Basic Techniques | Slow-Sync Flash

Slow sync flash is a technique that's used in unison with a long shutter speed. It's used to capture any movement within your shot along with a still image too. This happens because the movement is captured throughout the long exposure with the ambient light but then a still of the movement is captured too as the light from the flash bursts onto it. There are two flash options on your camera which will accomplish this technique but in opposite ways, they are know as 'Slow-Sync' flash and 'Rear-Sync' flash and I am going to be explaining these in more detail throughout today's post.

As you can see in the diagramn below, rear-sync captures the movement trailing behind the subject, as you would expect to see it, however, if the flash fires at the beginning it will make the subject look as though it's moving backwards creating a rather odd looking picture.

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Slow-Sync Flash:

As the diagramn shows above, this option will fire the flash at the beginning of the exposure, freezing the movement first and then capturing the trail of movement. It's generally best to avoid this technique though as it will make your subject matter look as though it's moving backwards rather than forwards. This is shown in the image below, as you can see, the woman has just hit the snooker balls but it looks as though they are moving back into the centre not away from it.

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Rear-Sync Flash:

This is the best flash type to use for capturing movement as it will fire the flash at the end of the exposure opposed to at the beginning, creating a more accurate representation of the trail of movement. As you can see in the shot below, this is how the image should look to accurately display the movement of the snooker balls.

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I hope this post has helped you to understand these flash techniques a bit more, if you'd like any more help then check out this website here where I got all my examples from as I found it explains it very simply and clearly.

Thanks for reading!

Basic Techniques | HDR Photography

After explaining dynamic range in a previous post, I felt that it would be appropriate to expand on that in this post by talking about 'HDR Photography'.

A while ago I did a tutorial on how to get perfect exposure across your whole image, which touches on what I'll be talking about today, so you can check that out here first if you'd like, but today I am going to expand on the concept of HDR photography a little bit more by explaining what it's is all about.

HDR stands for 'high dynamic range' and is achieved in post-processing by combining a number of images of the same scene, shot at varying shutter speeds, to create one "perfectly" exposed image, creating a more accurate replica of what your eye would have seen at the time, therefore creating a more dynamic range throughout the photo.   

People often use it to create hyper-real photographs by combining numerous exposures to get every section of the image to the "correct" exposure. A photographer called Albert Knuttson is incredibly good at this technique as you can see in the images of his that i've included below. He manages to get every area of the scene to the best exposure creating these incredible hyper-real images.

©Albert Knutsson

As you can see, they are very different to most normal shots, they have a very different look and feel to them, they're more like pieces of art/illustrations than photographs, very intriguing!

©2014HannahBennett

I'm not a big fan of HDR photography though, it seems like a very hard skill to perfect, however, I do find that it's useful when used subtly to achieve a perfect overall exposure like this image I shot above which I included in the post I spoke about earlier where I used a technique known as bracketing to achieve this.

What are your thought on HDR photography? Let me know in the comments below!

Have any of you ever given it a go? I'd love to see them if you have :)

Thanks for reading!

My Photography | iPhoneography

Today I have decided to share a quick snap with you that I took a while ago on my iPhone which I was very pleased with. I was visiting a local garden centre and didn't have my camera so I had to take a quick shot using my phone of some flowers that caught my eye.

©2014HannahBennett

As you can only "point and shoot" with a phone camera, you have very little control over the outcome of the final image as you can't alter any settings such as the aperture and shutter speed. However, this has turned out exactly how I would have hoped to have captured it with my dslr manually. I would have chosen a low number f stop to create a shallow depth of field just like the phone has done here, I love the way the background flowers fade off into the distance, drawing the focus of the image into the face of the pansys at the front.

I also think the phone has captured the colours perfectly and gives a good representation of the colours that they were in person. I really struggle to capture puple tones when using my dslr camera, I can never find the right white balance so I never do the flowers justice, I think my phone has done a better job than I would have in this area!

I chose a compositon to fit the dimensions of my phone, by placing the two front flowers centrally within the frame. I'm pleased with this as it works really well as a background for my phone's lock screen.

