Clipping Mask Using Squijoo.

It seems there are some technical (possibly legal) technicalities with Squijoo at the moment, but many photographers have their templates saved and want to be able to use them.  I’m nervous about the site disappearing forever (it’s down right now) so I wanted to write a quick article about how to insert photos into the templates using the clipping mask!  You can read their article on it here, however right now all their images are down.

First, you  open the template, then using the move tool, drag and place the image directly over the picture mask layer.

PC Users: press Control+G (Photoshop CS and earlier) or Control+Alt+G (Photoshop CS2 and newer)

Mac Users: press Command+G (Photoshop CS and earlier) or Command+Option+G (Photoshop CS2 and newer).

The image will automatically clip and work perfectly in the template!

*Very important: Make sure that your photo is directly ONE layer on top of the layer named “picture mask”. The best way to do this is to first select the “picture mask” layer in your template >> then go to your photo and drag it into the template*.

-Christine
Duluth MN Portrait Photographer

Photos From 85mm 1.2L Lens.

Which lens you decide to use on your camera has a big impact on how the photo turns out. A big contendor in the photography world for people who are very invested in photography is the 85mm 1.2L lens by Canon. This is the first professional level lens I invested in and I am very fond of it :).
The first thing you have to decide when picking a lens is if you want a prime lens (does not zoom in and out) or a zoom lens (has a range of how close or far you can get to the subject by rotating the lens to zoom in and out). THere are advantages and disadvantages to each (perhaps a future blog post topic 🙂 ) but one of the best and most noteworthy features of the 85mm 1.2 lens is that the aperture can reach .. *drumroll* .. f/1.2! The lowest number you usually see on a zoom lens is f/2.8 so this is quite a big difference on the prime, however you do lose the ability to zoom in and out. The f/1.2 is amazing for when you want to get as much light into the camera as possible and also if you want a very small depth of field (meaning only one thing will be sharply in focus and everything else will be blurred).
The f/1.2 is so sensitive that on my full frame sensor camera body (how far 1.2 takes you depends on a handful of factors including your camera body), if I focus on someone’s nose, their eye will be out of focus. It’s a very very narrow depth of field and very unforgiving for in focus images! There is a learning curve to harnessing this power. I would not recommend using any new equipment at a shoot that you haven’t practiced with in advance. YOu will probably get some out of focus images when you start out with this lens. I try not to go to 1.2 anymore, personally. f/2 or higher is usually ideal but if there is low light or if I want a certain look I will bump it down lower.

Anyway, I wanted to make a blog post showing image examples of photos taken on the 85mm f/1.2L lens so people could take a look and maybe it could help people make more informed purchasing decisions.

I do need to explain that I reduced the image size significantly to post to the web. Standard web size is 900×600.. the originals are around 3800×5700 so they don’t reflect the same quality as they do out of the camera but I hope it gives a good idea.. especially since the originals are better :). If you would like to see a full resolution version of anything just ask in the comments! I am happy to post!

Anyway, without further ado….

^f/3.5

^f/2.8

^f/1.8

^f/1.2 – wide open!

f/1.8

^f/1.4 – close to wide open :)! If you’re shooting this low you must nail the focus spot!

^f/2.5

f/1.4. I was able to take a photo with one fairly dim light on @ 1.4.. this low aperture also created a very nice bokeh effect on the Christmas tree.

^f/1.8 (This lens is great for Christmas lights!).

^f/2

^f/1.8

f/1.6. Notice how narrow the focus is.. the arm is in focus and his entire body is blurred.. there’s about a foot between what is in focus and what isn’t. If the aperture were higher (around f/4+) the arm and body would both be in focus.

^f/1.8

f/1.8. Loving how blurred the background is! Notice how even the front of the scarf is blurred.. 1.8 is not a very large depth of field.

f/1.8

^Here’s one at f/1.2 – this is as low as it can go. I am going to do another blog post soon zooming in so you can see the eyes are in focus but even the nose is out of focus. It still looks okay zoomed out but if you zoom in you’ll see how sensitive the focus is.

^f/2.8

^Wide open at f/1.2. To do this shot over I would have used a higher aperture since her hair is blurred out but I still love this photo :).

^Another photo taken at f/1.2. I’m trying to include a lot at 1.2 since a lot of people are curious about what photos like at that aperture.

f/1.8 portrait

^f/1.4

^Here’s a shot taken at a higher aperture of f/4. As youc an see.. still plenty of lovely bokeh :).

