More White Balance Results

When we went to class, we not only went

over our shutter priority assignment,

but we also did our white balance

assignment and went over it.

Next week is our last class for

Photography 1.

So we did 2 assignments in class.

The assignment we had on White Balance

was a great learning tool.

Here are some examples of White Balance;

Auto

Sunlight

Shade

Cloudy

Fluorescent

Incandescent

Flash

Kelvin

Custom

All camera's have pretty much the same

options. Some might have a couple of

different ones and some have a lot of options.

Check your camera out and see what options

you have by going to your Menu and picking

the option - White Balance. That's were you

will see a list of options like daylight.

Now for our assignment that we went

ahead and did in class, we

first took pictures inside the class room.

We set our dial mode to Shutter Priority

and set the shutter speed to 1/ 60.

ISO on 800 or higher.

We started out setting the WB (white balance)

to daylight and then took the picture.

Then we were to change our WB to

incandescent and fluorescent, taking

a picture each time.

You will be able to see the difference

in the color of the pictures.

This picture had a blue tint to it using the

Incandescent Light option in the WB mode.

This picture has a yellow tint to it.

I like this color. The picture turned out great.

Don't you just love the subject I picked.

We had to find something in the room

to take a picture of and this is what I found.

We now move outside to take pictures.

Settings are

Manual Mode (Meter in the middle)

ISO 100 to 200

Shutter Speed at 1 /125

We took two pictures in

Incandescent light and sunlight.

Can you see the blue color in the picture?

I love this picture. It turned out great...

Now let me tell you what happen while I was taking

pictures outside. Every time I went to meter in the

middle I kept moving my shutter speed setting.

My pictures kept turning out dark or real light.

To make a long story short,

I was shown how to work my camera.

See were the on/off button is?

There is also a line above where it says ON.

It is shown by the blue arrow.

I have to turn the dial to that and then

turn the big dial right above it (red arrow)

 to set my meter in the middle. 

By doing this I am changing

my aperture not my shutter speed.

The reason I am telling you this is

because you might be having the same

problems and this will give you something

to check out on your camera.

It just shows you the difference in color

with the two outdoor pictures I took.

Well next week, I will be turning in

my picture poster board.

So I am on a scavenger hunt.

I have to take 15 pictures and print them

out and attach them to the board.

Then I get to stand in front of the class

and talk about my pictures.

It also looks like we have 1 more

assignment that is on our list.

I suppose we will do it in class before

we all stand up and show our Picture board's.

The assignment is over Portraiture.

So I will discuss that with you next week.

Wish me luck standing in front of the class......

Until Next Time,



Shutter Priority Tutorial

Stopping Action with

Shutter Priority

When using shutter priority you will
want to set your dial mode to TV.
Remember to set your ISO depending
on your surroundings. (inside - outside)

Things to Remember:
* Shutter Speed is the length of time a
shutter is open.  Longer the shutter
stays open depends on how much
light there is. 
For pictures with the same aperture setting,
if the picture is to bright then the
shutter was open to long.
If the picture is dark, then
the shutter was not open long enough.

* Shutter speed is measured in seconds.
A value of 200 would be 1 /200 of a second.


When you are in shutter priority you can
choose your shutter speed and your camera
will automatically pick the aperture setting
for you.  These two work together for
freezing action or slowing down
your subjects in pictures.

For example, If you want to take a picture
of falling water and want it to look very soft
(blurry) then you would use a slower
shutter speed of 1 /8 or 1 /10.
When you use a very slow speed
you will need to use a tripod. This will
help a LOT when it comes to camera shake.

This picture was taken using a shutter speed of 1 /60

It's not the slowest speed but you get the idea of

how soft (blurry) the water is as it's falling.

This photo really shows the blur or softness
of the water fall. It was taken with a
shutter speed of 1 /10.

Taking Freeze Action pictures need
a shutter speed of 1/125 or higher.
It really depends on what kind of
picture you are taking.
For example:
For sports use 1/125 to 1/500 or higher.
For a car in motion or running horses use
1/500 to 1/ 1000
or a race car would use 1/ 1000 to 1/2000.
Again, you may have to go a little higher
depending on what your picture looks like
and what kind of look you are looking for.

Okay, now I need to tell you what's happening
when you are taking a picture and lets say
your aperture is at F5.6 and your shutter speed
is at 1/4000.  If you have a lens that only goes
to F5.6 then your camera will be flashing a light
at you. This means that the camera has reached
the maximum aperture (small f-number). Which
also means that your pictures will become darker
as you go up higher with the shutter speed.
Now, some will tell you to up your ISO
so you can let more light in to take the picture.
I have not tried this yet.

