Taking Control Of Your Photos

This will be the first in a series of blog posts entitled, "Taking Control of Your Photos".  Framing your image can only be done by you.  Choosing the right angle, distance, time of day and camera settings are all variables that are controlled by you, the photographer.  Yet, there are many other aspects that make up a photo that your camera decides based on software and computations that are done without your knowledge that also can have a huge impact on the look, feel and overall tone of your photo.  I am going to tell you how to take control of those parameters so you can decide what your photo will look like without the camera dictating that to you.

The topics I am going to cover over the next few posts are as follows:

• Shutter Speed / Focal Length Rule of Thumb
• Setting Proper White Balance
• Why you shouldn't shoot in Programmed Auto
• Shooting in Aperture Priority
• Shooting in Shutter Priority
• Advantages/Disadvantages of shooting in Aperture or Shutter Priority
• RAW vs JPG
• More To Follow

I am going to make the assumption that if you are reading this, you realize what focal length is.  If not, a lens that is a 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens for example, has a wide and a long end.  The wide end would be 70mm and the long end is 200mm.  Those numbers are the focal lengths.  If you shoot a picture at 135mm, that, would be the focal length of that particular photo.  The longer the focal length of a lens, the further "reach" it has to pull in a subject to you.  A 600mm lens is VERY long and can see a flea on a dog from a mile away.  A 12mm lens is on the opposite end of the spectrum is very wide.  

There are three key elements that make up each and every photo taken.  Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO.    Each one plays off of the other two and always need to be in sync to capture a sharp, well exposed, clean photo.  Right now, I'm going to concentrate on Shutter Speed since I'm going to explain the rule of thumb to follow using the relationship between shutter speed and focal length.

Shutter Speed is the length of time that the shutter inside the camera is "exposing" the film or in today's world, the digital imaging sensor to the subject.  On your camera, the shutter speed is shown most of the time as a fraction, i.e. 1/500, 1/250, 1/8, 1/4 and so on.  This can also be a whole number such as 1", 5" or 8".  A shutter speed of 1/2000 is VERY fast, whereas a speed of 1/2 is extremely slow.  1/500 reads as one five hundredths of a second.  1/2 reads as half a second.  In the photography world, 1/2 second is an eternity.  1" second is even longer.  So much can happen in half a second to make the photo that you think you have framed correctly and planned out completely turn into a blur.  

Here is where the rule of thumb comes into play.

Now, this rule of thumb only works when you are shooting without a flash and without a tripod.  This is for shooting handheld.  The rule of thumb states that your shutter speed should be equal to or faster than your focal length.  First, frame your photo.  Take a look at your lens and see what focal length you are shooting at.  Lets say you are shooting at 125mm.  Turn that focal length into a fraction by placing a 1/ in front of it.  125mm becomes 1/125.  This means your shutter speed needs to be equal to or faster than 1/125 of a second to eliminate blur in your photo from camera shake.  The longer a lens, the more susceptible it becomes to camera shake.  Hand-holding a 500mm can be done, though the rule of thumb states that your shutter speed needs to be at least 1/500 of a second or better.  1/1000 would be acceptable and 1/1500 would be even better and so on because they are faster speeds.  Less can go wrong in a shorter amount of time.  

500mm focal length, 1/1000 of a second.  Nice and sharp.

200mm focal length, 1/80 of a second.  Too Slow.

A 50mm lens is considered a normal focal length.  It's not wide, but also not long either.  It's normal.  50mm becomes 1/50 of a second.  A shutter speed of 1/50 or faster is required to gain a sharp shot.  1/60, 1/100, 1/200 are all faster and would be acceptable.  1/40, 1/15 or 1/10 are slower and shooting at these speeds will risk a blurry photo being captured.

In my next post, I will address what to do when your shutter speed is too slow for a given focal length and what advantages shooting in a different mode will give you.  

This all is about taking control of an image and making it yours.  Anyone can point the camera at a subject and press the shutter release.  Knowing how to capture the absolute best image given current conditions and setting up a shot properly is key to becoming a great photographer.  Keep shooting, keep practicing and remember the fundamentals of what makes a great photo.  

Packing Your Camera Bag, Intelligently

I cannot tell you how many times I have stared into my camera bag and pondered whether or not I was taking the right lenses along. My main concerns are:

• Bag weight - How long and how far will I be carrying around my camera bag around while shooting?
• Subject matter - What will I be shooting and is there any lenses or accessories in my bag that I can leave at home? Is there anything that is not in my bag that I need to consider bringing along?
• Length of stay - Will I be away from home and do I need to bring a charger for my camera or flash batteries?

The first bulletpoint topic won't apply to you if you only have one lens. In today's world, consumers having only one general purpose walk-around zoom lens is not abnormal at all. Most advanced amatuers do have a few lenses and if you are obsessed like I am, you have more lenses then will fit into your bag even without a camera body occupying it. If you are shooting indoors at a birthday party or a baby shower for example, a standard zoom will suffice. My "normal" lens is a 28-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor. It's wide enough to use inside but also is long enough to tighten a shot if needed. I would feel comfortable enough bringing strictly this lens and leaving all others at home because it's a great range; a common range that in most circumstances works quite well. If I have never shot at a location previously, I would also consider bringing something even wider. A large group of people in a confined space requires an even wider lens because once you zoom out all of the way, you have to start physically backing up. My goto lens in this circumstance is my 15-30mm. Notice that right now I am not bringing any lens with a focal length longer than 70mm. You just do not need to bring a large lens ( high focal length mm ) with you to an indoor occasion such as a birthday party, etc.

