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Technical Aspects of Photography

So now we're gonna talk about getting your camera to do what you wanted, Teoh. Now you're gonna spit out, and we know I speak of here with that story can kick me. What many bruises? By the end of the course, I'm sure. So again, it's more about some of the questions that Sarah all right, brought up earlier. I want to talk about types of cameras and lens choices and why we might pick certain lenses over another and then some variables that we all will deal with. And then all of the things that you're Dial's do Well, the question they wanted to ask before you got into the video was to think of a picture that you've taken recently that you were frustrated with. But you were hoping to get this shot. He had the shot in your head and it just didn't work. What happened? What happened like that? So if you have one Gretchen, It already gave her a good example of shooting with them always lighting. You have something specific that happened like you saw. And then when you shouted like what happene...

d that either either overexposure me was too right. Yeah, to break or just the shadowing the shadows from and we're appeared light. It appears that had enough light have day light coming in through the window lights on in the room. But it must have been the angle or something shadowing me like the face had shot unattractive in the picture. Wouldn't look at life. Yeah, that was just some basic Green said. Well, it was lighting for me, too. It was on Monday. I took my son to the zoo here, and there's their statues. You know that the kids can climb on. He was climbing on a gorilla statue, so he was faced a certain, you know, a certain way. And I had a statue was dark brown bronze, and it was a shaded area. And it was just It was such a cute picture, but it was waved dark. Date back. Did anyone else have something of a shot? Recently? They were just like this is going great. And then it didn't turn out great. We'll give you in a room with fluorescence like my Children's school for gymnasium. I have a hard time of gymnasium and basketball, getting good shots with high ceilings, fluorescence, flashing lights are weird, They really fast, you can't see it, and they're always changing color. Um, that's the second part of light and then movement Kids like you can't get them to stand still long enough to take your phone. Worldwide audience have want something serious. So Amy Amy E, who was chatting with us earlier, has said, I have the hardest time photographing the angle that I have pictured in my head. That's frustrating. That would happen to me if my IPhone to look in America. We looked really pretty. Neagle. Oh, I think that's a lens choice question. I'm gonna talk a lot about that to any other ones. There is N W 31 32 asks. How do you shoot on swings? Oh, that's That's a good question, actually, Off should have some swing examples. Okay, we could talk about it. Really. I think that the trick for that is to pre focus, and then when they get into the best swing pictures, or when they're either all the way up one direction or the other, because there's that moment where they stop. So if you can pretty focus there and then anticipate it when they come up or here and then be willing to do several, because expressions changing things. But yet sweetest. That's a tough one. But I have found the pre focusing helps a lot for that. My favorite picture is actually when I was pushing Jeffrey in the swing and Justus, he's up there and his face is like on and get his little feet and there was just Dad and I like that pushing him great. And I think that this section of the class now will address all of these. But if some reason something comes up that confuses you or you feel like it wasn't fully addressed, please please speak up. So what can we do? You have? I want to say that you can get great shots with any came up. Maybe not this one. It's sort of like what we spoke about earlier, where the best camera is the one that you have with you. So even an IPhone or a point shoot or any kind of SLR Just having something to document the moment with is better than there's always the mind's eye camera. That one is perfect. So with that in mind, these are just some examples of point shoots, and I think a lot of amazing point and sheets now where you can it. Sometimes it's nicer to have something that you can slip in your pocket and pull it out and get a snap. And then, you know, it's just not bulky. You're not dealing with a lot of things. And so sometimes that is more important. More important to be, yes, my husband wants to invest in, like, a better, a nicer camera. We're kind of looking for that. And yet at the same time, practically I always love my IPhone. And he's like, Well, if I invest in this great camera you're really gonna use there, you're just gonna go back Teoh what you always have. But I think your point in that, you know, you use what you have and make sure it's accessible. So I commit to a big one. I have to carry it around. Yeah, I don't think that's true. I don't care my big run around much now that I love my