I've recently been spending a lot of time taking photographs - scenery/landscapes, portraits, wildlife and family photos. I "cut my teeth" on a Ricoh 35mm SLR. I remember buying the camera with money I received from graduating college. I was so excited about my camera that I voraciously read and learned about anything related to photography from aperture size (f-stop), shutter speed, depth of field, lighting, etc. I remember going out purposefully for photo opportunities in the day or night with my camera, standard/wide angle lens and a bunch of camera film. I recall the experience so well - burning through rolls and rolls of film, spending a small fortune getting them developed and only keeping about 1/3 of all photos and trashing the rest due to over-exposures, under-exposures, blurry photos, etc. The major difference between a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera and a 35mm Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera is I'm not wasting money on developing film - "you get what you see". Photos are easily downloaded and anything I want to delete goes directly to my trash bin on my computer. I save most of my photos as RAW images on my camera. A RAW image is the raw or pure digital representation of the photograph. It is much larger than JPEG but easily allows for adjustments in tone, brightness, color, contrast and used to export to many formats (TIFF, JPEG, BMP, negative) and numerous resolution sizes (standard photo through poster) with minimal image degredation.
Well recently, I dusted off my Canon EOS DSLR and started snapping photos. I tried to recall the information I learned over the years but I have to say, I had to learn it all over again. I think I got the basics again and have been looking through the view finder of my camera and making the adjustments for that world-class photo. For now, I'll settle for a decent photo. Below is what I've learned so far.
Shutter speed controls the length of time the sensor on DSLR cameras or film on SLR cameras are exposed to light. Generally, it is measured in 1/xxx of a second but can also range in seconds (eg. 3" or 3 seconds). The smaller the xxx number is, the longer the shutter stays open. I primarily use shutter priority (Tv setting) on my camera if I want to take fast moving objects where I keep the shutter speed fast. Great applications for fast shutter speed are if you take wildlife, kids on the run and want to capture droplets of water.
Aperture controls the size of the opening that allows light into the camera. Examples of aperture sizes are 5 to 22. These are otherwise known as f-stops. It is counter-intuitive or there is an indirect relationship between the f-stop and the aperture or size of the opening. The smaller the f-stop, the larger the aperture and the larger the f-stop, the smaller the the aperture. Aperture also controls depth of field. If you want most of the objects you see in the view finder to be in focus, as in a point-and-shoot camera, set to a small aperture size or large f-stop. For more creative shots where you want to draw attention to a specific subject and blur the foreground and background, set to small f-stop or larger aperture. For these shots, I set my camera to aperture priority (Av setting) where I specifically set the aperture and vary the shutter speed. I find the fully manually (M setting) to be difficult to work with when you are photographing subjects that are moving where you may miss the shot. For still shots - evening, landscape, cityscapes, etc., I can play around with the fully manual setting.
Portrait or studio photography has always been my weak area. There is so much to consider here - color adjustment, white balancing, flash setup, etc. I'm reading a great book, The Book of Photography by John Hedgecoe. It's a great read but frankly too much for me to digest all at once. I figure I'd read and learn what is appropriate to my skill level as an advanced intermediate photographer and reference the book as I progress. I'm reading about portrait photography and how to setup the studio including: lighting techniques, backdrops, props and posing the subject. For right now, I've learned how professional photographers take great photos without shadows and high/bright spots.
Over the years I've collected a few lenses. A Canon EF 28-135mm standard lens which is my all-around lens. It does nicely for macro shots and medium zoom lengths. Next is the Quantaray 70-300mm telephoto lens. I purchased this lens specifically for taking surfing photos - friends in the lineup and catching waves. Lastly, I have a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens which takes excellent panoramic and landscape photos. I am also spending more time with this lens to take creative portrait and close subject shots. It does an excellent job at capturing depth. I'm finding I take more photos at the 20mm range since the 10mm range greatly distorts vertical lines at the corners of the photo.
I think that's enough for now. I need to snap some more photos. Take a look at some of my work at Photos at CDELATORRE.COM. Enjoy!
For some species of parrots or birds for that matter, sex isn't easily determined by color or some distinguished marking. Blue and Gold Macaws are one such parrot species. Recently Merlin's nails were trimmed and we were able to get a blood sample to send away for DNA sexing. If our new feathered companion turns out to be a boy, we would call him Merlin or Merle for a girl. The other day, I thought about what I would have to do to to this website to change all references from Merlin to Merle. The task wouldn't be too difficult but just time consuming. Well the results of the DNA sexing from the blood sample came in today. You can call him Merlin!
New photos and video of Merlin at 23 days old on 5/30/10. 80 - 90cc's is not a reference to engine displacement for a car but quantity Merlin consumes 4 times each day. He's going, I mean growing fast!