In regards to bag weight, if I know that I will not be lugging around my camera all day, I feel more comfortable packing the bag a bit heavier knowing that I can either set it down somewhere or I can leave it locked securely in my car's trunk. You can now buy bags that are suitcase style and have wheels to make moving your gear around even easier. Most of these feature locks and even cables to secure the bag to a much bigger object so that your gear does not grow legs of it's own and disappear. ThinkTankPhoto offers a great selection of these type of bags. I have always used LowePro for my camera bags. They offer a great selection of sizes and have always built quality products.

There are certainly days where I leave the house and really don't know where I will end up shooting but also don't want an overly heavy bag. On these days, I pack the following:

• Nikon D200 camera body.
• 28-70 f/2.8
• 70-200 f/2.8
• 1 Flash
• Spare Memory Cards
• Camera Connection Kit for my iPad

You might wonder why I am so concerned about bag weight. Early in my photography shooting life, I shot an entire Formula 1 race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Having not been there before, I brought absolutely everything with me that I could fit into my bag and brought my heavy ass tripod to boot. I had my Nikon D1h body, 3 spare batteries, a very beastly 80-200mm AF-S f/2.8 Nikkor, 28-70mm f/2.8, 15-30mm Sigma, and my 50-500mm Sigma. My inexperience at the time had me switching lenses left and right without learning to use the best aspects of one lens and sticking with it. I enjoyed the fast focusing and quality of the 70-200mm, but the reach of the 50-500 was unparalleled. Did I use the 28-70mm? No. The 15-30mm? No. It was simply dead weight that I got to lug around that ENORMOUS racetrack all day with not a single shot using either of those lenses. Knowing that for the following day, my camera bag was lighter having only brought the 70-200mm and the 50-500mm.

Spending a few minutes thinking about what you will be shooting and which lenses to bring will make your back and shoulders thank you later in the day!

The third bullet point is simple. If you are staying overnight somewhere, pack your camera battery charger and if you plan on using your flash, throw that charger in your overnight bag as well. If you don't use either one, so be it. But if you do need it, you will have it handy.

Airshow Photography

When we visit airshows, we visit for the way aircraft seem to slice through the sky without effort, the way the afterburners rumble the ground on the takeoff roll. Trying to capture this is a photograph can be difficult. Obviously we cannot reproduce the sound of an F-15 Eagle barreling down the runway pulling into the vertical and disappearing out of sight into the sky. But what we can do is capture the speed, the raw power and the beauty of these aircraft.

I have been shooing airshows for over 10 years varying from a huge fly-in such as Sun ‘N Fun in Lakeland to small shows with only a handful of performers flying to a crowd gathered on the edge of a lake. Of course, shooting any subject multiple times will teach you the dos and don’ts and will also help you hone your techniques to deliver the results you expect.

So what makes a great airshow day? In my opinion, I don’t want a clear blue sky as it looks like each aircraft is simply cut and pasted into the sky with no reference or relationship to the background, as shown in the photo of the F-16 shown below. A few spotty clouds is ideal, it gives the photo depth and texture and can sometimes frame an aircraft as shown below as well with the Mustang.

 © Rob Clements 2012

 © Rob Clements 2012

The sun can be your friend and can quickly be your enemy as well. One important rule of thumb for any type of photography is to shoot with the sun to your back if able; this gives you the most contrast on your subject and disposes of any risk of lens flare. Shooting into the sun at an airshow makes for an absolutely dreadful time as exposing aircraft with the sun behind them is nothing short of tricky. A well planned, thought out airshow will favor the runway ( if winds allow ) that gives the spectators the best view without looking up and into the sun for the duration of the show. 
Speaking of spectators, if you plan on shooting any airplanes in the static display or any other aircraft on the ground for that matter, plan on getting there early. It can be difficult to shoot an aircraft on the ground without someone in a big floppy straw hat stepping into your frame while he peaks inside the jet intake of that F-22 Raptor that you’ve been looking so forward to getting a shot of. Not only will shooting at an early hour reduce the number of people walking around the ramp, it will also let you shoot in that golden hour of warm light in the morning that just makes planes on the ramp glow almost like they are alive.

Most photographers have their own opinions about focal lengths to bring to an airshow. Ideally, a wide angle lens is great for capturing those views from the tail of a warbird looking up the fuselage to the propeller. I believe most will agree with me on this point. Another advantage of shooting with the wide angle is that you can get closer to an aircraft and reduce the number of people that are going to walk in front of you because you are able to stand a lot closer and get the shot. 

