Reflection - Page 2

Dr. Z · 19-07-2006, 12:07

Absolutely no problem whatsoever

You are on my list of victims anyway

Haly has been dealt with, so now I am moving on down the list!

leowyatt · 19-07-2006, 12:24

Thanks for that info there DRZ

I'll certainly try and get out when you lot are meeting. I've been playing around with apeture and shutter speed which has been very interesting. The ISO thing I hadn't thought about so will throw that together and see what comes out.

The main problem I have is the flash over-exposing the picture, that the correct term? From what you've said I would need a big apeture and a fastish shutter speed?

Desmo · 19-07-2006, 12:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRZ

You are on my list of victims anyway

Would be good to have a god on some decent equipment along with a guiding hand

I'm not a photographer by any stretch but I love decent pictures and I think I could pick it up well.

Dr. Z · 19-07-2006, 12:47

Flash from a P&S is very unnatural. Think about almost every situation you ever come across - the light comes from above and is diffuse - its not a beam of bright light coming from straight ahead! With an onboard flash, that is exactly what you get - harsh, stark light from the wrong place. Take a bit of card and bounce the flash off it up to the ceiling and the results are instantly better, you just need to adjust the exposure to compensate. I have only just got myself a flash so I am still very much learning with it but basically the shutter speed and aperture control the balance between the naturally available light and the light from the flash.

Desmo, if you want to get into it as a bit of a hobby there are some sweet "creative compacts" which produce image quality on a par with a reasonable SLR setup once you are used to it, but at a fraction of the cost. I dont know what you have now but if you want to move away from snaps etc it might be worth looking into

What I mean by that is this; If you take my first shot in this thread, it would cost (in terms of the kit I was using):

£600ish for the body
£100 for the grip
£1100 for the lens
£80 for the polariser
£50 for the memory
etc

Thats not far off £2000!

The same shot is perfectly attainable with something like a Canon S3 IS which you can get for about £330 or so. DSLRs arent the be all and end all and I freely admit it is almost total overkill for my skill level!

leowyatt · 19-07-2006, 12:51

Exposure, does that alter the light getting to the sensor too?

I was originally thinking of getting the Sony V3 but couldn't afford it and got the A95.

Dr. Z · 19-07-2006, 13:01

Exposure is the total amount of light getting to the sensor. Overexposed means too much light generally, underexposed means too little. Shutter speed, aperture and ISO all vary the exposure basically.

You can have varying degrees of that including what is called "blown highlights". A sensor has what is called a dynamic range which is the brightest thing it can display right down to the darkest thing. Light hitting the scene creates highlights.

Imagine a scene where you are stood in the shade looking out over a scene. - if you expose for the shadowy bit, you will overexpose the scene if it is a bright day, "blowing" the highlights (almost impossible to recover, and at any rate all detail is lost). A classic example of blown highlights is in one of my shots above - the silhouette of the people walking along the path. The reflection of the sun in the water is blown out in parts - thats unavoidable in shots like that but say if it was a photo of someone's face using a direct flash, you can blow the highlights in the light on the subjects face - not pretty.

leowyatt · 19-07-2006, 13:10

I seem to remember you can actually manually alter the exposure on the camera by -2/+2

Dr. Z · 19-07-2006, 13:17

In auto modes you can use exposure compensation, yes. Basically that means it will use a different shutter speed (or aperture if its in a sports mode) depending on where you set the compensation.

In full manual mode, it wont make any difference to your shots and you will be all on your own!

In the semi-manual modes I use I tend to have my camera set to -1 EV (underexposing by 1 stop) because Canons tend to overexpose slightly. In full manual it is all down to me

Tak · 19-07-2006, 13:51

*Tries to read information posts - brain gives up and hides*

I have tried to read stuff on how to be a good photgrapher but as soon as I see things like "rule of 3" or "apeture" or "DoF" my brain shuts down - I just can't seem to understand any of it

I see something I like, I point, I click, sometimes I'll fiddle with zoom or flashes or auto-settings but that is about it

leowyatt · 19-07-2006, 13:51

I tend to use the sport mode most but have been playing around with the shutter and apeture priority modes. Learning how things work, I tried the manual setting but that was a disaster

I'll set the exposure to -1 and have a go. Should be a good day today as it's nice and light.

EDIT: Takhisis - there is a good tutorial I saw on the web that explains bits about exposure and stuff as DRZ has said. Don't worry about your brain going "blergh!" when you see rule of 3 I'm still sturggling with that.

My best bit of advice is to get your camera and play around with all apeture and shutter speeds and try taking photos on each setting seeing how they come out.

