Understanding Aperture

There are three key components of the “exposure triangle”, Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed, and today we will be talking about Aperture.

An easy way to think of the Aperture of your lens is to think in terms of the human eye. Since your camera’s sensor “sees” things much as your eye does and then records those images in a physical form, we can think of Aperture the same way.

Every lens is made of a a group of glass elements and also a group of Aperture blades. The blades are what limits the amount of light passing into the lens and onto your sensor. These mechanical blades work the same way your pupil works, when in a low light situation, your pupils open up larger to allow more light in so that you can see better and when you are out in bright sunlight, they shrink down to tiny dots to reduce the amount of light coming in.

My Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 USM wide open at F/1.4

Aperture blades do the exact same thing, only mechanically and you control them. So a wide Aperture lens like my Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 USM when set at 1.4 is wide open, like your pupil is in low light and I can shoot better indoors at say a concert.

When I am shooting outdoors in sunlight, I will generally set my Aperture to say F/5.6 to F/8 and the blade will reduce the size of the hole in the center of my lens allowing less light into my sensor like the image below of the Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 II. The process of engaging the blades in your lens is known as stopping down as you are reducing the amount of light getting through the lens to your sensor.

Stock image of Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 II with the blades closed all the way

 Aperture is measured in stops and you will see it marked on your lens in the following values. Let’s say you have a standard kit lens of 18-55mm. That lens generally has an Aperture of F/3.5-F/5.6, which means at 18mm it can open as wide as F/3.5 but at 55mm it can only open to a width of F/5.6.

If you are looking at the popular 70-200mm lenses, they generally come in two varieties, F/2.8 and F/4. The F/2.8 model will allow more light, in this case one stop more, than it’s F/4 counterpart.

Aperture also directly impacts your Depth of Field in your images, especially in longer focal length lenses. We all strive to achieve that creamy background blur and bokeh, and using a low Aperture with a longer focal length lens is how that is accomplished. This is one of the reasons wedding photographers will generally shoot with the 135mm F/2 or the 70-200mm F/2.8 lenses. How your bokeh looks in your images depends on how many blades your lens has. A five blade lens will not be able to make perfect circles, but then again, some people like their bokeh to be more angular, where I prefer mine to be as close to perfectly rounds balls of light. When shooting landscapes, by stepping down the Aperture, you can keep more of the scene in focus and get that beautiful wide shot where everything looks fantastic!

Notice the creamy Bokeh in this shot I took in Monroe, Ga.

 Another thing to keep in mind is that every lens has a “Sweet Spot”, which means the Aperture at which the lens shoots at it’s sharpest. You will need to test your lenses for yourself to find that “Sweet Spot” area, but on most lenses, it’s the area between F/5.6 and F/9.

Janice Mcgregor shot this one with the Canon EF 28-135mm check out that blurry background!

 Understanding Aperture is crucial to become a successful photographer and once you master this aspect of your lenses you will becomes more skilled and intuitive at fine tuning your photography.



Comments/Questions

Removing "Noise" with Lightroom

One of the biggest advantages of digital cameras or DSLR’s over their film counterparts is the ability to switch ISO settings on the fly. ISO is the amount of light that you let into the camera’s sensor and in the days of film cameras this was accomplished with film speed, sometimes called ASA instead of ISO.

So if you wanted to shoot outdoors, you would load a roll of ISO or ASA 100 or 200 and be good to go, but if you then moved into a dimly lit building and wanted to shoot, you needed either a flash on that camera or you needed to have used up that roll of 100 or 200 film and switch to 400 or 800 to shoot well in those conditions.

With the advent of the digital camera, you can shoot outdoors at ISO 100, and then step indoors and with the flip of a switch or wheel, shoot at ISO 800 or even higher like 6400 or maybe even 12,800. The problem is as your ISO gets higher, you get digital “noise” in your photos. Noise is the little dots, speckles or grain look in your image that I am sure most everyone has seen at one time or another.

