365 Project – 13: The Sports mode in your Nikon D5000 (January 13, 2012)

Shutter Speed: 1/500, Aperture: F/2.2, ISO: 800, Nikon D5000 Sports Mode

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I haven’t really explored the multitude of scene modes available in my D5000 except for the Sports mode. It’s an automatic feature I really appreciate in my camera without any guilt that I should be operating in Manual mode instead. It does a great job freezing action shots, it lets me just focus on my subject rather than changing camera settings, helping me capture the instances I want. It also appears to produce a bit more saturated blues and greens with  a cool white balance, which is perfect when I’m shooting outdoor sporting events on grass or like in the photo I’ve posted today, capturing my daughter swimming in a pool.  Since my 365 photo challenge is to get the best photos straight out of my camera I feel like this mode helps me get the saturation and clarity I want without the need to post-process.  I also use this mode when taking photos of active children, as opposed to using the Child scene mode. My brief experience using that mode is that it softens childrens’ complexions and appears to shoot in a warmer white balance. It’s just my preference to shoot with the Cloudy or cooler white balance. Maybe it’s a Pacific Northwest thing! LOL

Also, if you haven’t discovered your “Release modes” yet, try changing it to Continuous Shooting. By default your Release mode is set to just a single shot. The Continuous Shooting mode allows you to take multiple shots by simply holding down the shutter button. You may end up with umpteen photos but, when it comes to action shots that is sometimes what you need to do in order to get that ONE prime photo.  Definitely learn how to use your camera in Manual mode but, also let your camera work for you and enjoy the features you paid for!

Read more about my 365 Project: Untouched photos from my Nikon D5000 with 50mm lens

A photo as abstract art

I took this photo of Nora in Santa Cruz, Chile a few months ago and I just like the mood of it so I thought I’d share and open it up for critique from any of you photographers, or anyone, out there. There’s a story behind the photo but, I thought I’d post it and see what YOU think the photo says to you and how it makes you feel. Kind’ve looking at this as an abstract art exercise. PLEASE comment and critique. Thanks for stopping by!

F-stop: F/4   Exposure: 1/100   ISO: 400   Focal Length: 50mm   Camera: Nikon D5000

“Understanding Exposure” by Bryan Peterson – Exercise 1: the photographic triangle

Shutter speed: 1/6 Aperture: F/16

I finally opened Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure (3rd edition) and after digesting the first 40 pages, those technical terms of shutter speed, aperture, and exposure are becoming de-mystified and less confusing. To help you solidify this vague concept of “exposure” Robertson suggests taking out your camera to take some photos with different exposures, and jotting down each photo’s camera settings.

For my first exercise, I am focusing on what Peterson refers to as “The Photographic Triangle”: APERTURE, SHUTTER SPEED, and ISO.

I have only taken one photography class in my life, from my local YMCA in Port Angeles, WA and although I did gain some tips that improved my shots I still had not grasped these technical photography terms. Because of that I still have not been totally comfortable shooting in Manual mode. From reading Robertson’s book I picked up a few tips that are starting to shed some light on these confusing terms; these are not all quotes from Robertson’s book…mostly they are my paraphrasings:

“The smaller the f-stop number, the larger the lens opening; the larger the f-stop number, the smaller the lens opening.” “Aperture refers to the lens opening so for example, F/22 or F32 is a small aperture.” “When you change your aperture, remember to check your shutter speed and adjust it using your light meter” “Exposure time= shutter speed”

Still confused? Yeah, I don’t have it down 100% yet either. Let’s forget all this blabbidy-blah. Let’s take a look at some photos!

Below are photos which illustrate some of what I learned about the Photographic Triangle. The caption under each photo shows my camera settings. To keep it simple, each photo was shot with ISO-200 and WB Cloudy so really I am focusing on how the shutter speed and aperture settings affect each photo. The photos were untouched aside from being compressed to 72dpi. The concept of composition is also touched upon a bit, since concepts such as depth of field can affect your composition, or how well you can create a storytelling portrait. That’s all I’ll mention about that though since I’ll save that for another post.