There is a bulb setting (which is located in the same area
of the shutter speeds) that is used when taking
Firework pictures. I have not used it yet.

Okay, so lets say you want to take a picture
of your son playing baseball. He is up to bat
and you want to freeze the action of him
swinging the bat as the ball is coming.
(this is outside on a sunny day)
Set your dial mode to TV
White Balance to daylight
ISO to 100 or 200
Shutter Speed to 1/ 125 or higher like 1/ 500
Remember your Aperture (F-number) will
set on it's own.

Now take your picture.......


Just a Note:  I am not a Professional Photographer.
I am just passing along the information that
I have learned from taking my Photography class.
If you should find that the information that I
have provided is incorrect, then please email
me so I can make the changes needed.

If you have any questions, comment me and
I will get the answer to you.
Plus were helping anyone else that might
need questions answered too.

Talk to you soon,

Photography Assignment 3 Results

Good Morning All,

Well, my assignment in class over Shutter Priority

was a little disappointing.

I had my camera set right at the time,

at least I thought I did, except for one thing.

I had my setting for the
Image-recording Qualtiy set wrong.

When I took my pictures for the

assignment I was on the second M

and was suppose to be on the

first L. The teacher didn't know

if that would of been the problem

for sure but I think it was.

The reason? When we practice Shutter

Speed (shutter priority) in class I was on the

first L and my pictures came out just fine.

But when I did it a couple days later,

For some reason my Quality was changed.

Some of the pictures turned out dark.

Here are the pictures I took for class.

I started with a shutter speed of 1 /30

(soft water flow)

Next, I changed it to 1 /50

(softer but a little stop action)

Then, 1 /80

(more stop action)

1 /125

(Look at the water drops, you can see them better)

1 /160

1 /200

Now, see how the picture is starting to get darker?

That should not be happening right now.

(but you can see the water drops in more of

a stop motion now)

This one is even darker at a shutter speed of 1 /320

1 /500 Which is even darker.

1 /800

(A lot MORE stop action)

1 /1250

As you can see the pictures became darker as

I moved my shutter speed up to higher speed.

I never moved my camera position. All I did

was move my shutter speed up.

So this is where the Quality setting came into play.

Now usually, when your pictures start to get

darker at a shutter speed of 1 /1250 or higher

then that means your shutter speed is getting

higher but your Aperture is not. So if your lens

won't open up anymore than say F5.6 (aperture) and

you keep going up in your shutter speed then your

camera will start flashing at you and your pictures

start coming out dark and some times out

of focus.

When you are in shutter priority your dial mode

will be on TV. I set my ISO to 400 and

let the camera do the work when it comes

to the aperture. (F-stop).

My white balance was at daylight.

If you notice, in the pictures, the stop action is

taking place as the water is falling.

The higher the shutter speed the more

stop action you get.

I will have a tutorial on this in another post.

I really like this mode. This is also called

the sports mode. You use it when you

want to catch sport players in action.

Okay the next assignment is going to be

on White Balance. I know we have gone

over this before but the class is going

to go into a little more detail on it.

I am to pick a subject and take pictures

of it indoors using all the options

listed on my camera under the

White Balance menu.

I am setting my ISO to 800 or higher,

Mode dial to shutter priority, setting my

shutter speed to 1 /60

Then I am to go outside and do the same

thing. This time though, being outside, I will

set my ISO to 100 or 200, Meter in the

middle, (Manual mode) and then

shoot all the options in the

White Balance menu.

So there you have it,

stay tuned for the tutorial on shutter priority.

Until Then,

Tutorial Aperture Priority & Depth of Field

This Tutorial is on Aperture Priority

and Depth Of Field

I have to say I have found a love for this mode.

Aperture is the size of the opening

in the lens when a picture is taken.

Aperture is measured in F-Stops.

Depth of Field (DOF) is that amount

of your shot that will be in focus.

These terms kinda go together because you

will use them together.

I wanted to say that because if your

like me, when I was first beginning, I

was getting a little confused on this part.

To set your camera to Aperture Mode

you will use the AV button or A on

Nikon camera's.

The higher the F-stop number, the more

the background will be in focus.

 For example - F22 or F11

(But also, the higher the F-stop number

the smaller the aperture.)

The lower the F-stop number, the more

the background will be blurry.

