration that stretches from side to side (the bit with the flower) was sown at the bottom so it could be a pocket.

{Conclusion?}

Of the many camera bags for women, I loved the look of this one the most. Everyone is surprised that it’s my camera bag and I can do my super hard job and still feel like a woman. The value for money is outstanding. It was so much more affordable than I thought it would be (in comparison to others). And if you’re in the UK like me, the exchange rate makes it even cheaper! But just know that you’ll have a customs charge for about £20 before Parcelforce will complete the delivery to you (because of the value of the item). Check out the Jo Totes website to find your perfect camera bag!

making the most out of the 18-55mm lens

Today’s question(s) really need to be broken down because there are many questions encompassing the one topic so here goes!

I’m curious about the investments required and the timeline to make those investments, in order to build and improve my photography, whether for business or even just for pleasure. For example, I just got the MOST BASIC DSLR (Canon XS Rebel).

Oh that’s a great camera! Seriously, the best wedding I ever did was on that camera. There are many advantages to having a more advanced body (I use a 7D) but really and truly, it’s the glass that makes the biggest difference. And the know-how to use your camera to the best of your ability.

I have the kit lens (18-55), a zoom lens (75-300) and I bought the 50mm 1.8 prime. I also bought 2 filters. I have a tripod and a monopod.

The kit lens is ok but I found that lens in particular has faults especially extreme barrel distortion when used at 18mm. The 75-300 is the lens that every newbie buys when they want to go telephoto. I did it too :) I think it’s the illusion that we can actually use it at 300mm that is the biggest selling point (that and the very low price of ones like Sigma). I was immensely disappointed with this lens because I shoot primarily kids & families and you can’t really use this lens at 300mm well. No matter what, there were problems with this lens and the very high min aperture you can achieve with this lens limits you to using it outside only. Then when I wanted to go prime and try 50mm, I bought the 1.8 too! The focusing was noisy and slow and I just generally hated it. Then I made another mistake. I invested in a collection of primes (24mm, 85mm, 50mm) and found myself chasing kids around while weighed down with a satchel of lenses and missing shots because I was fiddling with them. The only zoom I had was the kit 18-200mm which I found way better quality than that other popular kit lens the 18-55. But still, the low light possibilities were extremely limited.

Then, I discovered the L series lenses which are the creme de la creme of Canon lenses and the reasons are obvious. The quality when you jump from regular lenses to L series is instantly noticeable and I would never ever go back. I sold my primes (not my 50mm 1.4) and bought an L series 24-105mm and I haven’t taken it off my camera since. It’s pin sharp (seriously…still can’t believe the clarity and sharpness) very fast at chasing kids around and it has a beautiful IS system to stabilise the image when your hand isn’t so still. The low(ish) f/4.0 aperture means I can shoot indoors pretty well (the IS means you can lower your shutter speed by two levels lower than you would normally be using without experiencing problems so the not-so-amazing f/4.0 is ok).

In short? If I had it to do over, I would avoid all those primes and experimenting with cheapies and have bought the L series straight off the bat. I would have saved so much money. That said, I have learned SO MUCH about lenses, focal length and my personal preferences through my journey and now I’m here telling you. So it was win-win!

But what about external flashes? And remote triggers? And an external hard drive for my images? and reflector disks? And, obviously, more lenses? Specialty lenses (like fisheye)? Ultra wide angle?

Personally, I think at least a mid-range external flash (like a Speedlite 430ex) is essential. You’ll need light at times and pop-up flash is a huge HUGE no no in my books. Remote triggers are great for slow speed landscapes and times when you don’t want to touch & shake your camera. I’ve never found any use for them whatsoever. External hard drive or any other way of storing your images in a second location is essential if you don’t want to lose them. And they’re pretty cheap these days. I have a portable 320gb LaCie and a permanently attached 1tb LaCie hard drive. It gives you peace of mind so you can sleep at night. Alternatively, you can just back up to disks now and then or use an online back-up program but both these options end up costing a lot and taking loads of time. Reflectors? Love them but never actually use them. You need someone to hold it and then they move and just frustrate me. I just work with the light and if I wish there had been a bit more fill light in an area, I usually just Photoshop it in using MCP’s free Touch of Light action. Specialty lenses? I would buy one if I found I needed it. And if it’s for a one-off occasion, you can rent one! In the UK, I would use Lenses for Hire to hire online.