It just goes to show that you don't really need expensive fancy equipment to get a good shot, you can achieve just as nice an image with any equipment.

I hope you liked this shot!

See you soon

My Photography | Nature Snaps with my Telephoto Lens

As the weather brightened up a bit this weekend I took this as the ideal opportunity to take my camera out into my garden and photograph the wildlife. Along with the sunshine, quite a few birds came for a visit too so I made sure to use my telephoto lens and had a practise at photographing them. The results weren't particularly great though, I got some nice shots but they're not fabulous. I find that despite using a 300mm telephoto zoom lens, I still can't get close enough to the birds in camera. I have to sit fairly close as it is but ideally I'd like to get even closer, however this isn't possible without frightening the birds as my lens doesn't seem to zoom as far as I'd like.

Here is the first shot I took...

©2014HannahBennett

You can see that the quality of the image is pretty poor, it's not a very smooth image at all. I've cropped into the original (seen below) quite a lot and I don't think the focus was sharp on the bird either which has resulted in this unclear image. I am pleased with the composition of the bird though, it looks like he's peeking round the cocunut shell which is pretty cute! I'm also aware that the background is quite cluttered too, it's extremely difficult to get a nice background in my garden without including the orange fence.

ISO Speed:ISO-400
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/125
©2014HannahBennett

Here is the original image above, as you can see, I've cropped into the bird to try and remove a lot of the background clutter, i don't like the stray twigs in the background and the hideous dull grey pole of the bird feeder running along the left hand side is extremely distracting as well. I also forgot to use a form of flash to add a catchlight to the birds eye, a tip I learnt through a book I read a while ago by Guy Edwardes, called '100 Ways to Take Better Nature Photographs', which you can find here if you'd like more info about it. Because of this I used Photoshop to add one in by selecting the brush tool, making sure the colour was set to white, then I zoomed in to the eye and added a tiny little circle, recreating the effect of a catchlight. In the image below, I've added the extract from the book where Guy has enhanced the eyes of birds in his images. I created my own version of this technique using his example for guidance.

©GuyEdwardes

I have another shot from my mini garden shoot which I am going to do a post on so look out for that, it should be coming sometime throughout this week so keep your eyes peeled!

See you then

My Photography | Snowdrops Part 4

Today's post includes my final picture from my snowdrop series, seen below...

ISO Speed:ISO-200Aperture: f/13
Shutter Speed: 1/60
©2014HannahBennett

This final shot is simply a landscape shot to display the carpet of snowdrops and how beautiful they make the park look. I shot this in manual mode and chose to use a high number f stop to get a wide enough depth of field to show how the snowdrops continue off into the distance, pretty much as far as the eye can see. I think the composition work well too, the snowdrop horizon cuts across the bottom third of the image nicely. I also like that you can just about see the blue sky and the clouds through the mass of trees. I think the cool tones in the image add a nice winter/spring atmosphere, taking you into the photograph to experience the scene yourself, reminding you of your own happy winter memories.

I hope you've enjoyed my snowdrop series, stay tuned to my blog for lots more exciting content coming soon!

See you soon...

My Photography | Snowdrops Part 3

It's time for part 3 of my snowdrop series, and here is today's shot...

ISO Speed:ISO-200
Aperture: f/5
Shutter Speed: 1/100
©2014HannahBennett

This one is a bit different to your "average snow drop shot" as it's not really about the snowdrops at all, they're only really acting as a backdrop for the shot. I decided to shoot this scene because I loved the way the ivy leaves were wrapped so closely around the tree, and the beautiful patterns and colours that they have. I'm very pleased with the composition of this shot as the tree trunk itself in the foreground runs directly through the middle of the frame vertically, and the horizon between the snowdrop covered floor, and the sky full of trees runs perfectly through the middle also but horizontally instead, creating a subtle cross through the frame. I also shot this one in manual mode, and am very pleased with the depth of field that has resulted from the f/5 aperture that I chose. It's not particularly obvious that they are snowdrops in the background which I think works well because it creates the impression that it might be actual snow rather than flowers. I think this works well because ivy leaves have christmas connotations, which combined with what looks like snows in the background, makes for a fairly festive shot that would be nice to view at christmas time. What do you think?

