Here is an excellent youtube video tutorial on DSLR camera shutters and flash sync speed. This tutorial explains the basic operation of camera shutters and how they relate to flash sync speed. It also teaches how to gain control of ambient light in outdoor portrait flash photography using a technique called key shifting. This is very helpful to both beginners and advanced photographers alike!
‘Photography Tips’ Category
Understanding Flash Sync Speed and Camera Shutters
November 11, 2009Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta, A Brief Personal Review
November 1, 2009
Photo: 34th Street, NYC. File processed using Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta
I am convinced that the fastest advances being made today in digital photography technology is not in the sensors that record light in digital cameras, but rather, the software that renders the resulting images. With each new generation of image processing software, I see improvements in the images created even by older DSLR camera RAW files. The beta version of Adobe Lightroom 3 is an example of such progress. It uses a new processing engine (simply known as Process Version 2 in the Settings menu) that offers refinements in rendering image detail and color when compared to Lightroom 2. This refinement is not easily seen when viewing images on the web (web browser resolution is too low), but is discernable when viewing RAW images and the processed tiff or jpeg photos at 100% size on screen. This is a refinement best used and seen when making large prints where every bit of detail is needed.
I always enjoyed Lightroom for the depth of tools it provided for editing RAW images. This beta release makes it equal to Capture One 4 in the pixel level quality of the final image. I tested Lightroom 3 Beta with files from my Nikon D60, and older RAW images from a variety of older cameras I’ve owned in the past. I could see the improvements in pixel level detail quite easily.
Rather than upgrade your camera, it may be an even better bargain to shoot RAW and upgrade your image editing software! The movie embedded below provides a nice introduction to the enhancements in Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta.
How To: Night Photography With DSLR Cameras
October 31, 2009
Photo: Papago Park, Phoenix, Arizona Sunset in Blue
One of the most dramatic forms of photography is night photography. City streets look great at night when they are lit up, and are usually their most colorful. Sunsets create brilliant colors that make a great subject for night photography. You can create beautiful low-light night photos with the basic DSLR camera and kit lens that you’ve purchased. All DSLR’s camera have the essentials needed for good night photography. Here are a few basic tips that will have you creating exciting photos at night in no time.
1. The first requirement is to use a tripod. Generally this is required if your low-light photos are to be sharp and blur-free. Some recent camera models have a Vibration Reduction or Shake Reduction feature built into the camera or lens, which is designed to give you sharp photos at lower shutter speeds. However, the best way to insure that you obtain the sharpest low light photos is to use a tripod. You can usually find a sturdy model that fits your budget.
2. Secondly, use your camera’s Aperture Mode setting, and set your camera to F:8 aperture. By setting the aperture, you allow the camera to select any shutter speed it requires for the proper exposure. F:8 aperture will insure that the entire photos will be sharp focus, with good depth of field.
3. Use a cable release, remote shutter control, or the camera’s self timer to activate the shutter. This eliminates any chance of blur causing vibration caused by manually clicking the shutter with your hand.
4. The best night time photos are captured in near darkness, when there is still a bit of color in the sky. The hour before, during and just after sunset can be great times to shoot.
5. Compose your photo and shoot using the technique above. Review you image on your camera’s LCD screen. Do you like the image captured? If it is too dark, use the exposure compensation feature to adjust the exposure for a faster shutter speed. If the photo is too light, use the exposure compensation feature to adjust the exposure for a slower shutter speed. Generally most DSLR camera may need some exposure compensation so that the photo captured suits your taste for just the right exposure.
What Is Exposure Compensation?
Camera meters are not perfect. Sometimes the meter setting automatically selected by the camera will create a photo that is either too light or too dark. Exposure Compensation is a feature of a camera that allows you to adjust the exposure. By doing so, you can manually change the exposure so that the photo is lightened or darkened. Usually, the range of adjustment goes from +2 to -2 EV in 1/3 steps (or stops). Each camera may have a slighty different way of controlling this setting so please consult your camera manual for the Exposure Compensation feature.
What Is Aperture Mode?
Aperture Mode, or Aperture Priority Mode, is a camera setting that allows you to select the aperture for a photo. aperture. Once you do so, the camera chooses an appropriate shutter speed. The main purpose of using aperture-priority mode is to control the Depth of Field. Depth of Field is the extent to which objects in the foreground and background of your selected subject are sharp or blurred. For shooting landscapes at night, you want to insure that everything in the photo is in sharp focus. Generally speaking, the higher the aperture number the sharper the focus.
Your lens may have an aperture that starts at F2.8 or F3.5 as the widest sperture. The smallest aperture may be F:16 or F:22. The larger the aperture the more blurred items behind and in front of the subject you focused on will be. The smaller the aperture, the sharper the foreground and background of your subject will be. In landscape photography with DSLR cameras and kit lenses, setting the aperture at F:8 to F:11 is generally sufficient to get everything in your landscape photo in sharp focus.
Consult your camera manual to learn more about these features. Becoming familiar with them will help you to produce consistently good night photos. With a bit of practice you will be creating memorable photos! The image above was captured with the Sony A200 and kit lens using a tripod and the method discussed in this article.
Post Processing Method for Landscape Photography
October 25, 2009
Photography Tips: DSLR Post Processing Tutorial Image
I often get requests from new photographers on post-processing techniques I use to edit my images. Truthfully, few of the images I display look exactly like the original shot straight from the camera. Some edits are almost always required to make the final images look their best, especially if you are shooting RAW instead of jpeg. The advantage of RAW is that it gives a photographer more control over the look of the image. However, it also demands a higher level of expertise from a photographer to create the best looking image from a raw file.
Here is a brief synopsis of the steps I took to create the finished photo seen below from the raw image shown above in Lightroom 2, a popular image editing software:
Photo: Branch Brook Park Fall Colors, Newark, NJ
I used Lightroom 2 for editing the original RAW Nikon .nef file. You can see the beautiful light captured in this photo. However, a few tweaks are needed to really make this image glow! I tweaked up the saturation and luminance controls individually for the yellow, red, and green colors to give them some “pop and glow.” That restored the beautiful light glow in the leaves I remembered when visiting this scene. Next, I added about 20% Contrast, darkening the tree limbs in the photo. Finally, I added about 38% Vibrance which gives everything a lively look.
I then brought it into Photoshop for resizing and final sharpening. I used the Curves tool to create a very mild S shaped Curve that opened up shadow detail while preserving highlights. I sharpened the image for the web in Photoshop at 300%, 0.2 pixels, 0 Threshold. Using 0.2 Pixels is the secret to getting nice sharpness with no halos around edges when you have lots of fine details in a pic like this that is meant to be displayed on the Web. The end result is the finished photo seen in this article!