See the grains of noise in this image. I shot indoors at ISO 2000

 Some cameras are better at others at handling high ISO, low noise, but at some point even the best of these cameras will end up with noise in your images and it can make the image ugly and unusable. Luckily, Lightroom can help mitigate this for you and make this image useable again.

When you load your images in Lightroom and come across an image that has noise, this is how you can clean it up in the Lightroom Develop Module. The two big noise removal sliders are under the Detail section and called Luminance and Color.

After some Luminance and Color noise reduction notice the image is much cleaner

Here is what each does. Luminance: This kind of noise affects the brightness, but not the color, of individual pixels. If you had a picture of a dark grey piece of paper with a great deal of luminance noise it would appear similar to old-school television static with lots of light and dark fuzz.

Color or sometimes called Chroma noise: This shows up as oddly-colored pixels, scattered throughout an image, almost like someone has tossed a handful of red, blue, and green grains of sand at it. Lightroom calls this “Color” noise, but it’s just another term for Chroma noise.
Now, although you can remove considerable noise with Lightroom, you want to make sure you are careful not to use too much noise reduction as it can make the images look fake and give everything a plastic look. A lot of pros will counter some of the effects of the noise reduction by using some sharpening as well for the best results.

A side by side of the before on the left and after on the right.

 As you can see in my side by side before and after shot, the Lightroom noise reduction did help clean up this image a lot.

Comments/Questions

Neutral-Density Filters

One of the most important filters you can buy for your camera is called a Neutral-Density filter or ND for short. The purpose of an ND filter is it allows you to shoot long exposures during daytime.

Why would you want to shoot a long exposure during the day? Well, long exposure during the day is how you make an image of say a waterfall look really cool, because you can make the water look as smooth as silk. You can also make clouds look “stretchy” in the sky, which can really make for beautiful images.

Long exposure of a waterfall, look at that silky water

How does an ND filter work? Well, can ND filter contains darkened glass, which reduces the amount of light getting into your camera. I personally have a Tiffen variable ND filter that can reduce the light into my camera by 2-10 stops. This is a significant amount of light blocking capability, and as a result, I can shoot long exposures in brighter light.

ND filters come in dandy when you want to shoot sunrise and sunset shots as well because sometimes during those parts of the day, the light in the sky can be too bright. Now I am sure you are thinking, “Why wouldn’t I just use my lenses narrowest aperture setting like F/20 or F/32, etc?” Well, you can somewhat accomplish this using aperture, but what if the light is too bright and you want a shallow depth of field, then an ND filter becomes very handy to have.

Talmadge Memorial Bridge in Savannah, GA taken with ND Filter

In addition to making a waterfall look silky, you can also use an ND filter to shoot say a lake, because with a body of water like this, you can make water that is rippling look smooth as glass by shooting with an ND filter and long exposure.

When buying an ND filter, don’t go on the super cheap side as those ND filters are usually of cheap construction an they can also cause color casting, etc. On the other hand, you don’t need to buy a $300 ND filter either. I personally bought my Tiffen on Amazon and it was around $90, and I have been very happy with it. If you want to experiment with a new style of photography, get an ND filter and then get out there and have some fun!

Comments/Questions

Feeding Time

Greetings fellow shooters! Tuesday Ambassador Stanley here introducing you to another Tuesday. As you all know I have departed my classes of Studio Photography and Marketing and I am currently pursuing Editorial Photography and Portraiture I. Let’s just say everything looks overwhelming right off the bat. Though, I think with solid time management I may be able to pull these two classes through. We will see.

Enough of that though as I have a little treat for you all to enjoy as my weekend was spent camping at a nearby lake. Many shots were taken that weekend but not as much as I had wanted, however, pleased none-the-less. I started with a time lapse of the night sky framed with branches and leaves waving in the foreground while the next day was filled with capturing shots of various birds, ducks, landscapes and anything that caught my eyes. Later that day was filled with more of the previously mentioned captures but instead of on land, I took into the waters.

