Shooting RAW

 As I said in the previous post, I suggest you to shoot all your photos in a RAW format. I do the same and many other photographers aswell. Now you probably wonder what is this type of format. Well, I'll make everything clear for you.

Your camera, when you buy it, it is set to shoot in JPEG format which is a very common file format.The important thing is that the format can be changed and there is where RAW comes in.Once you       change into RAW you will be able to shoot less photos (RAW files are bigger) but it worth it, trust me!

 A RAW file is...

-A different file format which will require a special software to to view (Adobe Lightroom for example)
-Uncompressed (A 10 megapixel camera will produce a 10 MB file)
-The complete (lossless) data from the camera's sensor.
-Higher in dynamic range ( ability to display highlights and shadows)
-Lower in contrast
-Not as sharp
-Not suitable for printing without post-processing 
-Ready to be processed by your computer.

Shooting RAW has both advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

-Compared to 8-bit JPEG that can only contain up to 16 million colors, the RAW (12-bit) can take up to over 64 billion colors!
-RAW format contains the most dynamic range so you will be able to change the lighting after if it's over or underexposed. (To do that you will need a special piece of software such as Adobe Lightroom)
-As I said, It is a compressed file but comparing to a JPEG file, the file utilize a lossless compression. This means that the photo doesn't suffer from image compression artifacts.
-No image sharpening is performed so you can apply more complex one in your PC.
-RAW files can be used as evidence of your ownership of the photograph.

Disadvantages:

-The files require post-production and conversion before using them.
-Takes much more of the camera's space
-You will have to convert them into other formats (JPEG,TIFF) before giving them away.

So I use RAW or JPEG?

If you just started and want to take hundreds of photos just to have them, then shoot JPEG.
If you just started and you want to make something out of it, the switch to RAW. I know it's bigger format and you can take only few hundreds photo but don't worry because if you messed them up, you can fix them later. Storage memory is cheap these days so that shouldn't be a problem.
You don't have to do it now, you can try. Go outside, switch to RAW, take few photos then go home and edit them, make them as you like and don't worry you will get used to it.

Ok, now we know what RAW is, how to edit it, how to convert it?

I am using Adobe Lightroom for this. It's a great software that allows you to play with the exposure, colors etc. and i'm not the only one using it. You can also use Photoshop which also gives you many other editing options. Both let you to export the photo in a different format  and both are great!

Shooting RAW is a way in which you can improve your stile and your skills and it also makes you see the things different. Being limited in terms of numbers of shots makes you think the composition before actual shooting. It opens your mind and your eyes and I think it's great change that you can do in your photography career. Take it slowly, as I said, practice it and it will get better and better.

Now let's say it together: I Shoot RAW!

Digital Photography Class: Break Time!

Exposure: ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture

OK! So I assume that after you saw the previous post, you decided on which DSLR to buy. Once you have it, we should move on and the most important thing that you have to learn now is about exposure.

What is Exposure?

A photograph's exposure means how light or how dark an image will appear when it's been captured by your camera.This important process is determined by 3 camera settings: Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO.

To make this easier to understand, I have here 2 photos that i took:

 In this example, the photo is overexposed, that means i let to much light to go into my camera













In this one, the photo is underexposed, meaning that to little light went into the camera,

This example shows you the right exposure.What this means? The amount of light that went into the camera was good.

TIP:Always try to shoot your photos in a RAW format. This type of format will let you change many settings in the post-production process (Lightroom, Photoshop). Don't worry, I will tell you soon what that means.







Now that you understand the basics of exposure, it's time to go into details.



First of all, there are 3 things that you have to remember all the type:
ISO:Controls the sensitivity of your camera's sensor to a given amount of light.
Shutter Speed:Controls the duration of the exposure.
Aperture:Controls the area over which light can enter your camera.

Once you go into the Manual Mode of your camera, you will be able to play with these settings, depending on the situations, in order to get the right exposure.

ISO

The ISO determines how sensitive the camera is to incoming light. I correlates 1:1 with how much the exposure increases or decreases. Unlike the Shutter speed or the Aperture, a higher ISO will bring noise to the image, so try ti keep it low.

                                                     

                                                                     High ISO speed                 Low ISO speed

                                                                                           (High Image Noise)          (Low Image Noise)

Common ISO speeds include 100, 200, 400 and 800 but they can go up 6400 or even higher with the top DSLRs. Using a DSLR, you can get acceptably low image noise in the range 100-800.

