Depth of Field: Aperture and Distance Working Together

Another fabulous tutorial from the talented Lynne Rigby.  Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us, Lynne!!

Depth of Field:  Aperture and Distance Working Together

About 75 times a week (I might be exaggerating a teensy bit ) people ask “what aperture should I use for blahblahblah?” and “Where should I focus if there’s multiple people in my shot?” First of all, it’s impossible to answer that because it depends on a million factors. Sure there are rules of thumb like your aperture should equal the number of people in your shot and focus on the people in front because focus falls back. Distance is just as important in determining your depth of field (aka focal plane).

To illustrate this, I took these awesome pics–totally my best work (ha ha!).

I had my camera on a tripod, I focused on the number 10. My 5Dii with my 50mm/1.4 lens. For the close up shots, I was 18 inches away from the number 10 and approximately 4 feet with the farther away images.
1.4

Close up

Compare to that to 1.4 at 4 feet:

The DOF calculator tells us that at f/1.4 with my camera, 50mm focal length and 18 inches that my focal plane is .25 in deep – yikes!.   But at 4 feet it jumps all the way to a whopping .16 feet (or 1.92 inches).

Now compare that to just closing up your aperture and staying at the same distance:

f/5.6 gives me an enormous 1 inch of sharp focus.

As opposed to me stepping back to 4 feet with f/2.5

These images also illustrate that focus does not just fall back. The smaller your focal plane (big aperture, close distance), the more even your focus falls behind and in front of your subject. As you see in the screen shot above.

But as you increase the depth of your focal plane, the more your focus “falls back.”

Understanding the depth of field calculator:

Non-math people tend to look at it and freak out, claiming to not be a numbers person. But it’s pretty darn important that you understand how it works.

First you need to input all your information, your camera, your lens. Now plug in what aperture you want to use and how far away you are going to be from your subject. Here:

Let’s pretend I’m shooting a family of 5, so I select an ap of 5.6 to correspond to the “ap should roughly equal  the number of people in your shot” rule.

I pose them into 2 rows, the distance from the people in the front to the people behind is about 2 or 3 feet. I step back 20 feet. Where should I focus? I could focus on any of the people in this case and still have a plenty of room because I have a 20 foot focal plane–plenty of wiggle room.

But let’s pretend I think I’m a rockstar photographer and I decide to shoot this family of 5 with f/1.4. Craziness!!! You think.
Nope, not really.

If I stay at 20 feet, even f/1.4 gives me a 4 ft. focal plane, plenty for our family that only occupies a depth of 3 feet. But now I really need to focus well and deliberately. If I focus on Dad who is the closest to me, the plane only extends 2 ft. 4 in behind him, so I need to focus closer to the middle of my group. Maybe even a shoulder or where Mom’s hair falls on her shirt for a point of contrast. I don’t have wiggle room, but it is possible.

Macrolicious Monday!!

Mondays are getting a mac-over on the Clickinmoms blog!   A macro makeover that is!

Every Monday will feature a different macro pic from one of our fabulous Clickinmoms members.  We have some ladies with some crazy mad macro photography skills on the board.   We focus (ha ha!) a lot on portraiture so I’m making a conscious effort to highlight some other super fun areas of photography.  (Fisheye Fridays, anyone???)

To kick off Macrolicious Mondays we have this fantastic set of pics from Emma B., one of our many UK Clickinmoms.  I woke up to her submission this morning and was so stoked – not solely because of her pics (sorry, Emma!) but because of what else she included with her submission that I super duper triple LOVED!!  Make sure to scroll down to the very end of the post.;)

Gorgeous work, Emma!!  Thank you for sharing!

This final pic is the one that sealed the deal for the inaugural Macrolicious Monday picture selection.  Emma also submitted this macro pic taken by her son Will.  Will is 10 and took this with his mum’s camera, in full on manual all by himself – and then processed it himself!!  You rock, Will B.!  Thanks for sharing with us – our first Clickin”Kid” – you’re going to be big competition for your mum!

Oh, Crop!

TGIF!!!  For those of you that will spend your weekend trying to catch up on editing,  here’s a fantastic video that is uber-helpful when it comes to cropping.   A lot of people struggle with getting the “right” crop and cropping to the rule of thirds can really make the most out of your pictures.  The super talented Lisa Harrison has put together this helpful video with a how-to on cropping to the rule of thirds.   Lisa is the Photoshop 101 workshop instructor at Clickinmoms.  She is almost done her first class and from what I can see I’m expecting rave reviews on it.  But I would have expected nothing less – I’ve known her for a long time and she has taught me so much and makes concepts so easy to understand.  Click on the link below to view the video.:)   Thanks for sharing with us, Lisa!