IPhone, but I think it's important to know what's happening, and the SLR is the best way to learn that. And then they're super reasons to have different cameras, you know? So it's I like to have the Why would you Why would you get a big seller as a mom? And not just use your IPhone, your mom? You answer that question. Well, I I was just showing Sarah, Um, every year I photograph my girls but the same cherry tree, So they grow up every year, and I photographed them and three years that I've just done it with my IPhone. I've always thought I should have done it with a better camera, because that's a pretty significant picture for me. And sometimes I just go with the trees blooming. Let's get the shot. So I think it just depends on what you're doing. Like it isn't. It is a resolution issue to a lot of times. The smaller cameras, although now even even pointing to some shoot also shoot raw. I'm gonna fake shooting Robertson jpeg. We're definitely not going to talk about in this class. This is more about getting the shots in camera and understanding how to use our cameras. But it is something to note is that the doesn't know the difference when rot and decay. Okay, I'll just say really briefly and slowly and slowly. The main difference just to think about is that a J peg that shot in your camera, your cameras doing the processing for you and a raw file. You would use a computer to do the processing later. That's really all you need to know. But in terms of this, so while that will be helpful to correct some errors if you've made them later, the idea here is to do as well as you can in camera so that there aren't errors to correct. Or if you are making changes in your raw file, it's because you want to their creative. It's not because, like, oh so messed up, I have to fix this. So that's why I think it's important to take a class like this and understand how to get it if close to correct and camera is possible, um, so the difference to between point and shoots an SLR SLR starts for single lens reflex or DSLR digital single lens reflex, and basically is that you have the ability to change lenses. And so, um, can I had brought up a question From what? It was Amy who said why Sometimes the angle is so different in her my mind's eye, then what she gets a lot of times that is a lens choice issue, and then we're gonna talk about that very soon. So much like the point and shoot SLRs have a lot of the same thing. In fact, many of the new one is also shoot video now, which they didn't for a long time, which is awesome for videographers and cinematographers, and there she moves on them. Now they're tiny, and it's just changing things so much, but you can see here to. Obviously, the price is much greater if you're going to go the SLR route. There's a lot more to grow into, where its point cheat. You can't limit yourself on a lot of things. I'm and then we already had the Canon vs Nikon discussion, but I wanted to say one thing here. Hillary had asked me earlier about getting a new camera. She's using one of mine today, and they wanted to say I often I get this question a lot. People like what camera shy, but I really want to get a new F l A. But I don't know what to buy. So I would tell people that in my opinion, a new camera is like a new car. So where a Nikon will shoot just as well as a cannon? A lot of times, it's the way that it feels to you. Like sometimes people really love the way their hard drives. I feel like I'm a BMW person, like they like how it drives and how feel to them. And I think the cameras were very much the same way I've noticed I used to shoot Nikon, and now I should can, and I and I noticed that all the dials are opposite. So where's maybe you would roll your dial to the right to get one effect on cannon? It's to the left for the Nikon for the same effect. So sometimes just the way the buttons are positioned sort of make more sense to one person than another person. So basically what I'm saying is I don't think that there's necessarily one right kind of camera. I prefer Canada lost, who loved Nikon and there's other brands to, and I think that it's just a matter of going committing to the time to go to a store and hold a couple of them in your hands and see you through what feels good to you. Because ultimately your goal is like Joy was saying her very nice compliment about me earlier. Having the camera be an extension of my arm. What you want is to be able to see the image of that. Shoot it not. I need this weight all it's over, and then you missed it. So if you understand your camera, you feel very comfortable with how it'll functions. You'll be that much able to cheat them more quickly. And just what you should do your daily project. Use it every day. It'll be more like that. And I think also, you just have to determine what your budget is to like. What's your budget for the camera? And then I would say, you know, by to the best of your budget, like get the highest end camera you can for the budget that you have because cameras there is going to and they're changing and they're changing so much so if you're buying something that's already slightly out of date, like