# Tips to help you.



## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

As there are an ever increasing number of Detailing World members buying cameras to capture there work and also a number of seasoned photographers with many good tips to pass on, it might be an idea to have this made a sticky if it works the way I hope. But the mods can decide that.

If you have a tip which helps to acheive good photographs then post it here.

It would also be helpfull if you have any questions about the tips to PM the poster or start another thread. That way we can make the tips easier to find and keep long discussions to a minimum. Thanks:thumb:

So my tip.

*Objects in the sky.*

In auto mode, and faced with difficult lighting conditions, like planes or birds, your DSLRs automatic exposure sensors can be fooled by the bright sky which usually results in a black object against a well exposed background (silhouette). This means detail is lost and the picture becomes less interesting. A quick way round this problem can be had by pointing your camera at the ground and reading off the shutter speed and aperture setting. Turn the camera to *manual* and set the camera to these settings.

Take your picture. You should now find the underside of the subject is better exposed but the sky will be over exposed. Basically your estimating exposure here by using the reflected light from the ground (preferably something like a road surface or pavement which is neutral in colour) rather than a bright sunny sky. It's not a perfect fix but does work.
There are other methods of doing this with DSLRs, but this works well for beginners.

Happy snapping:thumb:


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

*Depth of Field*

A simple example to show maximum and minnimum depth of field.
*
Shallow Depth of Field, f4*









*Deep depth of Field, f22*









It is not just apperture that controls the depth of field. An even shallower depth of field can be achieved by using the camera at its longest focal length. i.e. 100mm on a 28-100mm lens.

Bright lighting will allow you to use a faster shutter speed which can also reduce the depth of field. For example in this image because it was a very, very bright day, the lens was wide open (f5.6) and I was at the longest focal length possible (300mm) the depth of field was very very shallow. Notice the duck singled out and the water drops in focus.










One final point for now. Lets say you are taking a picture of your friend who is stood some distance away in a field. You have your friend locked in focus and you are all set at f8. With your camera set at f8 everything 10meters behind your friend and everything 2 meters infront of your friend is IN focus. This may be parts of the surroundings, i.e. trees, cars etc. If you then *stop down* the lens by one stop you will get f11. Now everything 3 meters in front of your subject and everything 15meters behind you subject will be in focus.

Basically the depth of field behind the subject increases more than whats in front. Hope this makes sense. (The numbers are not exact many factors change the amount of depth of field, i.e. shutter speed, focal length etc.


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

The best tip I know, when asked, "what's the best camera"? the answer, "the one you have with you".

I still don't abide by it and miss great moments:wall:


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

Following on from Spitfires post, the exposure can be locked in with the AE-L button shown below.
This can be used not only for sky shots, but for perhaps a portrait in an oddly lit room, forest etc.
Point the camera to where you wish to meter, press the AE-L button once, this locks the metering into the camera. Re-compose your image and fire your shot.
You are basically fooling the camera to reduce shutter speed and/or opening the aperture to collect more light.
This can be used the other way too.

Image is shown on a Nikon Body:


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

*Photographic rules (leading lines)*

There are many types of photographic techniques used to 'force/guide' the viewer into looking at certain things. Lets look at this NYC image. Think about where your eye travels over the image.....









...was it something like this?









1.The shadow leads you to the person. 
2. You glance up and observe the person.
3. You look at what he is looking at, following his eyeline. (eyelines can be very powerful) 
4+5. Help support you when you follow what the person is looking at. you follow the hedge along and observe the SoL. (number 4 helps stop your eye drifting off the page and helps divert your attention to the statue of liberty!:thumb:


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

Following on from Gary's post, here's the AE Lock on a Canon body. It's the left-hand one (with the star above it). The right-hand one is for selecting the AF point to use.

This is an EOS 400D but I think all the EOS 3xxD and 4xxD are the same - or very similar.


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

If ever in London (Vauxhall), take your DSLR with you and pop into Fixation and treat your camera to a professional clean, they will do it while you wait, bad news is, it will give you time to browse their wonderful range of goodies, a great place to hire too.

http://www.fixationuk.com/Fixation/Fixation - Home/Fixation - Home.html


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

One more before bed:

Often it's good to look further into an image than you normally would, there is an image awaiting capture.
This is a macro image of the inside of a Freesia, a beautiful small flower in its own right, but by using a little imagination, some light and a simple set up, there is so much more to see.
Don't be stuck for things to photograph on a rainy day, there's always something...


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

Final tip for tonight.

*Framing within the environment*

Heres a couple of shots to show you how you can use the environment to your advantage and again divert the attention of viewers so they see what you want them to see. It also helps make the photo aesthetically pleasing. i.e. it is not awkward to look at.





































You will also notice the 1st and last image in these 4 took some planning. I had to wait for the perfect moment when the subject was in the right place for the shot. It took me a good few shots to get the bike one as I couldnt see when they were coming. I had my friend look down the bridge and let me know when someone was coming along. p.s. yes it is brooklyn bridge and New Yorkers are funny people I dont even know this guy but he posed for my shot (see below)










Not the best framing but when your subject is cruising past at 15mph youve gotta be quick!