A prime lens (fixed focal length) will always give you a sharper image than a zoom, but it is definitely not as flexible at an airshow as a zoom is. I really enjoy the ability to frame the subject using the zoom knowing that I will be able to keep cropping to an absolute minimum in post processing because I framed the shot when I took it. Focal length is important for getting the shots that you will be proud of when reviewing your images after the show. Vapor pouring over the wings in a High-G turn is a great example of a longer lens paying dividends back to you. In my opinion, 200mm on a D-SLR is the minimum especially if you have a camera with a 1.5x crop factor (that 200mm lens becomes a 300mm). A long prime lens such as a 400mm f/2.8 will allow you to capture some very tight shots but you will lose some flexibility once the aircraft nears your shooting position as you cannot zoom out. Shooting this way requires some fast thinking and framing technique on the fly. Like I said, I'm a big fan of a long zoom at airshows because of this very reason. I'd rather frame the shot at the moment of capture then losing precious image size while post processing.

Now this might come as a surprise to some, but photographing a jet is easier than photographing a much slower moving aerobatic aircraft.

Why? Simple. Since there is not a moving propellor on a jet, the only thing to worry about is to ensure that your shutter speed is fast enough to get a sharp shot on the plane and at an f-stop that is in the sweet range for your lens. You don't want to shoot an entire airshow at f/2.8 just because your lens will allow you too. You might end up with a very fast shutter speed, but your images will not be at their optimum. As long as you have enough shutter speed while shooting the fast movers, bump your f-stop down a few bumps from it's maximum.

On my 70-200mm f/2.8 as example, I typically shoot at f/4.

Propeller driven aircraft and helicopters are both a different story than the jets. Any propellor in the photo should not be frozen due to a fast shutter speed. It's not natural and it just looks wrong.

Helicopter rotors are not visible while they are flying overhead, so why should they be any different in your photo? A slower shutter speed and consequently, more technique is needed to get the blades in motion while also keeping the rest of the aircraft sharp and in focus. I will normally shoot at f/8 and adjust the aperture up and down from there to gain the best shutter speed. 

As far as where to shoot from during the show, I prefer to shoot from what is known as, "show center".  This is the point that all of the pilots will use as a reference or almost like a home plate for their entire routine.  Take into consideration any potential obstacles that might block your shots such as temporary control towers , rescue equipment, etc.

Try to attend as many shows as you can and learn to deal with the variables like the weather and the crowds.  You will learn to adapt to shooting each type of aircraft be it a fast moving fighter or a tumbling aerobatic Pitts.  Enjoy yourself, have fun and keep shooting!  

Nighttime Photography

This is the first time I've ever created a Blog, so you will experience it as I do as I learn the in's and out's of the process and what is has to offer.

The first topic I thought I would Blog about is nighttime photography, and in this example, was taken at Lake Eola located in Orlando, FL.  Night time photography is one of the most challenging aspects of photography as you need to learn the balances between aperture, shutter speed and ISO.  All three of these factors make up every single photo you take, regardless of the lighting conditions or the time of day.  But when shooting at night, managing all three of these factors to the best that your skill level and camera allows will give you the best possible photo.  Another absolute must is a tripod.  You can forget about taking an eight-second long photograph hand-held. Some would argue that you could brace the camera against something for that duration, but I for one would definitely opt for a tripod.  It cannot be matched in sturdiness.  The shot below was taken using an ISO of 100 as you do not need to raise the ISO in order to gain a faster shutter speed as it will be a long exposure regardless.  If you are looking to have less motion in the photo, obviously you would want to raise the ISO to gain that sensitivity.  Also, keeping the ISO low will result in less noise in your photograph.  The shutter speed was set at 8 seconds to allow a proper exposure and also to capture movement in the water and cars driving down the street.  An aperture of 5 was used to keep most of the scene in focus.

Lake Eola, Orlando Florida                       © Rob Clements 2012

The white balance was set to an extremely low Kelvin temperature setting to create the cool feel to the sky and the surrounding parts of the photo.  White balance will play an integral role in the overall feel of your photo.  In my opinion, a cool Kelvin temperature will give you a clean, stylish tone to your image and a warmer Kelvin temperature will produce a more urban, sodium light-type image.  As always, if you wish, you can shoot a grey card to set a custom White Balance on your camera or to use in Post-Processing later on, that is perfect too.  Personally, I like to see while on location how changing the White Balance changes the look and feel of the image while I'm still there shooting.  

Since you will be shooting using a longer shutter speed, any vibrations or bumps to the camera or the tripod itself will reduce the sharpness of your photo.  During an 8 second exposure, a lot can go wrong if you do not take the right precautions. A simple one that I would recommend is to use a remote release cable for the shutter.  This will take your hands off of the camera and tripod and allow the mirrors to open, the photo to expose and the mirrors to close without any potential bumps from your hand on the shutter release.  Also, if your camera has a mirror lockup / exposure delay mode, this would also be beneficial to you.  This allows the mirrors to open, and the photo doesn't begin exposing until 1 second after they open to prevent "mirror slap" from potentially blurring your image.  Any thing that you can do to prevent vibrations, bumps no matter how big or small, will help you in successfully photographing a sharp image.

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