it'll be really out of date, which is interesting, it didn't used to be like that. I mean, when I first started shooting wedding, that was one of the cameras I use with this old role of flex that was made in forties. It was awesome. And it was, you know, it worked great. And it just it doesn't really like that anymore. Their computers now like changing all the time. So have questions about that first year I was just going to have any response to figure out why. Why? You might want buy a bulk your cameras. I actually ended up using the video a lot more than I thought I would, even more than on my IPhone, because he sort of you have it with you anyway. So then you're taking and you can take pictures while your video Yeah, the mirror is that actually shoot the video is a reflective the mirror Go down and there for canon there it's called live view mode and you're you view it in the back and it's not the mirrors just flipping the image upside like forward for you to see that it doesn't. Okay, so is so So it's the same mechanism taking the photo as it is taking the right shooting video. You not looking through the small viewfinder. You're looking back. Okay, so with mirror isn't putting out reflecting mirror isn't part of the image taking anyway. It's just flipping it for you so that you can see you Exactly what you're gonna get versus the way we would look down. Everything was backward and upside down. This just makes it easier to compose anyone else. Have questions about just this before even get into it camera choices or any advice about that world. Okay, All right. This holes. June is about lenses on, but it's funny. This comes from in all of a day, the website I mentioned earlier where I photographed my dog everyday and part of the reason I did this particular project because, like my sister mentioned earlier that I taught her a lot of photography. Obviously all of the target she knows. So it's bad. You she would always say, like I would say, Give me the 50 year give me the 100. And she was like, Why are you picking one leads over another like, how do you know what makes you say that was like, Well, I'm gonna do a post about all the lenses that I own and why I might pick one over another. So just kind of briefly to run through. And Sarah was asking about this exact lens, right? 50. I feel like I have one Franklin's and it's the 50 prime. I feel like my pictures airway better on that lens than one, then the other one, and I have no idea what they're clear and focus that might be. I'm hoping that by the end of this you'll know why that is. Is it this particular lens? It is 50 prime, I don't know. Do you happen to know that the 1.2 or 1.4 think it's 1.2? My favorite, that is, this particular lands? Um, the 50 millimeter lens tends to be sort of the way that you see the world. It's very straight on. There is not going on the edges. It's very like, you know, if your from your own eyes and then there's a little bit of information on the side there of how I process. Each image is just like a little project that I did. It should be saying that because I wonder if it's hard to read. It doesn't matter if you don't know what they mean. We're gonna get into it later anyway. Just pull it off. Walk the 100. It's more of a portrait lens, and this particular one is dueled a Mac Roland. So I have both the macro mode and the portrait mode. It's a razor sharp lens, and it works really well for Portrait's in that it's very zoomed in so you can do both things with this. Lends Utkan pull out and get that and get originally super sharp. Of course, this isn't 85. There is a more expensive version that goes to 1.2, which I do not have, but it's also more of a portrait lens. I think any lens over 100 more Can you explain what you mean when you say it's a portrait lens just back to do it? Okay, any lens over 100 is more of a portrait lens, and by portrait, I mean something that more easily allows you to focus in on the eyes and have the background soften. I don't know if you've noticed when you shoot a lot of cameras come with the kit lens or special important shoots have automatically have a wide angle so that when you shoot can see a lot of things. And what you might notice about wide angle lenses is that everything is in focus. So my mom would be in focus, and Sarah being focused and Ken it would be in focus is very short boards. When something is roomed in, it helps compress the image so that what you're focusing on a sharp. And then in the four running back runner, much softer, we could see like olives. Tail is sharp, but the background is not right, so choosing and portrait lenses, but would lend itself better for, and then the different numbers, like 100 versus 85 vs 50. This has to do with how much that prime can see, right? Right? I used to get confused by that all the time. What is the 1.2 versus 1.8? That is an aperture, and we're going to talk about that. I just have them on their cause, them to put their call again. I'm trying to chunk everything out so that while there are a lot of pieces in play. The part that I want you to focus on here is just the lens and like what the image looks