^f/2.2

^f/2.2

f/2

^f/2.2

^This is a full res version of an image taken at f/1.2 – click on it to see full detail.

To see zoomed in versions of the photos to see how the depth of field looks up close at f/1.2 check out this article.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask!

-Christine Ann
Duluth MN Senior and Family Photographer Website
Duluth Photographer Blog
Duluth Senior and Family Photographer Facebook Account

Telephoto Distortion and Perspective and How It Affects Your Images

Guest blog post from Christopher Fisher – my husband and occasional second shooter for large groups and weddings :).

Telephoto Distortion and zooming with your feet

Photographers often talk about “zooming with their feet”. If they are using a fixed lens or their telephoto lens and it cannot capture the size of subject they desire, they just move [with their feet] closer or further away from their subject.  To the new photographer, they may not realize that zooming with their feet might compromise the composition of their photo.  While the subject might be brought to size, the background will look significantly different.

This difference is due to an effect called telephoto distortion. A human eye (or a camera) is a small fixed point to which an image is projected. This can be visualized in the below diagram:

While a tree may be several times the size of a person, the image of a tree is focused into a single point:  the human eye or camera lens. If the person walks closer to the tree, the subject appears larger. If the human being walks away from the tree, the subject appears smaller.

Look at the different figures. In the first figure, only a small section of the tree is visible. In the second figure, the entire height of the tree and more can be seen. Let’s see what each figure will see from the eye’s perspective.

Now let’s add a second subject:

-Post by Christopher Fisher

-Christine Ann Photography
Duluth MN Photographer Website
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Instantly Improve Your Editing With Layer Masks

There are about 5 million different things you can do to edit a photo in Photoshop.  Some of the things you learn will be totally pointless and some will be invaluable.  I am going to brush up on one of the most valuable editing techniques (in my opinion):  how to add a layer mask to your layers and why they are important.  This will benefit you in so many ways!  And it is SO EASY! Learning new things in Photoshop is always intimidating but this is literally something you can do in a couple clicks.  (To summarize:  you layer 2 photos on top of each other, click the layer mask button, select a black or white paintbrush to hide/reveal the bottom image and that’s it!). Directions for adding a layer mask: Open up a photo in Photoshop.  Pick another photo to layer on top of it (you can just copy and paste it on top).  Click on the top layer so it is highlighted and then click the square with a circle inside it at the bottom of the layer palette (The layer palette is where you see all your layers towards the right side of Photoshop).  The icon I am referencing, if you hover your mouse over the top of it it will say “add layer mask”.  It looks like this: Click on the white box that appears next to your top layer. That’s it! You are done, you’ve applied a layer mask! Now how do you use it?  Also very easy.  Select the paintbrush icon and make the color that it paints white.  (Image below shows where to select the paintbrush and where to change the color of it at). Paint wherever you’d like to reveal the image below and you will reveal the image beneath it!  If you make a mistake simply change the “white” color of the brush to black and it brings back the original image. ^ Example Photos: Color photo on bottom, black and white photo on top, layer mask selected (you select it by just clicking on it), select the paintbrush and make it black and just start painting.. it will reveal the photo beneath it.  If you make a mistake and want to bring the black and white image back, simply turn it white, like in the second photo.  :). Boom.  Done :). This method is perfect for head swaps (place the new face underneath the one you want to change and reveal the photo below it).  It is also perfect for doing selective coloring (adding color to black and white images).  You can change the background of your photo by adding a nice background behind the image and masking the original background off.  You can edit things out like power lines by moving the bottom image a few centimeters to the right and masking  them out.  There are so many possibilities! TIPS: 1.  You can change the opacity of your brush.. so if you only want to kind of reveal the background but not entirely, just set the opacity of your brush 50% (vs 100% and it will only bring 50% of the background in and leave 50% of the original intact.  You can also build on it by changing it to 10% and doing another round, bringing it to 60% revealed).  It looks much  more natural if you build up in that way vs just doing it at 100%! 2.  If you right click on the “background” (the bottom) layer and select “layer from background” you “unlock” the layer and can now move it around.  You need to be sure to highlight (click on) this layer when you want to apply changes to it (such as moving it.  You can move it using the move tool).. and then when you want to apply the layer mask with the white and black brush, be sure to click the white box next to the top photo :).  Any changes you make will occur on whatever is highlighted in the layer’s palette. 3.  There is a learning curve to using layer masks in a realistic way.. such as when you get to the edges you need to make the brush smaller and that it really  helps to lower the opacity of the brush to blend it better.  But after a few rounds of practicing you’ll start learning how to do it better and better. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! -Christine Ann [website] Duluth Photographer Christine Ann Photography Facebook Maternity, newborn, senior, wedding, family, children, portrait photography.

