Week 8.1: I should've used RAW

I am supposed to be writing my dissertation right now. I'm on the fourth revision of my proposal, and I am beyond sick of it. To make sure I finish these revisions, I'm giving myself intermittent breaks of things I want to do. You guessed it!!! Photoging is on the TOP of that list :)!

So, here a few pictures I snapped in the haste of our morning routine. I'm going to show you what I've learned about the difference ISO, aperture, and shutter speed make.

ISO- 320     Aperture-1.8     SS- 400

I also used spot metering because I wanted her to appear brighter than the busy surroundings. The overall picture was took dark. I was already shooting wide open with a pretty decent shutter speed, but I may have ended up with a better exposure and image quality if I had raised the ISO. The ISO in this shot was on "auto". Rookie mistake :).

 ISO- 800     Aperture- 1.8     SS-400

The ISO is a bit higher in this shot, but the image is still a little grainy. Better than the first, but still not great. The focus and metering were the same as the first, and the ISO was still set to auto. The camera did a little better job here, but still not great.

 ISO- 2500     Aperture- 1.8     SS-250
I'm starting to get the hang of this thing! I kept the aperture wide open at 1.8, and I pulled the shutter speed down to 250. That's still a decent speed and it helps all her little movements to not make the picture blurry. I also took the ISO off of auto and set it myself at 2500. See how she's a little too white? We call that "blown out". Even pros make this mistake sometimes! To fix it I either need to increase my SS (which would have let in less light) or decrease my ISO (which would have resulted in less light compensation). Either way, it's still a better shot, overall, than the first! (Metering and focus did not change from previous 2.)

 ISO- 2000     Aperture- 1.8     SS-250

Okay. In this shot I kept the metering, focus, aperture, and SS sped the same as the previous shot. The only difference was that I lowered my ISO to 2000. Remember I said in the previous shot that I either needed to lower the ISO or raise the SS? I decided to lower the ISO because the lower the ISO, in my (unprofessional) opinion, the better the shot. Do you see the difference? Look at their faces. They aren't "blown out". You can see plenty of color and definition in their precious little faces. The wood on the tables is also a richer, more appropriate color. In terms of lighting, this was spot on. Yay me!!

ISO- 2000     Aperture- 1.8     SS- 250
Okay. So, I'm showing this to prove a point. All of the settings were the exact same as the picture above. EVERYTHING. Metering, focus, ISO, aperture, SS. It was ALL the same. However, while the previous picture was crisp and bright, this image is a bit grainy and dull. The difference??? She moved all of 3 feet from a spot where light was pouring in through the little horizontal panes above our windows to a spot where our blinds were closed and no light was coming into the room. The result is a picture where the exposure is out of whack! Now, your turn. What could I have done to make the picture brighter, resulting in a better exposure? Post your comments below!!

Now, were I comfortable shooting in raw, then these rookie mistakes could (from my place of ignorant "understanding") be corrected. Sadly, I was shooting in jpeg and not raw. Raw results in HUGE files. That much I know. I may be off to buy more memory cards this weekend :/.

Happy snapping,
~ Melissa ~

Week 8: Shooting in RAW

This came up several times during my week 7 readings, so I am investing some time into discovering what this is all about. Rob Lim gives us 10 reasons why we should do that here, and I'll check out Christina Greve's Beginner's Guide to RAW shooting. Knowing the 5 things I need to before shooting in RAW may also be helpful :). And, since I have a Canon, I'll check out there intel on the subject. Josh, over at Expert Photography, says shooting in RAW will save my photos!

Can't wait to share what I learn.

Happy snapping,

~ Melissa ~

7/52

Just a few of the things I've read this week. It's been a slow week, because flu was all over this house. Our middle chile was the only one spared, and he was sent to camp Nana and Papa all week!

Don't be afraid of ISO

White Balance- Bright sunlight can make whites appear blue. Late afternoon sun can make whites appear orange. And indoor fluorescent lights can make white appear green.

Here are a couple of the pictures that I got. One was from before the flu and two were from yesterday. I just love each of these pics so much. I love the way the viewer's eye is drawn to Joseph's eye lashes in the first one, and I love Kathryn's expression and how crisp her face is in the second one! I love the composition of the third and Kathryn's posture as she was playing with the pups. I thought the picture was too busy in the background, but the lines of the dog fence and the concrete wall in the background really anchor it.

Week 7: Quick Guides

Is this not hilarious???? I LOLed, literally, when I read it. Any who...

What's on tap for this week? Continuing on the "just keep snapping" path, but also building up my collection of quick guides (i.e., Cheat Sheets!!). I love having something at the tips of my fingers that I can pull to refresh my (ever failing) memory. As a side note, I have claimed (for some time) that my kids have eaten my brain. Why else would I need numerous to-do lists to get everything done???




So, here's what I'm reviewing again this week...

QG 1: Adjusting the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for different lighting conditions

QG 2: All of the above + white balance

QG 3: QG 1+ exposure

QG 4: Golden rule

I've also learned that lighting is VERY difficult to nail in camera, especially when the lighting is a little dark or very bright. I'll be continue to work on metering and focus this week. I'm going to try nailing the lighting conditions with spot metering, and then tailoring my focus. It's a marathon, not a sprint, but, at least it's a race I can run at my pace...not to mention the fun of the journey!!!

Happy snapping,
~ Melissa ~

6/52

I'm channeling my inner Dory this week: "just keep snapping, just keep snapping". I haven't really tackled any new topics, but have focused on improving the skills that I have already learned. I also checked out a few pins that I pinned months (or more) ago and haven't revisited.

10 rules of photography
Exposure compensation
Brighten a subject in PS

I also found this photo from Kelli Nicole on my pinterest. I just love the composition and softness here!