Category Archives: through the lens

AYWMC- Feb. 2, 2019

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What a difference a week makes! We are now shooting in manual mode and I must say this class has explained the exposure triangle better than any I have seen in the past. It helps that Emma Davies was a schoolteacher. She has a way of explaining and simplifying to help us grasp the basics of what we need to know to get by and actually use the info provided. Now for the assignment. We are starting in aperture priority mode at f8 and will open up the camera one f-stop to f 5.6 for more light, so we will move the shutter speed or the ISO faster or higher to get less light to compensate and get the same exposure. It makes sense now, but I will pick up my camera and be back here. One thing to note is that my camera has three stops in between each of these settings…

This chart is the best! Simple, and useful!

quick guide exposure triangle

So, here is the assignment.

Step 1 Select aperture priority mode, choose an aperture that is a full stop (i..e. f8) and take a photo.

Step 2 Write down what settings the camera picks.

Step 3  Go onto manual mode and dial in the settings that the camera picked, except change the aperture by 1 stop (bigger) to have a wider aperture, and a shallower depth of field.

Step 4 If you leave the rest of the settings as they were in step 2, your photo will be slightly over exposed, because you have a bigger aperture. So you need to change the shutter speed or ISO by a corresponding 1 stop in the opposite direction (less light). In this case use shutter speed, and change it to 1 stop less light (faster). Take the photo again. Keep everything the same between photos – where you stand, what you’re photographing, how much light there is.

Both the photos should have the same exposure, if the light hasn’t changed and you focused on the same spot. The only difference should be a slightly shallower depth of field in the second photo.

Have another go, this time on shutter priority. Try changing the settings by 2 stops, and by using a combination of both aperture and ISO to compensate

Started with f2.8  then went to f4  and shifted the triangle up ISO one fstop accordingly to achieve the same exposure.

f 2.8 ISO 100 1/60
f.4.5 ISO 200 1/80

More open aperture needs lower sensitive ISO or a faster shutter speed to have the same exposure. I had some trouble with the aperture locked and figured out my camera had a button that locked on it. Shooting in manual isn’t comfortable for me yet–just need more practice. Have a great week, and catch some light along the way!

 

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AYWMC – January 27

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ISO – International Standard Organization

ISO refers to the sensitivity of the sensor to light–the higher the ISO, the more noise–so you want to use as low an ISO as possible to still capture the light.  Our assignment this week was to go back to a previous week’s photos and retake them using your camera’s highest ISO and lowest ISO. I tried to recapture the scene as closely as possible but the light is different today (very overcast) so the settings are not identical.

I am spending more time with my camera and continue to read a lot about camera stuff on sites like Light Stalking and Digital Photography School and my Udemy class and my Creative Live class I bought years ago. I love gadgets also, so I ordered a timer remote that would be cool for a stationary time lapse shoot. I continue to investigate tripod heads that will support the weight of my 70-200 mm lens. Any suggestions are welcome here!

Here are the results of my shoot this week: (I’m not seeing a lot of graininess. I increased the ISO 100x. But as you can see the shutter speed had to compensate by being almost 100 x faster as well. And the aperture closed 4 -f stops down.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great week. Catch some light along the way!

img_8524

Canon EOS 6D
ƒ/2.8   1/160   70mm   ISO 100

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Canon EOS 6D
ƒ/11   1/1250   57mm   ISO 10000

camera notes

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Canon EOS 6D
ƒ /11   1/100   100mm   ISO 100

Lunar Eclipse January 20, 2019–

Google photo album link

I didn’t plan on the moon being so high in the sky…my tripod setup was a failure. Plan  location the night before to shoot better next time! Need to learn how to steady my tripod. Ended up taking the camera off the tripod and I got nothin’. Too much shake to steady the camera looking up at almost the zenith in the sky. Used the Looney 11 rule and the moon was  pin size. I’ll try to load some into Photoshop and see if I can salvage anything. I think I need a gimbel head for my tripod. Didn’t plan on batteries going out so quickly.  The cold and the exposure really drain them fast.

What did go well: I was dressed for a blizzard and am warm and happy to have the opportunity tonight. I stayed up and braved the weather. I had a camera in my hand. I learned a few things not to do. Little by little…

Conrad Earnest’s notes from his spectacular shot on Facebook:

Conrad Earnest Rent a 600 mm telephoto or longer. 😂 I used a 200 mm lens with a doubling attachment (400 mm) and set my full frame lens to crop at 1.5 = 600 mm. 8000 ISO. I would have liked f2.8 and a lower ISO but the doubling attachment sort of killed that (f5.6). I focused manually on a nearby star in an attempt for better focus and them moved over to the moon. Under exposed by ⅓ – ⅔ of a stop so the rest of the night sky wasn’t so prominent. Basic LR panel adjustments. Little bit of curves and noise adjustment. Little bit of cropping. That’s about it. 🌕

 

A Year With My Camera – January 17

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2019

…is the year I finally make time for shooting photos that I am proud of. Working the program, A Year With My Camera, I will post photos here that will probably not impress but be more functional as I walk through the lessons.

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.”
— Marc Riboud

There are two types of talent. One is learned and one is natural. I don’t have a natural “eye” for “making” a photo, so this must be a learned skill for me. The good news here is that, in my observation, the person that spends time learning a skill always (eventually) exceeds the natural talent. But this will require dedication and lots of practice.

So bear with me as I try to accomplish the learned type of talent. Believe me, when I get to a level that I am proud of the photo I take, I will be so excited. I so want to capture the grandchildren’s expressions and personalities, and freeze some beautiful moments!

January 2019

Shutter Speed – January 19

1/4 sec. f/22 64mm
1/2500 sec. f/2.8 63mm
1/10 sec. f/8 63mm
1/4000 sec. f/2.8 63mm

 

Aperture/Depth of Field – Jan 13

 

Canon EOS 6D ƒ/4 1/320 50mm ISO100
Canon Canon EOS 6D ƒ/22 1/320 50mm ISO100

 

Canon Canon EOS 6D ƒ/22 1/2 58mm ISO12800
Canon Canon EOS 6D ƒ/4 1/2 58mm ISO12800

 

Canon Canon EOS 6D ƒ/4 1/160 50mm ISO100
Canon Canon EOS 6D ƒ/22 1/80 73mm ISO1250

 

January 3 – picking up my camera again.

 

…and the moon shall turn to blood

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We should have perfect viewing conditions tomorrow evening as the total lunar eclipse happens here at the ranch (January 20, 2019 starting at 9:41 PM  CST) I have my camera gear ready and will bundle up to be out in the clear cold night to capture some of its mysterious beauty. I am looking for a pair of gloves that has the fingers cut out, but I may have to take an old pair and improvise. That way, I could just cut out the index and thumb and be slightly warmer. Yes, I like that idea better!

I’ve been interested in skywatching for a very long time. Mike and I met one icy cold night at the Stephen F. Austin Observatory forty years ago this month. I was a non-science major avoiding the flunk out course of biology and attending my first astronomy night lab, and Mike was a grad student who needed a flashlight to see his paper. I had the flashlight and the rest is history, as they say.

My other reason for following eclipses is the references to a blood moon in the Bible and its prophetic connection. No one knows the day or the hour when our Lord will return, but there are some signs we can watch for, and the blood moon is one of them.

This article is a good guide for the information you need to catch this  astronomical event. Hope to be back here on Monday with some great pics.

Joel 2:31  “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”