1 Tip Which Will Improve Your Color Pop/Selective Color Images

I frequent many photography forums and one topic that comes up often is “color selection” or “color pop” edits.  This is when you have a black and white images and you bring back color on just a couple select spots.  These images are not often well received by lot of pros.  I am amongst this group 🙂 but they do have their place :).
I think the worst part about color selection is just how harsh the color is in the image.  It doesn’t flow well.  This is when I created my own way of doing color selection photos, where you just bring back about half of the color instead of all the color.  It makes a huge difference!  And I definitely much prefer the subtle color to the sharp, vivid color.

How do you accomplish this?  If you are layering a color image over a black and white image and erasing, then erase away at around 30-40% opacity.
If you are using a layer mask, set your paintbrush to around 30-40% opacity.  tada!  Very simple indeed.  This will make a huge difference in how the photo looks after you edit it.

One other tip I have is to pick just one focal point to selective color..a lot of people go a little crazy with their brush and bring back half the image so it’s half color and half black and white.  This looks a bit odd and unnatural and also there is no real concept behind it.  Usually you want to color pop something with meaning or symbolism or a concept (not always but like usually just an item vs a shirt).  In the sample image I am posting here I decided to have 2 color pops so they would balance each other out more but notice the items I picked were small so it doesn’t overwhelm the photo.  I believe my opacity for this image was around 30%.. to do it again I  might bump it up a bit higher, but you get the idea.

This is the image at 100% opacity.. this is the full color image brought back to the black and white image, and this is what most photographers who do color pop do:

^ Color brought back at full strength.

And the photo shown below is the same image with the color brought back around 30% opacity.  It might even be more like 20%. It is a little bit dull but it looks so much less distracting and more natural.. I much prefer it to the full color photo.

^Color brought back around 20-30% strength.

For one more example I’ll show one brought back around 50% opacity.

^Color brought back around 50% strength. This is my favorite edit of the three (I might tone it down a notch but overall the color isn’t too overbearing and “sharp” and it blends much better than at full strength – in my opinion anyway!).

As with all things in photography, which is better is subjective.  Surely there are people who prefer the first to the second.  If you do like the first you could even play around with bringing back the color around 70%-80% so it’s just not so vivid and contrasting.  While I’m not a huge fan of color pop photos, I do find myself much more receptive to them when done in a more subtle manner, just thought/style I would share with everyone :).

-Christine Ann
Duluth Minnesota Photographer
Website
Facebook

Unedited Photos from T2i + 50mm Lens.

This blog is specifically dedicated to showing images straight from the T2i + 50mm lens.  This is the combo I used for a few years before upgrading to the Mark II 5D + 85mm 1.2L lens.  I got the upgrade about 2 years ago (a little less..) and have barely touched my T2i since (though I do still use the 50mm sometimes).  I picked up my T2i for the first time in a couple years and was surprised by how much better of photos I could get off it than I was ever able to before.  I could not have intentionally gotten as clear and nice of photos (though I did get some lucky ones!) when I used this combo about 2 years ago.  The equipment didn’t change, but I have :).  And I speculate if I pick it up in 2 more years they’ll be even better.  This isn’t to say you can’t get “nicer” photos on nicer equipment, but I recently compared photos from the Mark II 5d + 85mm 1.2L lens to photos on the Mark II 5D + 50mm 1.8 lens to photos on the T2i + 50mm 1.8 lens (IE:  $3,000 camera + $2,000 lens to $3,000 camera + $100 lens to $700 camera + $100 lens) and the results were not all that different from one another.  I was incredibly surprised!  You can see the image comparisons here:  https://christineannphotos.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/photos-taken-with-canon-rebel-t2i-50mm-1-8-lens/ keeping in mind they are unedited and you need to click them to see the full detail of each photo.
The point in all this is that if your photos are out of focus or not sharp it is almost definitely you and not your equipment.  I read a post from someone who has sent back the same 50mm 1.8 lens used in this blog post 2 times, got it a third time and was wondering if she should send it back again or get a different lens all together.  I can assure everyone it was not the lens any of those 3 times, it’s a lack of understanding how to use your camera and how/where to pose people and why.   You can give an artist crappy supplies and they can make something beautiful; you can give someone who is not an artist high end supplies and they will not be able to do much with it.  Focus your energy on practicing, improving, and learning how to use the equipment you have and how to edit.  My one piece of advice regarding equipment is that the kit lens is junk and if you only own a kit lens, it’s time to at least upgrade to the 50mm 1.8.. it is around $100 and you will see a quality improvement!  That is one thing my test shots did show.. a noticeable difference in quality regarding the kit lens to 50mm lens.  Anyway these are some images I have gotten off the T2i in the last couple months (most being from the last few days specifically for some blogs I want to do on starter equipment) they are unedited and I could further improve them by doing some editing 🙂 but then you wouldn’t know what is due to the equipment and what is due to the editing so I will leave them alone.