I hope you enjoyed today's snap, here is a sneak peek to the final shot from my snowdrop series which will be up tomorrow...

Thanks for reading! See you again tomorrow :)

My Photography | Snowdrops Part 2

Today's post is of my second photograph from my snowdrops series, and here it is below...

ISO Speed:ISO-200
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/60
©2014HannahBennett

As you can see, today's shot is a close-up of a singular snowdrop I spotted within the park. I quite like this one because I think that the contrast in colours is interesting once again, the green and white of the flower really stands out against the brown of the forest floor acting as a a natural backdrop. I'm also pleased with how i've framed the snowdrop as it follows the rule of thirds quite well, the actual head of the flower falls within the top left third whilst the stem runs perfectly down the centre of the image, creating a very pleasing composition within the frame. I also like how the twigs in the background form an l-shape across the bottom left also falling into the rule of thirds quite nicely. Working in manual for this shot, I think that the aperture I chose was set at just the right point to capture them enough that they're recognisable without being too much of a distraction within the image. However, I can't work out whether the snowdrop in the background, just peeking in, adds to the image or spoils it slightly? I don't know whether it would be better if there was just the one? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below! When you look at them up close they're actually quite strange looking flowers, they look like sad bunny rabbits with their petals pointing downwards like ears! Or is it just me that see's this? haha

I hope you've enjoyed this shot, as always, here's a sneak peek of tomorrow's image...

Thanks for reading, you can check out the first of the series here if you missed it.

See you tomorrow!

Basic Techniques | Dynamic Range and Histograms

Throughout today's post I am going to explain what dynamic range is and how it is displayed through the use of a graph known as a histogram. 

What is Dynamic range?

The dynamic range of a photograph is captured by the camera sensor and it describes the ratio between the maximum and minimum measurable light intensities, which basically refers to the brightest objects in the scene and the darkest objects in the same scene. Our eyes have a high dynamic range as we make bright things, and dark things appear at fairly the same brightness, a camera however cannot do this. The examples below, which I found on another site can be found here.

This is how our eyes would view the scene as we have a high dynamic range....

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And this is how our camera would view it, it would need to take two exposures, one to underexpose to capture detail in the highlight, and one to overexpose to capture details in the shadow areas.

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It's quite confusing and very difficult to get your head around, I hope i've managed to explain it okay here?

What is a histogram?

A histogram is a type of graph that shows you the dynamic range of the image by displaying how many pixels there are at each level between black and white, black is the left hand side and white is the right. The height of the graph depends on how bright the pixels are at each point. (Once again, I found another useful site here with a more in-depth discussion and some great examples.)

Here is an example of what histograms look like representing the dynamic range of the photograph.

This first histogram is for a shot of mine that is over exposed. As you can see, the histogram is pushed up to the right.

 

This one shows an underexposure of the same scene, and the histogram quite clearly appears more pushed up to the right handside.

When they are pushed up to the side, this results in clipping, which means any information pushed off the graph cannot be retrieved. Any detail in these shadows and highlights will be lost.

Try and achieve histograms where the graphs falls back to the bottom before it runs of the edge, similar to these examples from images of mine below...

I hope this post hasn't been too confusing and I hope you've been able to get a better understanding of these important photographic topics.

Thanks for reading!

My Photography | Snowdrops

Below is the first image from my snowdrops series...

ISO Speed:ISO-200
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/100
©2014HannahBennett

This was one of my favourite pics of the day because I love the interesting combination of colours throughout the scene. The colours are predominantly green and white but there's also the lovely flash of purple from the crocuses and also, some subtle, tiny, dots of brown leaves littered across the screen. I love the intense colour of the purple popping up all over the scene. I'm not particularly fond of taking landscape shots though, I find it difficult because I feel like you can't input much creativity,for me it's more of a 'point and shoot' situation. Because I struggle with this, I chose to use the landscape picture mode setting here to help me get the right settings which I think is the reason why the colours are so intense, as I mentioned in a recent post about picture modes, this option helps to capture vivid colours across the scene, which is something that was definitely achieved throughout this shot. I am please that despite the camera being in landscape mode it choose to use a low numbered f stop, resulting in a shallow depth of field, blurring the flowers as they go off into the background. The depth of field is shallow enough to notice them creeping out without blurring them into one mass of white and making the snowdrops indistinguishable. However, I think I could of improved this image slightly by removing the few stray purple crocuses at the front by moving forward a couple of steps to get rid of them, creating just one band of purple directly through the middle of the frame. Obviously i wouldn't pick them as this would be intefering with nature!