19-07-2006, 12:07	#11
Dr. Z I'm going for a scuttle... Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,021	Absolutely no problem whatsoever You are on my list of victims anyway Haly has been dealt with, so now I am moving on down the list! __________________

19-07-2006, 12:24	#12
leowyatt Chef extraordinaire Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Infinite Loop Posts: 11,143	Thanks for that info there DRZ I'll certainly try and get out when you lot are meeting. I've been playing around with apeture and shutter speed which has been very interesting. The ISO thing I hadn't thought about so will throw that together and see what comes out. The main problem I have is the flash over-exposing the picture, that the correct term? From what you've said I would need a big apeture and a fastish shutter speed? __________________ "Dr Sheldon Cooper FTW!"

19-07-2006, 12:47	#14
Dr. Z I'm going for a scuttle... Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,021	Flash from a P&S is very unnatural. Think about almost every situation you ever come across - the light comes from above and is diffuse - its not a beam of bright light coming from straight ahead! With an onboard flash, that is exactly what you get - harsh, stark light from the wrong place. Take a bit of card and bounce the flash off it up to the ceiling and the results are instantly better, you just need to adjust the exposure to compensate. I have only just got myself a flash so I am still very much learning with it but basically the shutter speed and aperture control the balance between the naturally available light and the light from the flash. Desmo, if you want to get into it as a bit of a hobby there are some sweet "creative compacts" which produce image quality on a par with a reasonable SLR setup once you are used to it, but at a fraction of the cost. I dont know what you have now but if you want to move away from snaps etc it might be worth looking into What I mean by that is this; If you take my first shot in this thread, it would cost (in terms of the kit I was using): £600ish for the body £100 for the grip £1100 for the lens £80 for the polariser £50 for the memory etc Thats not far off £2000! The same shot is perfectly attainable with something like a Canon S3 IS which you can get for about £330 or so. DSLRs arent the be all and end all and I freely admit it is almost total overkill for my skill level! __________________ Last edited by Dr. Z; 19-07-2006 at 12:50.

19-07-2006, 12:51	#15
leowyatt Chef extraordinaire Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Infinite Loop Posts: 11,143	Exposure, does that alter the light getting to the sensor too? I was originally thinking of getting the Sony V3 but couldn't afford it and got the A95. __________________ "Dr Sheldon Cooper FTW!"

19-07-2006, 13:01	#16
Dr. Z I'm going for a scuttle... Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,021	Exposure is the total amount of light getting to the sensor. Overexposed means too much light generally, underexposed means too little. Shutter speed, aperture and ISO all vary the exposure basically. You can have varying degrees of that including what is called "blown highlights". A sensor has what is called a dynamic range which is the brightest thing it can display right down to the darkest thing. Light hitting the scene creates highlights. Imagine a scene where you are stood in the shade looking out over a scene. - if you expose for the shadowy bit, you will overexpose the scene if it is a bright day, "blowing" the highlights (almost impossible to recover, and at any rate all detail is lost). A classic example of blown highlights is in one of my shots above - the silhouette of the people walking along the path. The reflection of the sun in the water is blown out in parts - thats unavoidable in shots like that but say if it was a photo of someone's face using a direct flash, you can blow the highlights in the light on the subjects face - not pretty. __________________

19-07-2006, 13:10	#17
leowyatt Chef extraordinaire Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Infinite Loop Posts: 11,143	I seem to remember you can actually manually alter the exposure on the camera by -2/+2 __________________ "Dr Sheldon Cooper FTW!"

19-07-2006, 13:17	#18
Dr. Z I'm going for a scuttle... Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,021	In auto modes you can use exposure compensation, yes. Basically that means it will use a different shutter speed (or aperture if its in a sports mode) depending on where you set the compensation. In full manual mode, it wont make any difference to your shots and you will be all on your own! In the semi-manual modes I use I tend to have my camera set to -1 EV (underexposing by 1 stop) because Canons tend to overexpose slightly. In full manual it is all down to me __________________

19-07-2006, 13:51	#19
Tak L'Oréal Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Portsmouth Posts: 9,977	Tries to read information posts - brain gives up and hides I have tried to read stuff on how to be a good photgrapher but as soon as I see things like "rule of 3" or "apeture" or "DoF" my brain shuts down - I just can't seem to understand any of it I see something I like, I point, I click, sometimes I'll fiddle with zoom or flashes or auto-settings but that is about it __________________ The look on your face when a toddler rips out your heart and shows it to you? Priceless.... For everything else, there's FWOOSH!