The Point & Shoot Convenience

Now that I've written a few articles explaining the many benefits of a DSLR camera, there is one thing that DSLRs are not quite up to snuff on, and that one thing is compact size.  If I have my Nikon D80 DSLR with me, it is because I have specifically blocked out a portion of time to go shoot photos.  I lug books, paper, notebooks, my MacBook Pro, and anything else I need for classes around every day.  I just don't use my camera enough to justify carrying it around 24/7.  However, point and shoot cameras have come a long way in just a few years, and while they can't match the quality of a nice DSLR, when that moment comes that you really wish you had your camera, a pocket-sized point and shoot is far better than nothing.

There are many nice point and shoot style cameras out there, and I've used many different types and styles.  In general, Nikon, Fuji, and Canon are the leaders, while olympus goes for a certain niche of the market (weatherproof/waterproof).  Sony, Samsung and Panasonic make very decent cameras as well, but my personal favorites are Nikon and Canon.  In my experience, Sony cams tend to lack accurate color, Samsung makes their cameras out of a brushed nickel, making them very durable, but too heavy, and Panasonic's Lumix line tends to lack build quality and feel cheap in the hand.

The most important things in a point and shoot are:

1. Small size - if you can't fit it comfortably in your pocket/purse, you won't carry it.
2. Speed - if your son is about to jump from the swing set, you have about half a second to turn your camera on and take that photo.
3. Image stabilization - When he jumps from that swing, you might want to be able to make out that it is indeed your son jumping, not just an ambiguous blur!

Nikons and Canons will give these features, with the highest quality output, at the best price for the quality.

My current point and shoot is a Canon SD800IS.  This camera has survived many scrapes and falls, and sits in my pocket nearly every moment I'm not at home.  The camera features image stabilization, a wide angle lens, and packs all the quality I need into the photos I take with it.  I absolutely love my 800, but it can be a bit large for some users.  I would recommend the SD1000 which packs the same photo quality without the wide angle lens in a much smaller package.

Here's a link to a small gallery with some pictures taken by my SD800

How To: Use Your DSLR Camera Settings

The article on the basics of DSLR controls explained how your camera works internally.  This article is a followup to explain how to manipulate these settings on your DSLR.

Using The Settings

Now you have an idea of how the settings work, but using them is the only way to really get a handle on how each setting really affects your pictures. I'll explain how to use these settings on both the Nikon D-80 and the Canon E0S Digital Rebel XTi.

As you can see below, these two cameras have very different looking mode dials, but in reality, both serve the same general purposes. The Nikon is on top and the Cannon on bottom.


Each camera has the same basic modes: Auto (green on both), P (Program Mode), S/Tv (shutter priority/Time Value), A/Av (Aperture Priority/Aperture Value), M (Manual) and a slew of situation modes.

I recommend using auto and the situation modes if you're just starting out. These will help you identify what looks best in different situations and once you have a hold on what you like best, you can start to manually set your camera to match those settings in other situations.

Auto

You point your camera and press the button - the camera attempts to figure out everything to end up with a balanced image.

Program

This mode is very helpful for taking a little bit of control, while allowing the camera to still have its say in what it thinks will make for a balanced photo. When you move your camera's dial on this mode, both shutter and aperture will settings will change to allow the correct amount of light into the lens, but the camera will limit you to settings that are appropriate to avoid over or underexposing the image. ISO is set manually in this mode as well.

Shutter Priority/Time Value

This mode allows you to adjust the shutter speed manually and allow the camera to choose an aperture that allows enough light in for the shutter speed and ISO you have set. A high shutter speed could be used to take a picture of a race car traveling 100mph, and make it appear to be completely stationary in the middle of the track, or maybe more practically to take a picture of your dog running around in the back yard without the slightest hint of blur.

Aperture Priority/Aperture Value

In the same way that Shutter Priority allows you to choose a shutter speed and the camera picks an appropriate aperture, this mode allows you to choose an aperture and ISO of your choice and uses the best shutter speed based on the settings you've chosen. An example of how this could be used would be if you're wanting to take a family portrait and want to make sure everyone is in focus, you would set your aperture at a high f-stop.

Manual

Pretty literal - you set everything. The ISO, the shutter, the aperture, and a plethora of other things can be set in this mode.

Well, that covers most of the basics for getting started with taking better and more creative digital photos, but that's just the point!  These are the basics and so much more can be learned by looking at others' photography for inspiration and finding your own style to shoot - so get out and start taking pictures!

Shoot Better Photos: Basics of DSLR Controls

When a photographer starts talking about shooting photos, words and acronyms like Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, MegaPixel, White Balance, or AF Area can be talked about.  The problem is that a lot of people have no idea what these terms mean.  Books have been filled explaining these ideas, so I'll try and keep this entry as filled with information as possible, without overwhelming everybody with too much all at once. This article will go over the basics of what these terms mean and how they can be used, and I will follow up on these controls work on your DSLR in another article. 

On a side note, if you have a point and shoot camera (anything pocket sized), these controls are generally not available on cameras that size.  

Let's start at the beginning - shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.  These three settings control how much light gets into the camera and how that light is received by the camera's sensor.  In order to take a balanced picture, the amount of light that reaches the camera's sensor has to be just right.

When a picture is taken, the lens opens up for a specific amount of time at a specific width. This allows just the right amount of light to get into the camera's sensor.  This light reaching the sensor is what produces an image.