Unedited images from the T2i + 50mm lens  *CLICK EACH IMAGE FOR FULL DETAIL*:

*Click images for full detail.. the thumbnails look fuzzier than they are*.

*Click images for full detail*

*Click images for full detail*

*Click images for full detail*.

*Click images for full detail.. the thumbnails look fuzzy*.

*Click images for full detail*.

*Click images for full detail*.

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*Click images for full detail*.

-Christine Ann
Christine Ann Photography Web Site
Christine Ann Photography Facebook

Step-By-Step Guide For Starting A Photography Business

I got my first DSLR almost 4 years ago.  I started out taking a couple hundred photos a month for awhile, then thousands a month towards the end!  My husband along the way encouraged me to start a business but I wasn’t comfortable doing so.. I wanted my images to reflect a certain quality to them before launching as a business and it’s very intimidating to branch out like that!  So finally (after 5 years..) I did get to that point where I felt ready to become a business (if you are unsure about if you are ready or not take a look at my article “When To Become A Professional Photographer” for some extra insights) I just had no idea where to start or what to do next.  This is a step-by-step guide for what I did, based on my state laws (ALL state laws are different for the legalities aspect of it).  You should consult with a lawyer to be sure you are doing everything legally necessary for you and within your state.  There may also be additional things you would choose – or need – to do but this is just what I did, in its respective order!

1.  Decided on a business name.  I did not think this would be as complicated as it was!  Finally I read a blog post that basically said “just use your own name for your business – you are your brand – stop overthinking it!” and decided to roll with it :).
2.  Registered my business name.  Every state has different laws on this.  Some do not require registration if your last name is in the business, some do; be sure to check your state laws to see if you need to register your name before using the name.  Someone else may be legally registered with your name and you may lose all your work (& be in legal trouble!) if you’ve been creating web sites & business cards under their name.  I used my first and middle name and my state required me to legally register my name.
3.  Decide what type of business you want to be.  Are you a sole-proprietor, partnership, LLC, corporation?  You need to figure it out and register as such.  I decided to become an LLC to keep my business life separate from my personal life.  It cost around $130 and is a one time fee,  however I have to renew my registration every year.
4.  Filed for a tax ID number with the federal government.  I was told that I could use my social security number but they recommend having a federal tax ID number so that you don’t need to give your number out.  A lot of places will ask you for this number (your business bank account, paypal, your web site, anyone who goes into business with you etc).
5.  Filed for a sales tax ID.  You only need one if you are selling things, such as prints, that you would charge a sales tax on.  In my state, even if you sell ONE item one time, you need to pay taxes on it.
6.  Filed for a state tax ID.. so the state can get their taxes from me.
7.  Tried out a few different web sites to decide which web site I wanted to commit to.  Most sites have a free trial so I built multiple web sites before committing.  My favorite site was photodeck.com it was truly a beautiful site.  However for all of the features I wanted, it would have cost $30 a month and for a starting out business, it was too much.  The site that had all the features I wanted for $120 a year ($10/month) is zenfolio.  It is right-click disabled, has a built-in blog, you can order prints from the site (there is an option for them to fulfill with their own lab or you can fulfill with your own lab), password-protected galleries for clients to view their sessions on, ability to download (for free or for a cost – whatever you want to do!) files from your site if you enable it for your customer, custom domain, slideshow.  They have a free site you can start with but you don’t have access to all of these features with the free account.  If you choose to use zenfolio, you can use a referral code from me NKY-FXQ-YCP which saves us both 10%!
8.  Got a custom domain name on godaddy.com.  This removed “zenfolio” from my website and makes it look more professional.
9.  Went through all my photos –  countless files! and built a folder filled with portfolio photos so that I had a way to show my work.
10.  Decided a pricing structure.  This was WAY WAY harder than I thought it would be!  I tweaked it several times after creating it and am still working to find the “right” number!
11.  Built my web site and linked it with my custom domain.
12.  Started multiple business accounts:  a new email address for business, a flickr account, a facebook account. linkd in, tumblr, google account, paypal, a blog (the one on my site plus this one).
13.  Started a mailing list.  Read a lot of advice to do this from the start 🙂 to retain people interested in your business and keep them interested.
14.  Got a google voice number to link with my business so I can keep business separate from personal.
15.  Ordered business cards.
16.  Ordered test prints from multiple printing labs to find my favorite lab to do business with.
17.  Started a banking account for my business.
18.  Created a watermark and logo.  (I’m currently redoing them with a graphic designer as I don’t feel like mine are all that grand but they did the job for starting out!).  Remember with photography you have to build a brand.  Part of your “brand” is your watermark/logo.
19.  Get forms that your client will sign to give permission to use their images for marketing and relieve you of responsibility from the session if they get injured or whatever.  Also will need property release forms if you shoot on private property, and print release forms if you plan to give them permission to print your images (do not confuse this for copyright release!).
20.  Began marketing.  (Also much harder than I anticipated). You are a business now, yay! But now you have to figure out how to get people to know about you! I have read it takes on average, about 2 years – and even as much as 5 years – to gain a clientele.. so be creative and patient.