If I were you, I would stick with your camera body, invest in a versatile L series lens and just run run run on in your skill. I’m starting to actually disdain the epic and ongoing fight for bigger and better equipment. I just want to be a great photographer. I feel that I have the equipment I need now and I’m at peace with that.

When you hear or read the terms hard/soft light, people are referring to the quality of the light, more specifically not the light itself, but the shadows. A soft light is a light that appears to “wrap” around your subject, feathering or smoothing the transition from light to shadow. A hard light of course is the opposite effect, it will create a more abrupt, sharper transition between light and shadow.

The two main factors that determine the softness of light are:

• Size of the light source. The larger the light in relation to the subject, the softer the light , or the more it “wraps” around the contours of the subject.
• Distance of the light source. The closer the light is to the subject, the softer the light to shadow transition.

Why does the quality of light matter?

Lighting in general effects the mood of a photo. Shadows typically are used to hide things, whether it be an ugly background or maybe you are trying to say something by shadowing the eyes of a face. Shadows also create depth and generally make the photo more interesting. Knowing about and controlling the quality of the light is another tool for your artistic expression.

A small light source, harder edge separating light from shadow. higher contrast and more detial

A large light source, softer edge separating light from shadow, lower contrast and less detail

Now, all light is actually hard and soft.  Whaaaat? It’s because every light based on the two factors from above can create both softer or harder shadows. Try this at home, an ordinary light bulb is smaller than a human face, place the light at a 90 degree angle, examine how the shadows appear when the light is at different distances while maintaining the same angle. This will work best if you’re in a pitch black room and your light bulb as your only light source.

Another example is the sun, it’s over 100 times the diameter of the earth, so you would think it’s a soft light source. Well, being that it’s 93 million miles away, it actually becomes a small light source, producing hard, well defined shadows on clear days.

When the clouds roll in and cover the sunlight, you will notice that the light is more evenly distributed. There is little or no shadows and you have low contrast images.

How do the clouds alter the quality of the light?

Well, you will have to wait ’til next week when I explain about controlling the light. So until then, start paying attention to the light inside and out.

Thank you for reading and feel free to leave any comments or questions.

Peter

Peter Pechacek is a photographer and filmmaker in Orlando, Florida. He will be contributing weekly on Techie Tuesday.

If you failed to manage expectations in a portrait session (the client was hoping for full body action and you produced tight head shots) you can always offer a do-over. You can NOT do a wedding over.

Managing expectations starts before you ever even know your client exists. It begins with your website. If you shoot the majority of you weddings in B&W, don’t show all colour images on your site and vice versa. If you hate selective colour but kindly produced a couple of s.c. images for a client, don’t put them on your website. Put your packages and prices clearly on your site. This way when it comes to the point of the face-to-face where you have to state your prices, they are already familiar with what you offer. And this prevents waste-of-time meetings with a couple who hoped beyond hope that you only charged £300 for those 500 breathtaking pieces of art.

Then, when I get a wedding inquiry, we first speak on the phone. I ask questions like:

• “Tell me about your wedding”
• “Have you been looking at any wedding photography online or in magazines?” (If so, ask them to have these images ready for your meeting)
• “Are you meeting any other photographers?” (if so, this can be a good thing. If you are competitively priced and confident, you should have no problem securing the gig. Even better if they mention the names of the photographers they’re considering because then you can research your competition)
• I make sure they’ve seen my website. If they were referred by a friend and haven’t even looked at my work or my prices, I encourage them to do so.

That’s it. I don’t inundate them with spur of the moment questions. I just want to gather a little info to help me prepare and let them know that I am interested in the details of their day. Then I set up a meeting and I always go to them. Seeing their home is an important part of getting a sense for the people you’re working with.