Example - F4 or F2 .8

(But also, the smaller the F-stop number

the larger the aperture)

It does get confusing for a new beginner because

the large apertures (large hole lots of light gets through)

are given smaller f-stop numbers and

smaller apertures (smaller hole less light gets through)

 have larger f-stop numbers.

For Example:

F2.8 is a much larger aperture than F22.

It seems the wrong way but it's not.

Here is the diagram again on the aperture holes

The large hole (lets say it's F2 .8) is going to let in

more light. But it has a smaller F-stop number of

F2 .8

I know I went over this on the last tutorial

but I find it easier to learn it again as I

add something new.

If you need more information on the Aperture,

F-stop number, ISO or White Balance

Go HERE to visit my first tutorial.

So, take your camera outside on a sunny day.

Set your White Balance to sunny.

Make sure your dial mode is set on AV or A

Your ISO on 100 or 200

and then your aperture to F22

This means when you take a picture at these

settings of a landscape, then most of the picture

will be in focus.

But it you change your Aperture to F5 .6

and focus on a certain part of the subject,

(in your landscape)

then the background will be blurry and your

subject will be in focus.

You can go HERE

to see my assignment two and try for yourself

the difference in the aperture settings.

The best way to understand how aperture works

 is to just take a lot of pictures with different

 f-stop number values and see what the difference is.

I promise, you will probably fall in love with

this mode too.

Okay, let me repeat myself.  I am not a professional

photographer, I am a wanna-be best picture taken

Momma in town.... Okay, the world....

So, if you should notice that I have made mistakes

in the information that I have provided, please contact

me and let me know.  I can then correct it.

I would love to see YOUR photos, and if 

you should have any questions then comment me.

I LOVE comments !!! 

Good Luck

Photography Assignment 2 Results

Hello,

Hope everyone is having a great week-end...

I just got back from taking MORE pictures for class.

But more on those a different time.

I do however, have assignment 2 for ya.

Depth Of Field

DOF

This assignment was shot in Aperture Prioity mode.

It was done outside on a sunny day and I had

my camera on a tripod.  I set up 4 objects and

had to focus on the second object at an angle. 

The reason for focusing on the second object is so

 that the first object will be in focus some too,

usually depending on the aperture setting.

When you practice this shot, it will make more sense.

My ISO is set to 100 and the White Balance was sunny.

I also used the longest focal length of my lens.

This means, turning your lens all the way out

before taking your pictures.

I first set my Aperture to F22 and took the picture.

I then took one in F16, F11, F8 and F5.6

Now, when it comes to my shutter speed

I did not set it at all. I just let the shutter speed

fall to whatever speed the camera wanted.

Remember, when you start with an opening

Aperture of F22 you are letting more light in

which gives you More Dept of Field.

An Aperture of F2 .8 gives you less light, smaller

opening for less Dept of Field.

This shot was set at F22

You can see that the background is already

getting a little blurry.

Aperture F16

The background is getting even more blurry.

F11

The background is now gone and the green thread

is becoming blurry.

F8

Again, background gone and green and yellow

are looking a little blurry.

F5.6

My background is blurry and you can tell I

focused on the Blue thread. The red thread is

still in focus a little.

I did learn by watching other students work

that the closer you put your camera to the objects

the more Dept Of Field you can get.

I have a wide lens so getting real close is

kinda hard. I love shooting these pictures.

I see more Dept Of Field in my future.

Now, for Assignment three.

~Shutter Priority~

I have to find a moving subject and take

the picture without moving the camera.

(As in not to follow the subject)

My camera settings are

Setting my camera to S or TV

(depending on what your camera calls it)

ISO to 400 and White Balance to Daylight.

I then start with my shutter speed at 1 /30th

and then move to my highest shutter speed, taking

a picture each time I move my shutter speed up.

I will again be using my longest focal length.

I am thinking about a waterfall or a moving car.

What do you think?

Until Next Time..

House Stalking Anyone?

I hope everyone enjoyed their

Labor Day Weekend.

I ventured out on Saturday to a couple

of towns next to me and did a little practicing

on my photography.

This town has an old town district side

to it and you know what happens

when I see old homes.

Snap * Snap * Snap!

I love this cottage home with the beautiful landscape.

I thought this house was pretty neat too.

Here is a better close-up . I love the molding

and columns on the front door entry.

This house is Huge.

It was really hard getting pictures of

this home.

I also took a picture of the side of the home

so you could see just how big it is.