I would also add to the list find a lawyer to consult with and an accountant/bookkeeper to help with taxes and numbers.  I have family that is helping out with each of these jobs for me :).

I do have more social media accounts to create – quite a few more – but this got everything in motion.  Honestly there are endlessly more things you could do and things I have done since starting up but this is just what got me started :).
Now I just have to keep up with filing taxes multiple times a year and keeping everything updated with the government!
Starting a business has been way – way – more work than I anticipated but it feels really good to be doing something that I love to do and once you get started you  just figure it out as you go and it gets figured out!

-Christine Ann
Duluth Photographer
www.facebook.com/christineannphotos

When to Become A Professional Photographer.

With DSLRs becoming very widespread and photography becoming increasingly popular, many of us have been left to wonder things like “When should I start a business?” or “Am I ready to start a business?”.  I feel the answer to these questions is very situational and there is no way to address everyone’s unique situations however I do have some things for consideration that you can assess to help you decide if you think you are.

1.  Are your good photos “lucky” or intentional?  We all get lucky shots.. the question is when you take a great photo, is it luck or did you plan out the position, location, camera settings, angle etc and take that photo on purpose?  Could you take that same great photo again?  You  need to understand why your photos are turning out well and what hurts them and makes them turn out bad.  What if you have a lucky session and then someone else wants a similar style to it and you have no idea how you did it?  The main way to learn these things is through experience and research.  One example:  taking photos at 3 PM with the sun high in the sky and harsh lighting and then taking photos in that sunlight will make the person have squinty eyes and harsh shadows.  Have you learned things like this?  Do you know how to handle this situation to fix this problem?  (Move to the shade, add some fill light, or schedule the session for a later hour in the day).

2.  Do people want to hire you?  Don’t hinge too much on this because my experience was that people said they love the photos I take however after I became a business people said things like “now we can hire you to do our photos!”.  I don’t think people even realized they could have done this before I was a business.  However it’s still a good thing to consider (but don’t let it stop you either if no one has asked you..!).  Have people made comments about wanting to hire you or asking if you would do photos for them?  Or even do you just get a lot of positive feedback on photos you take?  This is a good sign that people like what you’re doing :).

3.  Can you shoot with manual settings?  Do not leave it up to auto mode to determine your settings!  Auto mode has no qualms about going to 1600 ISO and f/8!  Things like this can & sooner or later will ruin your photos.  On auto you may be photographing children and your camera may be going to 1/100 shutter speed causing motion blur.  You need to be able to accommodate this and know how to increase your shutter speed, and how to lower your ISO.  Knowing your manual settings you can handle all situations and make sure the camera is doing what you want it to.

4.  Do you have a strong portfolio?  You don’t want to launch with 10 photos of your own kids ;).  Make sure you have a legit portfolio that portrays your style and diversity and reflects the type of shoots you want to do.

5.  Do you have a passion & love for photography?  To be frank, statistically, most photography businesses are going to fail.  The ones that succeed are the ones with passionate, driven photographers, who want to spend time getting better and reaching more people.  Your passion is what will drive you to learn more and do better and fight for your business.  It isn’t easy to start a business and you need that passion behind you!