Overall I am pleased with this shot, stay tuned tomorrow for the next of the series, in the meantime here's a sneak peek of tomorrow's shot for you.

Coming Soon! | Snowdrops

A couple of days ago I was lucky enough to visit a park full of snowdrops in bloom, and obviously I took my camera along, so now I want to share with you a few of my favourite shots from the day. There are four shots in particular that I plan on uploading which I shall be adding to my blog within the next few days so I hope you look forward to seeing them :)

Here's a sneak peek of tomorrow's pic...

©2014HannahBennett

Stay tuned to see the full photograph tomorrow!

Basic Techniques | Picture Controls

When I first started taking an interest in photography, before I really understood all the different settings, I would use the different picture control options on my camera to help. They are extremely useful for beginners to help you understand what works best for different subject matters. 

What are picture controls?

Picture controls are a variety of default settings used by the camera to get the best possible photos of your subject matter, they can be selected by using the mode dial on your camera. They can also be referred to as 'Scene Selection', and commonly feature, auto, program auto, manual, aperture, shutter speed, no flash, portraiture, landscape, macro, sport, sunset, and night, settings.

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What's the difference between each one?

The different picture modes all have different settings tailored to the needs of each subject they're focusing on.

These 7 default picture controls are perfect for beginners...

Auto - With this mode selected the camera will choose all the settings for you meaning you don't really need to worry about anything and is perfect for your first time using a DSLR camera.

No Flash - This is basically the same as the Auto mode described above but the camera will never fire the flash in this setting. This can be appropriate for use at museums/wildlife parks where flash photography is sometimes prohibited.

Portrait - This option is perfect for taking photographs of people, the camera will choose the right settings to emphasize the subject by blurring away the background whilst still making sure to keep the subject sharp, and select the perfect settings to capture a soft skin tone.

Landscape - This mode is best for landscape photography, natural or urban, as it will shoot the entire range of scenery in sharp focus with vivid colours.

Macro - This is selected when shooting subjects up close to result in clear, sharp, detailed photos.

Sports/Action - Select this mode for sports photography as it will choose high shutter speeds for you to capture the movement of the players, it will also select the option of continuous shooting so that you can hold your finger down on the shutter so you won't miss any action from the game, it is best to use this mode in unison with good lighting conditions though to enable the use of high shutter speeds.

Sunset - This is used to capture sunsets as it will vividly express the redness of the scene during dusk or dawn.

Night - This can be used to shoot portraits at night time but also for landscape at night time, making sure that your flash isn't on, without losing the dark atmosphere of the surroudings.

Then once you've gain a bit more knowledge of your camera through experimenting with the modes above, these final 4 picture modes are useful to extend your knowledge further...

Program Auto - This adds a bit more creativity as it allows you to change a number of settings, such as the ISO speed, white balance, etc, but will still select the right exposure and aperture for you.

Aperture Priority - This setting allows you to control the aperture only, letting you experiment with different depths of field, whilst still doing everything else for you.

Shutter Speed - This is the same as above, only with shutter speed instead, allowing you to change the shutter speed but nothing else, the camera will do that for you.

Manual - This gives you complete control over all the settings within your camera, enabling you to have full creative experimentation within your photographs.

I hope this has helped you to shoot a vast range of subject matter in the best conditions possible. If your a begginer i hope that this will help you understand the reasoning behind each mode and help you to progress towards shooting in manual.

Thanks for reading!

Basic Techniques | Buying A Used Lens

Hello everyone, another slightly boring, word-heavy, but very useful, post today i'm afraid! However, it is full of hints and tips to help you purchase second hand lenses. 