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Especially for beginners with new DSLR's it can be a bit daunting with all those buttons and menus. There's no quick way of learning unfortunately and there's nothing worse than standing somewhere and not knowing how to set the camera up for the picture you want to take, *so take the instruction manual with you*. It's the only way to learn when your out there on your own.:thumb:


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

spitfire said:


> Especially for beginners with new DSLR's it can be a bit daunting with all those buttons and menus. There's no quick way of learning unfortunately and there's nothing worse than standing somewhere and not knowing how to set the camera up for the picture you want to take, *so take the instruction manual with you*. It's the only way to learn when your out there on your own.:thumb:


Good tip but, as I always say, the beauty of digital is that, unlike film, it costs nothing to experiment so get out there, take lots of shots, try all the settings - you will get most/all of the settings in the EXIF data so no need to remember what settings you used for a shot.

Practice Makes Perfect :thumb:


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

Here's a button which is often overlooked, it's called the Depth of Field Preview button and will/should be located at the lower right-front of your body.

Have a look in your manual for this button, I know most Canons have them too.

What is it?

OK, you set your shutter speed/aperture etc, ready to take the shot; If you wish to see exactly what the sensor will capture, press and hold this button. The diaphragm will adjust to the correct aperture and your EVF may go darker (more common with small apertures).
What you are now looking at is what you will capture, you will be able to see your true focal point and what will be out of focus.
It's a handy function, one that has evolved from film 35mm SLR's and is if great use in portraiture and macro photography where DOF is critical.


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

P is generally a good place to start. 

You might also want to test "what happens" with metering - personally, I tend to use spot metering and centre focus. 
Spot meter? The camera measures the light coming in and adjusts. It might use the whole frame (picture) or a part or a spot. If you want the detail in a dark spot, you'll need to base your exposure on that, or you won't get it. Same thing applies with light.
Ways round this include longer exposures or larger aperture numbers. However, the camera will always "try" and get the right exposure, especially in P mode, so understanding how to change the setting may save the shot you really want.


RAW: Why? 

Your camera's sensor captures information, processes it, and then saves it. JPG means that there is another conversion step in the process, and it's in the camera. This implies that you have no control over it.
If you convert yourself, you have a lot more control. What's in the conversion process?
- exposure compensation - too light / too dark / the camera "knows best"?
- white balance: what colour light you have right now
- curves: changing parts of the luminosity, so that (for example) shadows become brighter, or highlights come down slightly
- colour saturation: vivid colours? or subtle?

You can change all of these and more, when you convert from RAW. Try it on a JPG - it's nowhere near as easy. 

When you can fit 250 RAWs onto a 4GB SDHC card, as I can with 10Megapixel, your reasons for not doing it are minimal. No disk space, no time. Fair enough, but you won't get everything out of the pic that you might if you were to play with it. And if it's not "worth" playing with, why are you taking the shot?

Other quick bits.
- GET YOUR SHOTS STRAIGHT! Use the guide lines in your viewfinder, use the straight lines on buildings, trees, whatever. Straighten in an editing program.
- if you need a good editing program, you don't have to shell out the hundreds on photoshop. GIMP is pretty good, lightroom works well and UFRaw will convert the RAW for you - and that at a price of £0.

Priority list for purchasing: 
- Camera
- basic lens (18-55 or so)
- longer lense (100mm+)
- memory cards, 2-3
- real camera bag to fit it all in, Lowepro and Tamrac are both recommended
about the same prio:
- external flash (EX400, EF530, SB600 or so)
- Tripod: Slik, Velbon, Manfrotto, Red Snapper
then:
- macro / extended Lenses

HtH

Bret


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## mteam (Dec 8, 2007)

I thought I add a few links that I've found useful

Camera demo

stopshootingauto/

digital-photography-school

tutorials Photoshop

Hopefully should help us beginners


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## Lloyd71 (Aug 21, 2008)

A quick tip for anyone who has just bought an SLR;

Buy UV filters for all of your lenses. They won't affect your images, but if anything hits them you'll only have to pay £5 to replace the filter, whereas you'd have to shell out a hell of a lot more for a new lens.


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

they will affect your images, many think in a positive way. I don't like it. 

They will also protect your lenses from dirt (as will any filter) and that means you can also take it off to wash with some QD and an MF.....

Bret


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## Lloyd71 (Aug 21, 2008)

bretti_kivi said:


> they will affect your images, many think in a positive way. I don't like it.


They do a tiny, tiny bit. To most people it won't be noticable, even if you're shooting sky. I've done my own comparison shots with both of my UV filters.


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## leeshez (Dec 26, 2005)

I have aNikon D70. I still have no idea on how to use it corectly.


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

leeshez said:


> I have aNikon D70. I still have no idea on how to use it corectly.


Good site for learning Nikon :thumb: http://www.nikondigitutor.com/index_eng.html


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

leeshez said:


> I have aNikon D70. I still have no idea on how to use it corectly.


The D70 was my first DSLR, nice bit o'kit for a beginner. I couldn't afford the d80 at the time as it had just came out. I still have it for back up. Never needed it since though as my d200 hasnt failed me yet!

The link posted by spitfire should come in handy!:thumb:


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