At the face-to-face, I always accept a drink if offered. Then I start by asking again: “Tell me about your wedding.” I ask them how they met, how long they’ve been together. You know, all those questions a girl wants to know. After about 15 minutes of chatting, there usually comes a point where you get down to business. I show them my end result samples: ‘The Love Story’ (coffee table book), the reception book (a possible result of an engagement shoot), the digital images case. All of these items are shown in their boxes complete with tissue and ribbons. I let them look together, handle them, open and close the boxes.

Now, I weave my expectations into the different portions of this meeting. I don’t just reel off a list. So while they’re looking at my sample book, which is the product of my best wedding to date, I stop them at certain images and tell them why I think it was so amazing. Exe: “this couple was so natural. I didn’t have to tell them to do anything – I just stood back and caught all this”. I also explain that The Love Story tells the story of their day. It is NOT a way of cramming every single photo into one book and I don’t typically choose family group portraits for the book. I tell them that ideally, I will use the best 50 shots to tell the story of their day but if they would like, they may choose the option of choosing their own 50 shot for me to use. I learned this the hard way when a couple (whose expectations I hadn’t managed well) hated the book. And silly me, I actually had it printed and delivered without them ever seeing it (what was I thinking?!) That’s when a friend directed me to Album Exposure which is an amazing website you use to show a couple their album pages digitally. They can make comments on pages and click ‘submit’ to send you a re-edit request (I allow my couples two re-edits to tweak their pages).

I then show them, on my laptop, what the proofing gallery looks like, what the album gallery looks like and I also show them my most recent wedding. This is a key point. I use my most recent wedding to show them the proofing gallery because included in this gallery are the normal shots of the day. When they look at the book, they’re not only seeing your best wedding, but they’re seeing the best photos from your best wedding. This can be a huge fail in the world of managing client expectations. They might not realise that every single last one of their photos aren’t going to be a masterpiece worthy of ‘the book’. I always make sure to stress that in addition to these artsy photographs, I will take ‘normal pictures’ to document their day and every last detail.

I also explain their role and responsibility in producing excellent wedding photographs. I don’t always say these things, many are included in my extremely detailed contract. But sometimes they come up. I say that the speech photos likely won’t turn out well if they place the head table directly against a gigantic open window. I explain that conditions have to be right for good photos and you will use all the tricks up your sleeve to be prepared to shoot in any conditions. Having a dimly lit chapel is one thing. Taking photos of the first dance is another. And you don’t want them disappointed when the cake cutting shot doesn’t take the cake because it was taken under a disco ball in a pitch black dance hall.

I explain very plainly what happens with my services and when:

• To book your date, there is a 50% non refundable deposit. The other 50% is due no later than two weeks before your wedding date.
• When I receive your deposit, we will schedule the engagement shoot
• I will cover your wedding
• Within one week, you will be sent an online gallery of your photos. You may then choose between myself creating your wedding book to tell the story of your day or yourself choosing 50 of your favorite shots to be included in your book.
• Within a week of receiving your book choices, I will send you an online book gallery for you to view. You may make notes on the pages for me to see when I login and I can make changes accordingly. You are allowed two re-edits to get it the way you want it.
• Within three week of signing off on your book, your book should be delivered, unless there is an issue with the printing company.

I end the meeting with any more of their questions and tell them about my contract. I tell them that if they choose to hire me, I will email them their contract which they send back with their deposit. And then I say “So that’s it! Take some time to think about it, feel free to get in touch with more questions and I hope to hear from you soon!” If I don’t hear from them within 48 hours, I shoot them a ‘it was great to meet you’ email and see if they thought of any other questions after I left.

I’ve never met a couple who didn’t hire me. And on my path to learning all of these things, I’ve had some very lovely and patient couples. Managing their expectations and making sure that they know and understand every last thing about the way you work (and then signing a contract acknowledging that they’ve heard you say these things) is the most important thing you can do to set yourself up for a totally rockin’ wedding.