like if you choose this and the land is the eyeball. So what? What is this? I'm all dio This eyeball will show this much in this right? This is it. A millimeter lens, so it's a little bit wider than 50. But what I love about the 35 millimeter lands is that the edges don't bo. There's no key stoning on the edges that make it like a lot of friends of white and will make the edges like people look really round on the edges. And this particular 35. It doesn't do that. The person on the end. Well, that's another thing about portrait lenses. I learned really the hard way early on in my wedding photography career not to shoot family formals with the wide angle, because the people on the ends look very comical. You get way back and shoot with the portrait lens because it's a portrait. Even though there may be 20 people in the image, it's still a portrait, and you want everyone to look as sort of slows to normal as possible. By normal, I mean not like twisted at boat from the edges, portrait and white angle. Our office, those air. Two terms of the same spectrum. Well, the widening the land where you would get a very wide like like if I had one here, a very Oh, wait. And then when I say portrait lens, I mean something that zooms and very close. If I had one on like this one, even it is a good example. Actually, we're going to get to that in one second. This is the hard part of targeting now. There so many pieces, that sort of overlay like I want. How would this would feel like you haven't that question wasn't answered by later. We'll bring it up again. Then there's things like this like it's fun and just say not. See how this is worth more boat, and this is what I mean. See the distortion like That's my front step doesn't actually look like that, but the lens makes it appear that way, So if you have the ability to change lenses, then you all have ability to get creative like it's fine to shoot round things with and what it would have been interesting to do also is maybe take the same shot with the different lenses and show like with this shot, I can see this much, and with this lens, I can just see this much. So she I think that's sort of the point of what she's. This piece is what the lens girl. Really? So you're saying on the portrait lens of that screen that you just showed part of the would just cut off would just be happy, as opposed to, like the whole thing and the blowing of the of the same spot breach picture? Chances are you'd have to back up because of you really zoomed in, you know, And unless it was that macro lens where you could focus in, it would be a lot. So, yeah, that's another thing to actually consider because because you don't have any wound to backup or before I used to use off camera lighting to do family formals. If I had to shoot with portrait lens in the back of the church, it would be difficult, which is why you made that initial Mystic learned that thin. There's other fund lenses like this one. This is a tilt shift blends it so you can see how the lens itself is all skewed, and it's actually meant more for architecture. But it's kind of gained a lot of popularity in the last couple of years for Portrait's, because it you can see where olives eyes are in focus, and so is the bush behind her and yet hurl feet or out of focus. And what what if tilt shift lens does is shift the actual plane of focus? Um, they're very expensive, and there's a lot of awesome APS that do this effect. I actually wouldn't recommend buying one unless you were ahead of specific reason, and we're doing it for your time. Revisit seems like one of those luxury items, but again, I like to having it is a simple images to show why you might choose something. This land is Zoom Lins. Now all the lenses I showed you up until this one. Where prime. But I just have one millimeter size 50 had had. When you shoot through it, you're shooting 50 millimeters or 35 or the of the next two. I'm gonna show you ours. Delenda. So this one, you can shoot it at 16 all the way to 35. 16 being wide and 35 being not as wide and give you some variety with the same line. So, like you were saying if you wanted to have it zoomed out and capture the whole image or zoom in a little bit and get closer without having to switch lenses. And then this next one is the 24 to 70. What chiller is borrowing today, which I love? Zoom in all the weight. 70. It's practically a portrait lens the way that it compresses the information in the scene and then 24 is a nice, healthy wide. And I'm gonna talk about why I love this length so much in a little bit versus maybe another one that had a similar range. So just to show you really quickly, that's 16 to millimeter zoomed all the way out of 16 millimeters. You get this really wide of the kids were swinging, even see their feet and see the parents of background and then pretty much standing almost the same place, zooming in at 35 millimeters Still pretty wide. Still, you can still see his whole body, but it's a completely different image. And if you have a lens that zooms, you can have that variety right there and thinking without having to switch lenses. And then this is my favorite lens broke. Use this a lot, a lot, and it's because of the same thing. 