I was actually unable to get all of the view

of the house. People started looking at me

kinda funny. I was out on the street and sidewalks

trying to snap pictures as fast as I could.

This is the garage that sits back behind the home.

Can you imagine having all that space?

Here is a close up of the front porch

I love the doors and the way the steps lead

up to the door. I love the red brick

and the balcony up above.

Okay, I even love the flag.

The flag is just the icing on the cake.....

Look at that FRONT porch..

Isn't that lovely???

Here is a closer view

I love the white columns and of course

the red brick...

I wanted to show you this picture

because, I loved how the back entry was

on the side of the house. There are two doors

there, but the brick column is hiding one of them.

Over to the left of it

is their garage, (which is large.) I didn't get

it into the picture because if you look

real close, they are cleaning out the garage.

Some of their stuff made it into the picture.

I so wanted to get a better picture

but as I tried to closer the owners

looked up at me, so I decided I

would leave them alone.

This home is called the Frank Phillips Home.

This home is very large and in great condition.

It was closed for the holiday so I was

unable to even get on the grounds to

take better close-ups

The man who owned it help make

the town of Bartlesville prosper many years

ago with the Phillips 66 company.

It's now an Oklahoma Historical Society Home.

Okay, I have one more house to show you.

Now this house is not in the same town

the other homes were in, but

OH MY

this is MY house.... 

(okay, not MY house but the house I WANT.)

Can't you just eat up that front porch?

I can see myself sitting out there relaxing

and having a cup of coffee.

I love the big old tree's and the landscape.

I have got to have it.

Everytime I have to go to Claremore

I just HAVE to go by this house

and dream. And dream some more.

There is just not one thing that I love

the most about this house. 

Because, I love every little thing about it.

Some day, YES, some day, I will

have the nerve to walk up to that door

and knock and ask the owner how

much money will it take for this

house to be MINE......

Until then, I will just do a stalking drive by...

Well, that's it for now,

For my wonderful followers, who are

reading my photography class experience,

I will be posting another class project very soon.

Until Then,

Manual Mode Tutorial

This tutorial is on settings when

using your Manual Mode.

White Balance

Your White Balance options are

Sun, Cloudy, Shade, Auto.

There are other options too, it

depends on the settings your camera has.

So, if you want to take a picture

while the sun is out, then you

would choose the sun option.

ISO

Your ISO is your film speed. Even though

your camera is digital the ISO determines how

sensitive the image sensor light is.

The lower the ISO number, the slower the speed.

The higher the ISO number the faster the speed.

Also, Lighter (like outside) the ISO is lower

Darker (like inside or dark outside) the ISO is higher.

* Use an ISO of 100 or 200 when taking

photographs outside in sunny condition.

* Overcast sky, evening time or inside,

use an ISO within the range of 400 to 800.

* Night time or in cases of low light

set your ISO to 1600.

(If you don't, your photo will be too dark ,if at all.)

The higher the ISO number is,

the more grainy the photo will look.

Also, if you HAVE to use an ISO of 3200

then there will be a lot of camera noise. (grainy)

So you will not be able to print your image any

larger than 8 x 12.

Aperture

The Aperture controls the amount of

light that reaches a digital camera sensor.

The aperture is the opening of your lens.

It lets light pass through to reach the sensor.

It's like your pupil. When you go into

a dark room your pupil will

open wider so you can get as

much light as you can to see.

(Example a movie theater)

The opposite happens when you walk outside

to a bright day, your pupil is going to

get smaller so you let in less light to

be able to see.

Just remember this,

(ha, easier said than done, HUH?)

The higher the Aperture number

the smaller the opening is.

The smaller the Aperture number,

the larger the opening is.

Here is diagram to help you understand.

f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22

Small f-stop = larger opening = more light entering

Large f-stop = smaller opening = less light entering

There is one other thing when shooting in Manual mode.

Your metering is located usually inside

the camera. When you look into your camera

and are ready to focus and take your picture,

 you should see your metering below.

Make sure you center the metering before taking

the picture. The dial you use is usually right

above the button you use to take the picture.

That's it, now go take some pictures.

Practice, Practice, Practice.

I would love to see your pictures.

So send them my way.

{Please remember that I am not a professional

photographer. I'm a wanna-be! I'm taking classes to learn

and wanting to share what I have learned with you.

If you should find that any or all information is incorrect,

please feel free to email me to let me know. Or if

you have anything to add, I would like to 

share it. So please charm in.} 

Talk to you soon,