Lightroom – One Willow’s Fairytale actions set. I used the action called ‘lavender sky’

Photoshop – Totally Rad action set ‘The Revenge’. I used ‘clareify’ and ‘select-o-sharp’ to paint on sharpness. I used ‘select-o-pop’ to juice up the grass a little

{CLICK HERE} for the video tutorial

EVERYONE KEEP THOSE SHOTS COMIN. SEND YOUR PHOTOS TO EH@ELIZABETHHALFORD.COM

If your photo has been featured on Reader Photo Friday and you would like to purchase digital copies for printing yourself, please get in touch. Digital files are only $25 each and 100% of these monies goes to Compassion International to help us edit out poverty for our little guy Victor.

Q. “Referencing the four-light set up, do you have to sync them (strobes) with your camera, or is it an always on source of light, that you don’t have to worry about? When I look at the pictures of strobes, all those buttons are the back, seem a little intimidating.”

A. Oh firing those babies is dead simple. To the top of your camera, you attach a radio trigger. Then you attach the other radio trigger to one of the nearest lights. Because the speed of light is split-second fast, when the one light you triggered goes off, it triggers all the other lights to fire immediately. This is called ‘slave’ and it happens because the strobes have little light receptors on them for that purpose. Any strong flash can trigger the strobes to flash. Another way you could fire them (I would only fall back on this if something happened to my radio trigger) is to attach the Speedlite to the top of my camera and make sure it’s pointing directly at my nearest strobe. The flash should trigger that strobe which will then trigger all the others.

Sometimes, you have to trouble shoot why the lights aren’t flashing. And often, it can be something like you have them set up so that the light receptor (slave thingy) is facing away from the other lights.

The outside ring is the flash and the inside bulb is the modeling lamp

As far as there always being a ‘source of light you don’t have to worry about’, yes, these lights have ‘modeling lamps’ which are continuous light source. You can choose to have them on or off. I have them on because 1.) you can see where the light is falling which will help you set them up and 2.) having a continuous light source for portraits is important for the eyes to look the most flattering because then the pupils stay small which is the most flattering.

The most costly part of having these lights is the cost of the modeling lamps. Those bulbs cost about £20 each and they fail me often. This is probably due to the fact that my set-up is mobile and I often pack away while the lights are still hot.

Now as for the buttons and dials on the strobes. The back of the unit looks like this:

I hope that’s everything you wanted to know. Everyone please feel free to post further questions on this topic in the comments section below.

Thanks for your questions everyone and keep ‘em coming to eh@elizabethhalford.com.

Q. After trying PS Elements and not really loving it, not even a little bit, I have been trying Lightroom as per your suggestion to another reader last week (or was it the week before) when asking about what editing program to use. I am still learning tons, but I have a few questions:

Can I download actions in Lightroom (I guess they are called Presets) the way they can be downloaded into Photoshop?

A. No. Presets for LR are a totally different file type than PS. And MUCH easier to install. You can download some free ones here to try out you just install them easily from within LR (no need to go searching for the folders in your hard drive) like this:

Q. Is there a way to select just one area to work on like, highlighting the eyes or sparkling up the water or making one element look more vibrant?

A. Yes it’s called the adjustment brush. There’s a tutorial of me using it here.

Q. Is Lightroom intended to be an editing program that can stand alone or is it intended to be used in conjunction with Photoshop? It looks as though it has many awesome elements, but not even close to the number of possibilities of Photoshop.

A. Lightroom is a deeply layered program. You have to take time to get to know it – there are soooo many more possibilities than meets the eye. I read some excellent posts on DPS that helped me discover just how stand-alone Lightroom actually is. They are:

• 10 Objects you Didn’t Know could be Dragged, Clicked or Opened in Lightroom
• 8 Steps to Crafting Images in Lightroom

The best way to use this blog as well as sites like DPS as a storehouse for information you’re after is to use the search bar. Both our sites have a search bar where you can type any keywords you’re after. Type ‘lightroom’ in my search bar and you can see everything I’ve ever posted about LR. Alternatively, you can just browse the categories in my menu bar.

Thanks for your questions everyone and keep ‘em coming to eh@elizabethhalford.com.