70. Like I said, it's a little closer to that portrait. Millimeter and is a nice, healthy wide. So here I zoomed in on Joy and her family like a cute portrait. And then when the kids started bouncing and jumping, I so wanted to be able to shoot that. So I just seemed right out and was able to do that. They would have lens questions in terms of the way. Let's make something look not with the not with the apertures or anything, or if there is somebody who has a favorite lens. I just point out that to look for it image stabilizer lens vs a non because a lot of canon has non because it might look on line and look for a lens. Nice price difference later, but since you bring enough, I'm gonna say Canon Hedlund is called image stabilized lenses. It will say I s right on the lens, and the macro lens that I showed you is an I s lends. Ice lenses are great for subjects that aren't moving if you're moving or if you have, if you have tow handhold. Very slow shutter. Not so great for kids that are moving really won't make it. They will make your subject sit still. And if you are a Nikon, the night conversion is VR, which stands for a vibration reduction, and it just their version of the same thing. But it is. It's right. And the thing is, you can turn it on or off. Tends to make the lens is a little more expensive. And you have to remember, if you are using a tripod, you have to turn it off because in the opposite happens because what's happening is the lenses have the little pieces that kind of float. So when you're moving that, they counter balance. But if it's on a tripod, then they start to move and there's no counter melody and just get to think about okay, so first I want to have one. This is something that I didn't never have to really think about during a shoot back when I used to shoot film. But it's white balance. And now that that everybody is shooting digitally, white balance is something to think about, especially if you are not shooting raw and you're shooting J. Peg and you're having your camera through the processing for you. If you she would at the incorrect white balance, then your images will look strange. This is a good example. White balance controls the color. Actually, you know, we should dio I was that we do this as have everybody look on their cameras and find the white balance just to make sure. Is there anybody here that doesn't know what white balance is or where it is on the you know, your should be right on the tall and if just say w b tonight and see what happens there all can. I think they're all on the top of miles. Where happens to be pushed. You have, you know, you push it down and then do you use another die electric cannon dials? Is that with the information on the top, any any icon on the left is controlled by the dial on the top and any icon on the right it's controlled by the dial on back mine doesn't matter at all. Here's what it doesnt modify it all with it. It's a after WB, is that correct? If it's auto focus, and then W is its white balance. But you, when you press it, it's not changing their own. So maybe your camera on it is so normally I would get up and help everybody where we should I do that? I think that's a great question. Normally like that, it's more interactive. We look and we make sure that we all know where this piece on our camera. Yeah, we're simulating What? What a lot of. Okay, I'm here. Okay, I see on the can in the back think, actually talk about this. My next slide. Let me go through the white stuff first, and then the back the back of your came will have a little dial that will turn the back dial on and off. I do talk about it away later so I can just be on long term here on and then all the way turns about dialogue on the reason they have that the newer, newer cannons have the dial and other places. Now, I think many people were accidentally switching. It's because this DIA will change your settings. So if you're shooting, you don't want accidentally hit into. So that's what happening. That's why that happened to you. Okay, so then now you would press you have a button and then yeah. Okay, well, we'll move. Is that indeed the case? Not happy. Oh, that's part of it, too. Okay. So many things. Apparently, when you're in little green box that doesn't work. You have to be in one of the creative mode program TV. Yes, that's a good point. A lot of times, if you if you have your camera in program mode or the green box mode, you can't change any of the city. Did you get that part? What? Joy just said a lot of times, if you have your camera in the green mode or program like it's picking the setting so you can't do it. So I have to be in one of the other creative settings. Okay? Taking an agreement, put in the people people. So So what happens once I pressed it. The youths came on. It just turned off by itself and shut our little time back on. And then you and impressive it when you press the button and then roll the dial. See how it changes. Press the button and roll back. Dial everybody. Did everybody get it? Everyone change the white balance. Yes, Yes, yes, yes, yes! OK, good. All