One final thing to consider in regards to starting a business is that once you become a business then you have to begin gaining clients.  You aren’t one day a business with tons of people wanting to hire you :).  It takes time.  Most of what I have read says at least 2 years and up to 5 years to gain a good client base.  If your main reason for not wanting to start a business is you don’t have time then consider launching anyway (if you do have at least *some* time anyway..) because you probably won’t have tons of business right away anyway!

If you think you’re ready check out this Step-By-Step Guide For Starting A Photography Business to get an idea of what to do next!

-Christine

http://www.christineannphotos.com
http://www.facebook.com/christineannphotos

How to Capture A Sparkler’s Movement Tutorial (/How to do bulb photography).

With 4th of July recently coming and going, you may be seeing photos around of people drawing pictures with a sparkler and wonder how it is done.

What you need: a tripod, a camera on which you can leave the shutter open for various lengths of time, a remote clicker, and a black outfit (if you don’t want to be seen in the background).

Set your camera on the tripod, set it to BULB mode (different on all cameras, you will have to refer to your manual if you do not know. One typical way is that you set your camera to M and then make your shutter speed as slow as possible.. once it gets maxed out to “as slow as possible” it will say BULB. My camera has a B setting on the settings wheel to get there, so all cameras are different). Once the camera is on the tripod in bulb mode, determine exactly where you want to stand. Mark the spot! Set the camera to Manual Focus, then manually focus on the spot you are standing because the camera will have a hard time auto focusing in the dark). Once the focus is set, then press down on your remote clicker, do a few trial runs to figure out the best settings. My settings for the above photos were around f/16, ISO 640, 4 second shutter speed. I also worked at f/11 ISO 500. Other settings will definitely work too that’s just what I chose to do. My camera also handles high ISOs quite well so I don’t get scared to bump it up though as a general rule I prefer keeping it much lower. Once the camera is on the tripod, the focus is set, and the settings are right, stand in the spot, activate the shutter and move the sparkler around in the shapes you want and when you are done let go. That’s it!

When a shutter is open it captures all movement that occurs while it is open (this is why it needs to be on a tripod! If your hands move at all the camera will capture the movement of the camera). The tricky part is that while it is open it is also absorbing light.. so if you leave it open too long the photo can be blown out if you have streetlights around you especially.

You see in the lower right photo there is a red light streak behind it, that is the taillight of a car driving by.. so this idea works for lots of different things!

Oh and I recommend wearing black because I was wearing pink at first and you can see me pretty easily standing behind the sparklers (as you can see in the lower left-hand corner photo). I later changed to black and the problem was solved. The other adjustment I made is I was initially working with a streetlight behind me and I later figured out was sort of ruining the photos. I moved to a spot about 10 feet away and it solved that problem 🙂 .

My favorite shot of the night I ended up compositing 2 shots together 🙂 and then editing a couple little blurbs in the background so that it all looked totally black/dark.

Remember if you are writing a word you have to write it backwards! 😮 . It is both easier than it sounds AND harder than it sounds haha.

Oh and if I have one more tip for everyone.. buy the big huge sparklers and maximize your time much better!

-Christine Ann
http://www.christineannphotos.com
“like” me on Facebook 🙂 ! https://www.facebook.com/christineannphotos
Duluth Minnesota Photographer

Importance of Understanding How to Take Photos with Manual Settings.

After posting “Why Photographers Hate the Words “Your Camera Takes Such Nice Photos” yesterday I thought I would do another version of it today. Yesterday’s blog was a reference to choosing the angle and background etc, today I want to refer to understanding camera settings. You can do so much in camera! I have a billion examples of auto vs manual and things you can do in M that you cannot do in auto. For example you can capture the slight movement of a dog’s tail to show that it is wagging. You can prevent a photo from blurring when the people in it are moving. You can have a better chance at photos in low lighting. You can insert artistic twists to things by “blowing out” (giving it a really washed out/white look which is fun to do sometimes) or enhancing colors or whatever it is you want to do. In auto mode you just have to hope it works out. In Manual you know you can make it work out! Here is a photo example of auto vs manual. I am not saying the manual version is better (I personally think it is but not everyone would agree.. just a matter of taste) but what I am saying is that you can gain a lot by spending some one on one time with your camera and some tutorials to ensure you get the images to look the way you want them to! Neither of these photos are edited.. both are right out of the camera.

-Christine Ann
Duluth Minnesota Photographer
http://www.christineannphotos.com
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