Author: ksccc

Depth-of-Field Tutorials for the April Meeting

This video may be a good primer for Depth of Field and may be a good one to show during the club meeting. It is 6:13 minutes in length.

Part 1- Short Lens by Mike Browne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uU9O8c7Hss

And here is the other part of Mike’s demonstration where he pulls it all together

Part 2- Long Lens by Mike Browne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-WvzWvt7M

This one is pretty basic and is fairly easy to understand

By Cam Crunch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHxG1f3X1f4

This one is a bit more technical and is explained with drawings. While a little harder to get your head around, it may help to shed light on the concepts in a different way.

By Dylan Bennett

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34jkJoN8qOI

Some good tips on shooting photographs that require a very wide depth of field.

By lynda.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlQaiCPTFS4

(Hint: Also, search YouTube for “Hyperfocal Distance”)

Some good demonstrations on shooting portraits with a shallow DOF

By Adorama TV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUYuUs1aaCU

There are many Depth of Field Calculators available online and in Apple and Android environments. You can simply dial in your Camera Sensor Size, Aperture Value, Focal Length and Distance to Subject. The DOF calculator will give your DOF for those values.

Phil Tughan

Marg’s Tip for April

Figure Out What Type of Photographer You Are

april-hints-figure-out-what-kind-of-photographer-you-are

You should try shooting all sorts of stuff – from food to landscapes, from portraits to sports, from products to travel, and everything in between.  When you are just starting out, shoot everything. And once you have done that, sit down and figure out what kind of photographer you really want to be and work on that.

The first step is to take a good look at the stuff you’ve been shooting and ask yourself, “Which one of these do I seen to have knack for? Or, Which shots have people told me I have a knack for?  Chances are there is something you shot that you particularly felt you had a knack for – you just kind of knew what to do.

Okay, that’s step one (and it might be more than one thing – you might feel like you have a knack for travel, sports and natural light portraits, and that’s okay).  The next step is to ask yourself, “Which one of these do I really enjoy shooting?”  This is really important, because this is what you should be focusing on.  There’s no sense at getting really good at product photography when what you really want to be is a natural light portrait photographer.

But, few photographers, even more experienced ones, really sit down and think this through – they just shoot what comes their way.  And while they may wind up being competent at shooting a lot of different things, I’m guessing being competent isn’t your goal (it’s like getting a C+ in class).  Finding who you are as a photographer allows you to focus your learning, your energy, and your time in the right direction.  When you start to get good at what you really enjoy, this is when the magic happens.

Marg Jackman

 

Orchidophelia

orchids by Ron Pierce
Orchids by Ron Pierce

For a chance to shoot some spectacular flowers, visit the orchid show which is back at the RA Centre on the weekend of Saturday April 22 from 12:00 to 5:00 and Sunday April 23 from 9:00 to 5:00.

For more details check out their website. They encourage photography but limit the use of tripods to Sunday the 23rd from 9:00 to 11:00

To see a few examples of images shot by club members at a past show look at our May 2014 gallery.

April Meeting

The next Camera Club meeting with be held on Friday April 7th at 9:15 AM.

Our meeting will include:

  • Three member presentations
    • iPhone Photography by Anne
    • Composite Photography by Ron
    • Group of 4’s, 52 Week Challenge by Fraser
  • Announcements on the Canadian Camera Conference 2017 and the Kanata Cultural Festival
  • Marg’s photography hint and joke
  • Slide show of member images from March “Fixed in Post” assignment.  Members may submit one original unedited photo (straight from the camera) and the same photo edited.  See below for additional information on submitting images.
  • Slide show and suggestions for member’s unedited photos.  For members who are not comfortable with a photo editing program, they may submit one unedited photo for review.  See below for additional information on submitting photos.
  • Tip of the Day “Depth of Field” by Phil
  • Announcements

Your images from the March “Fixed in Post” assignment include either:

  • Two photos; one unedited and one edited.  In Photo 1 include the word “original” in the filename e.g. Snowy beach original by John Williamson.jpg.  In Photo 2 include the word “edited” in the filename e.g.  Snowy beach edited by John Williamson.jpg; OR
  • One unedited photo for members to provide suggestions on how it could be edited e.g. Snowy beach by John Williamson.jpg

Your images for the March assignment must be emailed by noon on Friday, March 31st to be included in the slide show. For details on how to submit photos including formats and titles (see above for title changes to the filename for this assignment) go to our Galleries page.

The Mentors will be available before the meeting to help you with any technical or creative questions you have about photography.

See you on April 7th.

World Backup Day!

wbd_horizontalDid you know that Friday March 31st is World Backup Day?

If your computer or smartphone failed tomorrow or it was infected with ransomware, all the files it contains could be lost! Would you lose all your precious photographs?

Do you have a backup plan in place?

If you need help with setting up a backup procedure why not book an hour with one of the Seniors Council’s computer tutors? They can help you set up a safe, thorough and automatic backup procedure for all your files.

Aperture Paradox

Question:  If “fast” lenses are better, why are so many images taken in the “normal” aperture range?
Answer: The big advantage of “fast” lenses ( and the reason they are called fast), is that they have wide maximum apertures, and so make faster shutter speeds available in low light, without having to bump up your ISO too far.  Another advantage is that wider apertures enable a tighter depth of field, and this is often used to blur the background (or foreground) in portraiture and still life photography.  Even so, for general shots, you’ll typically use an aperture of around F/8.  This is usually the “sweet spot” of a lens, at which it delivers optimum image quality.  Similarly, in many situations you may not want to minimize depth of field – when you want to get both eyes sharp in a portrait of someone sitting three-quarters on, for example.
Marg Jackman