Problem
Solving Made Easy
Here are some quick and easy answers to some
profound questions. |
|
What is the 500
Rule?- A method for
determining the proper settings for a starry
night shoot! Here are some sites to explain
how to use this rule:
Shutter Muse,
Exploring Exposure,
PetaPexals,
Mike Salway Chart |
What is
the Rule of Thirds?-
Composing an image by dividing into nine
equal parts using two equally spaced
horizontal lines and two equally spaced
vertical lines. The photographer should
place important elements of the image within
and along these lines. Supposedly this
technique should create better composition
for the viewer. Here are some sites
that explain how to use this rule:
Wikipedia,
Digital Photography School,
Photography Mad,
My Modern Met |
What is Red Eye?-It
refers to what happens when the light
strikes the retina and bounces back to your
camera. This is a very common problem with
point and shoot cameras |
Move the
subject away.
Increase the
light in the room.
Use the built in
red eye reducing pop up flash.
Bounce the light
off the ceiling.
Have the subject
look away.
Shoot at
an angle to the subject
|
How do I blur the background of my
photo and keep the subject sharp?-There are
several ways to accomplish this feat of
photo expertise: Depth of Field is the
distance between the nearest and furthest
object in a picture. The lower the F Stop
number (below 5.6) the greater the
background will be blurred, The higher the F
Stop number (above 5.6) the sharper the
background image.
Set the camera to Aperture Priority (AV)
and lower the Aperture F Stop Setting,
Zoom in with a telephoto lens.
Stand closer to the subject
Move the
subject further away from a background.
Read More:
WikiHow,
DSLR Tips (includes video),
Digital Photography School,
The Digital Picture.com |
What causes shadows-This
is the result of the subject being too close
to the wall for background shadow.
Excessive outdoor shadows on the
subject are due to the placement of the
subject in relation to the sun |
For back ground shadows: Move the
subject forward or bounce the light off the
ceiling.
For facial shadows: use a filler
flash or move the subject to a better
location. Watch out for hot spots! Don't
pick an area which is a mixture of shadow
and sunlight. |
My pictures are too
dark-You might be too far from your
subject or your settings may be wrong on
your flash or camera. |
Most flashes
have a range of no greater than 12 feet.(
Some point and shoots are even less). So
move your subject closer to you or the
camera closer to the subject. Your might try
setting your F-stop to 5.6 and your shutter
to 30th or 60th of a second. |
I have poor
point and shoot focusing-Your point and
shoot camera has a very limited lens and
flash range. |
Move the
camera away from the subject or the subject
away from the camera. |
I have
green tones pictures-Florescent light causes
this effect. It may look clear or white to
you but the film sees it as green. |
Change the bulbs to day light
(expensive).
Use
a flash to correct the effect. On a SLR
camera add an FLD filter.
Fuji film
seems to correct this problem. |
I have
orange tones pictures-Typical light bulbs
use tungsten which causes this effect. The
film sees it as orange light. |
Use Tungsten balanced film.
Change the bulbs to
non Tungsten bulbs.
Use a filler flash.
Some photographers use the tungsten
to add warmth and ambiance |
I want to use my
camera underwater.-You have been
watching too many National Geographic TV
specials. |
Don't! Unless
your camera is made for that activity. I
would strongly recommend you don't even
think about it!! |
I want to avoid
blurred action pictures.-Blurred
pictures are caused by having the wrong
settings on your camera, (sorry point and
shoots don't have these settings) |
For an action
shot move your shutter speed to the highest
possible that lighting conditions will allow
(over 125). Also use 400 speed film. |
I don't
want to use your lens cover.-You feel it
gets in the way. |
Keep the lens
cover on the camera, when not in use. A nick
or scratch can cost more to repair than the
lens itself cost. |
My lens has dirt and
finger prints on it.-Your child was
touching the lens. |
Clean it with photographic cleaner only.
NEVER
use eye glass cleaner.
It can take the protective coat off the
lens. |
I
took pictures in the past with slides, 35mm
film, movie film in 8, 16 and 35mm format,
what should I do to protect them and develop
an image?
These
technologies have a limited life span and
will loose their color and deteriorate to
become unusable. Furthermore the number of
labs that will develop a print is now
limited. My advice is to have a lab convert
the images into a storage device (DVD, Thumb
Drive or Secondary or Primary Hard Drive).
Remember you will never be able to retake
the pictures and they will be lost forever.
If you have prints in albums they could be
at risk if the albums have stock that is
acid based and will eventually turn red and
other colors. Furthermore if you are storing
the images in the Cloud, beware what
ever service you use could be hacked or go out of
service. |