When you're thinking of buying a used lens there are a number of things to think about to ensure that you're not tricked into buying a lens that is in poor condition, especially when buying old film camera lenses in particular. There are four main areas you should focus on, the functionality, the appearance, the aperture and the optical condition of each lens.

The Functionality: 

You should always check that the lens functions properly, therefore you must check aspects of this area thoroughly. 

-It's keys that the lens mounts properly so make sure that it fits onto your camera correctly. 

-Make sure to move the focus ring around to check that it turns smoothly.

-Also when checking the focus ring, look through your camera to make sure it's focusing at the correct distances, focus on close range, and at infinity in particular. 

The Appearance:

-Give the lens a good once over to check for any general signs of wear and tear on the exterior body, paint chips, scratches, etc.

-Make sure there are absolutely no large dents as this can usually cause big problems with the performance of the lens. 

-It's also important to look out for dents in the front thread too as this can also indicate problems with the performance of the lens. 

Aperture: (This is a particularly important area to focus on when purchasing old lenses with manual aperture rings)

-Just like you would with the focus ring, make sure the aperture ring also moves smoothly. If it moves too fast or too slow it may become an issue when using it. 

-Be sure to close the aperture diaphragm and check for any oil spots, rust or corrosion as this will indicate that the lens has not been well cared for. 

Optical Condition: 

-One very important thing to be aware of when looking at the optical condition is the sign of any fungus (ewww!). If you can see fungus on a lens DO NOT buy it. Fungus can seriously damage the lens and can spread between other lenses when stored in the same camera bag. Fungus appears on the lens like water marks on the surface of the mirror so it can be quite tricky to spot as they are initially quite small so take extra care when looking for any signs of fungus. 

-It's also important to look out for any large scratches on the glass, give the lens a good check under a bright light to help them show up. 

-Take care to examine the lens coating as well, make sure it hasn't worn away, this will show up like fingerprints if so. 

-Dont be too put off by dust though as this can often be removed with a good clean so shouldn't be too much to worry about. 

Another thing to bear in mind is the price of the lens, if it's reasonably priced and appears to be working well but has a few paint chips, a bit of dust here and there, then it's probably a good deal worth thinking about, however if its very expensive and in a poor condition it's probably better to take your business elsewhere to look for a similar lens for a much better deal. 

I hope this post will prove useful at helping you to purchase used lenses in the future.

Thanks for reading!

Wacky Waterdroplets

I've been doing some research on photo manipulation today but somehow managed to stumble upon these incredible water droplet photographs by Markus Reugels, shown below, on a website called 'Twisted Sifter' and just had to share them! 

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In the article a number of examples of his work were included where he's managed to capture absoluetly pin-sharp refractions within the tiniest waterdroplets creating these really wonderful shots, the last 2 are very reminiscent of optical illusions, so mesmerizing.

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This superman one is pretty cool too, the way he's manged to capture a water trail behind the main bead of water makes it really look like superman flying through the air, definitely my favourite so far, such perfect timing! He's incredibly talented, just check out his flickr page, there's even more wonderful waterdroplet photos.

Thanks for reading!

Basic Techniques | File Formats Explained

Today's post is a bit of a boring one, but useful nonetheless, and should hopefully help you understand different file fomats a bit more. I'm going to do a brief explanation on 4 file formats most commonly used within the photography/graphics industry in bullet point form just to explain the basics.

• .jpeg is the most common file format to be used for photographs as it enables you to transfer/upload the images quickly between sources. However, image quality is lost slightly every time you save a jpeg as the file size decreases slightly each time.

• .pdf refers to a document file and stands for ‘Portable Document Format’. Storing a file as a PDF means that you will be able to open it with most software therefore it’s accessible from any device.

• .gif stands for ‘Graphic Interchange Format’. They are commonly used to save files high in colour with very simple shapes. Unlike JPEG files, GIFs have the ability to store transparent areas of the image, allowing them to blend into website backgrounds and they can also be animated to store moving images.

• .tiff stands for a ‘Tagged Image File Format’ and is commonly used by graphic designers to save graphics images.

I hope this post has helped you to understand the difference between varying file formats so that in future you'll easily know how best to save your work.

Thanks for reading!