Shutter Speed

A camera's shutter speed determines when the camera sensor will be open or closed to incoming light from camera lens. I specifically refers to how long this light is permitted to enter the camera

Shutter speed=Exposure time (Same thing)

The shutter speed is probably the easiest from these 3 setting that i've been talking about. I correlates 1:1 with the amount of light entering the camera(e.g. When the exposure time doubles, the amount of light entering doubles). It also offers you the widest range of possibilities:

• 1-30+ seconds-  Specialty at night and low light photos on a tripod
• 2-1/30 second- To add a silky look to a flowing water/a motion blur to the background of a subject
• 1/50-1/100 second- Typical hand-held photos
• 1/250-1/4000 second- To capture fast-moving subjects, sports, wildlife etc.

The slower the shutter speed, the more light goes in, the faster the shutter speed? You know the answer!

Here I present you 2 examples: 1 taken with a slow shutter speed and 1 with a fast one:

Here is the one with a faster shutter speed(1/200 sec.) It captured well the moment making everything clear.

Here is the one with a slow shutter speed(4 seconds).It didn't capture the car, only the light left by them.When shoot a slow shutter speed, ALWAYS! use a tripod!

Quick Tip:The flash always freezes the subject. For example you want to have your subject to look clear, no blurry while the background is taken with the slow shutter speed. You set the exposure time low (few seconds) and you also pup up the flash(make sure it is in rear sink). You hit the capture button and wait for the magic!

Aperture

A camera's aperture setting controls the area over which light can pass through the camera lens.It is measured in terms of F-stop. The bigger the f-stop the smaller the aperture is.The f-stop numbers differ from lens to lens, from camera to camera.A DSLR camera will have a f-stop up to f/32, starting from f/1.4 or f/1.8 etc. If you are shooting in low-light situations you would want to use a lens with a very small f-number (e.g. f/1.4) so you can get more light going in).

How it appears: A camera's aperture setting is what determines a photo's depth of field.The lower the f-stop number, the shallower depth of field o photo will have.

In this example, the photographer used a low f-number and the background is blurry giving a shallow depth of field.

                                                                                                 

This example shows you a large depth of field, meaning that the photographer used a big f-number.










Now that you know the main settings, you can start play with them.I will show you few examples of photographs took with a different combination of these settings.

The ISO is the ISO (Obviously) 
F/ xy is the Aperture number
S.speed: zy is the shutter speed

 Low ISO for getting no noise 
 F/10 to get a decent depth of field
 1/2000 for letting the enough amount of light in.

 Low ISO for getting no noise 
 F/22 to get a large d.o.f (depth of field)
 6 seconds for the effect 

Pretty high ISO to get enough light in
F/4.2 again to get enough light and to create a blurry background
1/10 sec. Light reasons , again

 Low ISO for getting no noise
 F/6.3 for a decent d.o.f
 1/80 sec to get the proper exposure.

 

 

 

 

 

Now that you know the basics, you are ready to go on! 

Digital Photography Class: Break time!!

Best Entry-level DSLRs

Hi!

As you probably noticed, my blog is about photography and I decided to start with the beginning. What to buy first?

Let's get started!

I have here 5 amazing cameras and i will briefly tell you what each of them does, and let you decide which one is the best for you.




Because I am a Nikon fan, I will start with it. It's the D3200!

It's the same D3200 that I own and I can easily tell you.It is incredible!
It replaces it's older brother, the D3100 bringing some major upgrades at the same time,probably the most impressive one being the 24.4MP resolution-by the far the highest in his class. Other features such as the 921k-dot LCD monitor and 1080p Full HD movie capture make this camera one of the best entry-level DSLR.





Canon EOS 1100D (Rebel T3i)

For the entry-level class, Canon brings the EOS 1100D or Rebel T3i an known in the USA. 12.4MP CMOS sensor and nine-point autofocus will make everything simple to use bringing great results at the same time.
It's a fantastic camera to build your DSLR skills in a smooth and easy way.

Sony Alpha SLT-A37

Well..the A37 isn't technically a DSLR-rather it's a SLT(Single Lens Translucent) model. This means that the camera doesn't have an optical viewfinder but don't worry, the 1.44m-dot electronic viewfinder and fixed semi-transparent mirror enables it to shoot at a speed up 7fps! making it perfect for capturing action with. In addition, you can shoot 1080p Full HD  movies too! How awesome is that?!





Pentax K-r

Pentax still lists this strongly-featured entry-level DSLR on its "current model" page whereas it is, in fact, sadly discontinued. Built around a 12.1MP CMOS sensor, the Pentax comes with an 11-point AF system.
Movie capture is limited to 720p HD but  in all other areas, the  K-r blows most of it's competition straight out of the water.

I lined them up, you choose the winner!