If too much light gets in, you get an "overexposed" picture with lots of white and washed out details.  

However the opposite is also true.  If too little light gets in, the image is "underexposed" with black areas and not much definition.

Luckily, your camera is smart enough to balance these settings to get your picture correctly exposed almost every time.  As you can see here, the camera slightly overexposed this picture on automatic mode.  The wall above the speaker is washed out with no definition - this is what can be avoided using manual settings.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is a measure of how long the lens stays open.  A faster shutter speed, 1/100 of a second or higher, will allow you to "freeze frame" whatever is in front of you, but lets less light into the camera.  In an indoor setting, this will usually cause the image to be underexposed without the aid of flash.  A longer shutter speed will allow more light into the camera, but can cause motion blur.  A tripod can be infinitely helpful to stabilize the camera and prevent blurring.  A good rule of thumb for handheld shots is about 1/30 of a second to keep from blurring.

Aperture

Aperture is sort of like the pupil of your eye in that it opens wider as light decreases to let in more available light.  If you have a quick shutter speed, a wider opening in the aperture will allow more light to enter the lens.  The diameter of an aperture is measured in f-stops. A lower f-stop number widens the aperture and allows more light onto the camera sensor.  Higher f-stop numbers make the camera's aperture smaller so less light hits the sensor.  Aperture can also have an effect on the depth of field in the image.  Higher f-stops (smaller diameter, less light getting to the sensor) allow more of an image to be in focus, and if you have enough light, this is usually a good idea to make sure your subject is in the best focus.  Lower f-stops allow for a very cool isolation of your subject by blurring out the details of anything in front or behind it.

These two concepts are very interrelated in that the faster the shutter speed, the larger the opening of the lens and vice versa.

ISO

So now that we can control the amount of light that gets into the camera which is very helpful if we have an ideal amount of light wherever we're shooting.  However, we live in the real world and shoot pictures in many places where the lighting is far from perfect.  For these situations, we can use ISO to control the camera sensor's sensitivity to light.  ISO 100 is the norm for outdoor shooting and will offer superb color and image rendering.  Higher ISO's will allow brighter pictures with less light, but this comes at the expense of image quality.

If you're new to all this, hopefully I haven't caused your brain to explode quite yet!  Just keep in mind that the best way to learn about your camera and how setting work is to just go out and shoot photos.  Start to play with some of the settings and see if you can make any cool effects, and if all else fails, your camera has a manual that will help explain these settings in more detail.

Good luck, and happy shooting!

Shoot Better Photos: Basics of Composition

There are a million ways to take a picture, and thousands of different cameras to take it with.  However, regardless of whether you're shooting with an instant polaroid (which they're about to stop making film for by the way) or the newest Nikon D3 DSLR, there are a few basic things to keep in mind that will make for better pictures almost every time.  These certainly are not "rules" that must be followed in order to take professional looking pictures, but can help make good pictures into great pictures.

The main idea is a bit difficult to master, because most people who are best at it were born with it.  Photographers refer to it as having "an eye" for a good looking picture.  That is to say that one person can take a picture of something, and another person with the exact same conditions can take a far superior picture just by thinking outside the norms of photography.  The key to an awesome photograph is to make an interesting one.  If every picture was taken at eye level with the subject in the center, after the first few pics most people would get bored and stop looking.  However, if you can incorporate variety and interesting subjects into your shooting, you'll end up with better pictures.

There are three basic things to help incorporate variety into your photos, and to help develop "an eye" for what a good picture might be.

Framing

The first is to frame your pictures while you're taking them.  If you have picture or painting on the wall and you put a frame on it, it looks more classy - the same thing applies to a picture.

In the picture to the right, instead of zooming in and getting a close up of the subject, I used surrounding bushes to make for a more interesting picture.  This makes the picture more interesting to look at without distracting too much from the main subject.

Thirds

The second concept is called the rule of thirds.  The best thing about this is that it can be implemented into photos you have already taken by cropping.  The idea here is to mentally split your photo into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, and have the subject of your pic at one of the intersections of these thirds.  The reason for this is that the human face is constructed in thirds, with the eyes at the top intersection of the left and right third.  

When you talk with someone, your gaze is generally focused on one eye or the other, which attracts your eyes to the same locations in photos.  This causes a centered subject to be more like the nose of the picture - possibly interesting but not what we naturally look at the most.

This photo uses the rule of thirds in two different areas.  The first is the entire left wall of the museum follows very closely to the split of the left third from the rest of the image.  This makes the viewer's eye follow the wall and with the color differences from bottom to top, the image is given a unique effect.  The second area where the rule of thirds is applied is the text "art museum" which falls into the lower right third of the picture, attracting eyes there as well.

Perspective

The final tip is to have an interesting perspective. If your camera has a macro mode, try it out. If you're shooting at eye level, angle your shot to make something in your picture more interesting. 

 
 If you're in a position to get closer than normal, do it.  If you can get a low angle, go for it!  These types of ideas help to add an immense amount of variety to your photos and can create patterns like in the picture or the right, or something unique such as the lens flare in the image below it.  This is where the most interesting photos can come from, and this is where your "eye" can emerge giving your photography its own style.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional photographer or even pretending to be one - these tips have helped me take better pictures and hopefully can help you do the same.