Shooting while on water was a total transformation for me than it is shooting on land due to the fact that water is basically like a reflector when shooting birds that are just a few feet above the water. Since I am slowly starting to become known with my photo of the seagull getting splashed by the ocean, I decided to capture these wonderful creatures one last time before I would become fully devoted to the classes I am in now. I will admit, I was feeding them a ton of crackers while riding in the boat, but at least they are not feeding on plastics and such to try and stay alive. Better that they feed on stale crackers than to let it go to waste. The crackers were meant for the ducks but as I saw one seagull going in for a pick, another soon followed suite. I swear they come out of nowhere!

In turn these are the photos that came out to be and I feel that the timing I get when they are momentarily suspended in mid-air is peaceful and an art form in its own. All I can see is an art form with the way the light is cast upon each seagull thanks to the low setting of the sun and the hills and seagulls to slightly impede it. Oh do these birds move which ever way they can to get to their targets. =)

These guys as well as other birds, if I happen to run across them, are something that will never leave my sight. I just hope many of you do not lose sight of them either. And can anyone tell me how difficult it is throwing the crackers, stopping flying trash, snapping the photos while on the back of your mind you are hoping that you will not get pooped on? O.O And as always, thanks for reading.

- Tues. Amb. Stanley

I will leave you with this cute, big eyed bird that I have been trying to capture for several months after seeing this guy blurred out in several of my photos focused on different birds. Unfortunately I am unaware of its name and I hope I find out soon. Until next week.

It's All About Light

Saturday Ambassador

Photography, literally, light writing, is all about light...or lack thereof. Logically, we know this; but what does it mean to you, as a photographer? Obviously, you require at least a modicum of light to capture an image, and you should, of course, ensure that your photographs are properly exposed. However, there is more involved in the process than just the technical aspects; there is also the creative approach to using light.

Sierra Nevada Mountains, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, HDR Composite

 

There are times when hauling around a lot of heavy, bulky equipment seems a chore...and the wind is blowing...and there are no outlets...and so forth. Consider this, however: A bland scene or portrait without the light which defines its character or conveys the proper mood is not likely to impress anyone.

So, what can you do if fabulous natural lighting fails to fall precisely where you need it? Why, you create it, of course! Do not fear to experiment with light, for it is the heart of every great image you will ever produce. It matters not what style you employ or the genre you prefer; light – and how you use it – is paramount to your success as a photographer.

Here are some options for achieving great light:

 

      When the dynamic range (between the deepest shadows and brightest highlights) is vast, try an HDR composite. This involves creating three or more exposures of the same scene, exposing for the highlights, the mid-tones and the shadows. In Photoshop, you can compile them by selecting file > automate > merge to HDR Pro. HDR processing requires some practice, a delicate hand and the discernment to know when it is appropriate. The results can be exceptional, as everything throughout the image is represented with proper exposure and a tremendous amount of detail.

 

      Another option is to create fill with a hand-held flash unit or reflector. When shadows obscure some important detail within a scene, that is both close enough and small enough to be lit in this fashion, fill light can reveal the detail while maintaining the dimensionality imparted by shadows.

 

Lake Powell, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, Digital photograph with fill flash

 

      Light with intent. Employ your strobes, tungsten lights, ambient light, et cetera to create an image with drama or motion, mood or balance.
 

 DVD Spectrum-38, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2011, Digital photograph with continuous lighting

Photography is a perpetual quest for exquisite light. Pursue it with vigor!

~Saturday Ambassador

 

I had just started a photography class, which is always great, but unfortunately I had a problem with my DSLR just when I needed it for my first shooting assignment. Perfect.

Keith Kelley, 2013

I emailed my instructor and explained the situation. She responded saying it would be better to complete the assignment with a point and shoot, rather than to lose the points.

With this answer, I felt fairly confident I could fulfill the assignment requirements with my iPhone. After all, I use it all the time.

Keith Kelley, 2013

Armed with a camera app called Camera+ (a truly invaluable app), my iPhone and I set out to complete our biggest quest yet: don't look like an idiot on the first photo shoot of the class.