I hope sharing my step-by-step exercises with you as I go through Robertson’s excellent book help you become more comfortable shooting in the Manual mode.

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I needed a subject and I decided Nora’s dirty feet would do. I shot these while in our apartment in Santiago, Chile. It is absolutely impossible to keep her feet clean here, especially since she loves to run around barefoot on our balcony.

In this exercise I am trying different exposures and compositions to make Nora’s feet look dirty but to also tell a story. What is more effective? When the feet are isolated, showing Nora’s legs, showing Nora’s face/eyes in the background, with a short or long depth of field (eg. background clear or blurry), showing only her soles or with the pink toes peeking out?

I spent about 20 minutes taking these photos and found that reviewing the photos and documenting what shutter speed and aperture I used for each photo is really helping me understand exposure and composition.

Remember, only the shutter speed and aperture were changed in these photos. ISO-200 and WB Cloudy were used for all of them.

2B Shutter speed:1/8, Aperture:F/16

2A Shutter speed:1/80, Aperture:F/5.6

3A - Shutter speed: 1/800 Aperture: F/1.4

3B - Shutter speed: 1/1250 Aperture: F/1.4

3C - Shutter speed: 1/1600 Aperture: F/1.4

Can you see how the shutter speed affected the lighting of the photo? For example, in 3A and 3B I think the feet look dirtier when I used a longer shutter speed (eg bigger number). And, how the aperture (eg. F-stop) of F/1.4 in photos 3a,b,c and 4a made the background look blurrier, giving it a shallower depth of field? By blurring the background your eyes can more focus on the feet. And, lastly, there’s a difference in composition since different elements of Nora’s feet, legs and face are visible in the photos.

1A - Shutter speed: 1/60 Aperture: F/5 (sofa visible in background)

1B - Shutter speed: 1/60 Aperture: F/5 (adjusted for composition)

This was an effective exercise for me. If you are a kinesthetic learner like me (eg. you learn by doing), actually taking the photos yourself, rather than reading a book or looking at someone else’s photos, will really help you grasp these concepts. I’m still learning so I’ll keep taking photos, reading Bryan Robertson’s book, and share what I learn with you!

Now, get out your camera and take your own photos! Come back and post your photos and your blog link and share them with me!

Beef photos and white balance

I love how the weekly I heart faces photo challenges force me to grow as a hobby photographer and I especially appreciate learning from other photographers who stop by my blog to offer constructive feedback.

Today’s post is a result of white balance suggestions made by Patrick on my previous “i heart beef” blog entry. What I was trying to learn was the best lighting and composition for taking a beef photo. Not a typical photo subject for me but, nonetheless, the challenge still gave me an opportunity to improve my skills.

Here are two photos, both taken outside (I don’t have a studio so I opt for natural light and I prefer not to use flash), the first one using the the “cloudy” WB setting (5000KB) on my Nikon D5000 and the second one taken with the “house” WB setting (3400KB.)

5000K WB: I heart beef!

3400K WB: Smoky Beef Stew - October 10, 2010

I submitted the photo taken with 5000KB WB because I thought it was more important to highlight the beef by giving the bread more bokeh and I thought the color of the beef might pop more against a cooler background. In the 3400KB WB photo, the overall photo is warmer but, I thought the bread was too prominent since it was in focus. After reading Patrick’s comments in my previous post, I’m wondering now if I should have submitted the 3400KB for the photo challenge. What do you think?

I don’t aspire to be a food photographer but, this photo challenge gave me an exercise in composition, lighting, and making the color brown pop. Thanks for stopping by my blog and I hope some of you learn a few things along with me on my shutterbug journey! And, thank you again to all of you that offer tips and advice!

- Amelia