right. That is your choice. Where are these fluorescent lights? Way combination. Everybody take a picture and to see what? Wait, Let me go through the slides and we're and then we'll do that before. I think they have a combination of, like, daylight balance and actual daylight and and fluorescent light. So I don't I don't know. Cloudy. We're definitely not cloudy. This demonstrates a couple of different. There are obviously a lot of different white. Balance is this is just shade tungsten, which is indoor lighting like incandescent and auto. To be honest, I have found, especially with my canon, that auto is pretty accurate. I really like the color and camera, but I think that white balance is very subjective. So what? Some people haven't editor who helps me at it on my weddings, and she works for a couple of people, and she was telling me like, Oh, this person likes it to be warmer. This person likes the movie cooler, and I think it's partially your own taste to in terms of whether you want some, like a shady versus cloudy is warming up the image up. And I find that auto a lot of times will, you know, it's really interesting to If you look at an image long enough, your eyes almost sort of adjust to it to the way that we do normally. When we're indoors, we see white as white inside, and if we were to go outside and still have our books, we would still see it is white, even though the color of the light out there is very different, I figured. What better example to show white balance in my white cat, Alice and these this image was taken inside in the image of her on the left. It is white, and it was taken with the tungsten white balance setting. So because I have read this so I would make sure I don't get incorrect. The tongues of lights are warm, so your your white balance is set to Thompson, then your photographs will appear blue for hold on us Backward. That's the next one that was the one before wasn't there on this same one. If you're white balance and set to tungsten on the white cat, she appears blue. Um, shade. Conversely, as much bluer true could so to compensate than your images would be very orange. Which is why earlier she looked so orange. Did that make sense to everybody? Um, you know what we're is tungsten on here? It's the little it's the little light bulb tongues. It just means indoor lighting, like in Canada. I don't think you should continue to explain that tungsten means indoor lighting and that the white balance has to do with the warmth of a picture. Right? The color. I think you just so like a cooler colors on more has more blues in it, and the warmer color well, shade and shade has a lot of blue s. So when you have a white balance that will add a lot of orange so that your eyes competent what white will look white in image. It's just good to know that why that Diallo is there and what the image will look like. Have you ever shot a picture outside when you had it on the light bulb and everything is blue or had it on shade? And inside, everything is like super orange. Everybody looks like a pumpkin. That's what's happening there. What would you recommend for snow to go blue? Right? I think. First, you know, I probably would set it on auto or daylight, just the okay, just the sun. The sun would be a little sent, a little funnest daily, and they're actually most of them are the same. The little that's flash in the flesh and then the house a shade. There's a cloud that represent cloudy and there's a couple. There's one that looks like a little flower. It's actually a custom white balance, which you could do. What you would do is photograph a piece of white paper, and then the camera asks you which images white and you say this image is white and then we'll say OK, from now on, everything we're gonna set the color balance to that that represents white. So that's up something you could play a two. You told it this blue wall is white. You know what it might do? You look confused here. We didn't believe Look like flour. It's like a little looks like a file. It I don't triangle. Yeah. Images triangles. Like a square in the middle of all the pictures. I'm not of white balance, not those exact ones. I want to make sure we're ready to move on from white balance. Just an f y. I got the word that in here we're daylight balance. So try everybody that set their cameras Teoh with the little swollen then that should work and then take it and do it. Just don't seem to see the difference. Oh, yeah? Okay, let's do that. Take a picture of your favorite mom, and then there's the sun. We'll look at the difference. So we should take it for the purpose of this will just put it on program and take picture here and then yes. Do you like balance? It is that looks for to get and then tried to literally switching it to something else. Maybe the maybe for Westerners you have to press that and then you rule the bag dial. Hey, display. Maybe cloud probably look really explain. Explain concepts. It's really blue trying, rolling it your tongue in and then you'll see how I'm still trying if it thinks that you're so much better. All right, Hillary, you're looking good.