I shot a ton of pictures and had a blast, taking time for each shot to compose and correctly expose the scene. I've learned that when you have limited settings, focus on composition and lighting.

After posting, there’s the wait; waiting for that ever so haunting, yet wonderful and revealing critique. Just about a quarter after eternity, there it was. And I read something quite unexpected from my instructor.

                                                             

She said that if I hadn't told her the shots were from an iPhone, she would not have known.

This made me wonder, just how much can be done with small or cheap cameras?

Keith Kelley, 2013

So, get to know composition, make friends with light, don’t rush the fundamentals; and you will find yourself able to take great shots with just about anything.

Maybe even this thing...

Have fun this weekend guys,

-Friday

Don't Forget Why You Love Photography

Saturday Ambassador

 

What draws you to the art of photography? Is it the medium, the technical aspects, the legacy of a mentor or, simply, wonderful light? Or, is it something else? Consider this for a moment...

It has been said that once the thing you love becomes work, it is no longer fun. Assignments, projects and shoots for which you have been contracted can certainly generate stress from tight deadlines, uncooperative team members or demanding clients, not to mention the post-processing time required. These things are an inevitable part of conducting business.

However, don't lose sight of what you love about photography; the things that inspire you to create will always be there. If nature is your passion, for example, and your project involves something else, perhaps you might find a way to incorporate nature into the images. Emulate the work of photographers that you admire, as well, and experiment often. Be open to inspiration when it strikes. Utilize the available light, and enhance it with your own:

~Saturday Ambassador

  

Photographing Nature

Saturday Ambassador

Most photographers develop a preference with regard to genre, style and subject matter which defines their professional existence. However, many choose to experiment in other realms for personal enjoyment, as well. Such explorations can be very educational, as a photographer can assimilate a host of new techniques and approaches into their repertoire. This can engender innovation and inspiration, as well as honing existing skills.

Nature is all around us, even in an urban environment, and is often a good place to start.  You might take a trip to an interesting location, visit the local botanical gardens or zoo, go to a park in your area or spend some time in your own garden. Flowers, rocks, water, storms, sunsets, clouds and insects can contribute to some exquisite natural imagery.

               Summer Storm over Antelope Island, Lake Powell, Utah, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, panoramic composite

 

Photographing nature is an exceptional way to learn to mix artificial light with natural light, capture subjects in motion, expose for a broad dynamic range and develop the patience and eye for detail that are fundamental aspects of the art.

Here are a few suggestions for producing great photographs of the natural world:

§  Perspective: Humans most often view the world from a standing position and, subsequently, look down at things such as flowers and small animals. Consider shooting subjects like these from their level or from below for a unique look.

 

§  Composition: When you are attracted to a scene, you probably stop to photograph it. Don't move on too quickly, however, as your first impression may not be the only or even the most interesting composition. Walk around your subject and study it from various angles. When framing the shot, consider angles (diagonals can add depth to an image), direction of light/shadows, background/foreground, distracting elements, et cetera.

 

§  Lens choice: Selecting the lens best suited to your subject will naturally produce the best images. Consider how close you should be to your subject and how much of the back- and foreground you intend to include and decide accordingly.

 

§  Depth of field: Landscapes often benefit from a narrow aperture, such as f/16. However, a wide aperture like f/4 or lower can separate a subject from the background nicely by creating a background blur.

 

§  Light: As photographers, we are generally attracted to exceptional natural light and endeavor to use it to our advantage. Great subjects do not always reside within that fabulous light, however, or may benefit from the addition of supplementary artificial light. Electronic flash or a reflector can often accentuate a subject or provide fill light where required. Get your flash off the camera by attaching a synch cord or using a flash trigger. The unit can then be held (or mounted atop a light stand) away from the lens axis to light the scene in an attractive manner.

 

§  Details: Don't forget the details! Often, texture or pattern, a reflection or some minute component of the subject may be of interest in itself. It is worth exploring these additional aspects of the subject matter for the artistic potential they hold.

 

             Exquisite Sandstone Formation, Lake Powell, Utah, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, digital photograph

~Saturday Ambassador