Cropping to the Rule of Thirds

Creating a Silhouette in Four Easy Steps

One of the things I love about Clickinmoms is that we truly are an international community.  We have members from all over the world that come together in our mutual love of photography and we end up learning far more from each other in return.  We have a large contingent of members from Canada, Australia and Europe and members as far away as South Africa, Japan and China as well.

One of our fantastic international members is Lisa of  Tout Petit Pixel Photography in France.  She’s also well known as lisamars on Clickinmoms.  She is also known for rockin’ silhouettes and has graciously shared her process for taking her silhouettes here on the blog today.   You can check out her site and blog at www.toutpetitpixel.com.  And you can always find her on Clickinmoms where she happily shares her knowledge and love of photography.  Thank you for sharing with us, Lisa!!

How To Create a Silhouette in Four Easy Steps

I’m known to be a silhouette addict.

I don’t pretend to have the best method, there are probably better ones, but this one works for me so I thought I would share.

Here is my recipe in 4 steps:

1. Location / Environment

The first thing is to face a strong source of light (the sun is an easy one!). Your subject should be in between you and the light source so that his/her body is blocking the light. This is what will produce the silhouette effect (black body over a well exposed background).

To have a nice silhouette, you need an uncluttered background. Get on top of a hill to have the sky as your only background, or on a beach… wherever you won’t have any distracting elements so that your subject in the only focus.

In this tutorial I will show a few examples of outdoor silhouettes, but you can also practice inside by using a window or an open door as your light source.

2. Your Settings

Switch to Manual mode (you can also use Priority or Aperture modes and lock exposure, but Manual is really the easiest way). Select spot metering.

Use your middle focal point to meter off your background (the sky, for example). Choose your settings to get proper exposure.

After that, you can forget about your meter and completely focus on your composition.  Do a test shot to ensure your background is properly exposed.

3. Timing

The fun thing with silhouettes is that you can do them at any hour of the day, as soon as there’s enough light.

You will see a lot of sunset silhouettes, partly because it’s an easy time for this (the sun is very low, so it’s easy to catch it at the same level as your subject) and because the colors are gorgeous at that time of the day.

One example:

But you can also practice silhouettes in full daylight. The contrast with a bright blue sky is stunning.

Two examples from a sunny summer afternoon:

Warning:  Including the sun in your composition can be very dangerous. By looking directly at the sun through your camera you can potentially damage your eyes (and possibly damage your sensor too).  So if you try this, snap very quickly, don’t look more than a few seconds.

I’ve also been asked about how to achieve that star burst effect. That’s a cool trick I learned in Lynne’s Rock Your Camera 201 Workshop here at Clickin’Moms. She gave me the green light to share it with you, so here is how the magic happens!

It’s very easy.  Choose your narrowest aperture (f22 if you can), and to increase the effect, you might also partially block the sun.

If you look at the ferris wheel example, you’ll see that I chose my angle so that the wheel would be a partial obstruction to the sun light. But as you can see on the second example, even without blocking the starburst will appear at f22.  Magical!

Finally, you can obviously practice silhouettes without using the sky as your background and without including the sun in your composition. In the following example, I used the water of a lake as my background. You can see from the color of the water that the sky was still blue (it was taken in the middle of the afternoon).

4. Post-Processing

The post-processing will vary a lot depending on the type of silhouette you’re making.

Most of the time, you’ll need to increase contrast (to darken your silhouette) or even add blacks (like in my last example above). Adding clarity will help defining the outline of your silhouette. And adding some saturation will help you get richer, intense colors.

I’ll refer to Lynne again - there’s one lesson in the 201 Workshop where she teaches a lot about silhouettes, including cool ways to process them with Lightroom. I highly recommend this workshop if you want to master silhouettes!

There it is everyone !  Now go and practice!  You’ll soon find out how easy it is to master silhouettes.

There is a French version of this tutorial on my blog here (http://www.toutpetitpixel.com/blog/2010/06/a-propos-des-silhouettes/) if you want to practice your High School French! (Did I mention that « silhouette » was a French word ?)

Yes, this is a linguistic tutorial too!  Lol!

Hope that helps…

xoxo,

Lisa

They Found the Light!!

We are just wrapping up another Clickin’ Moms workshop and wanted to share some pictures taken by our talented participants. Finding The Light 101 was taught by our mentors Beth, Megan, Misti & Sarah. The class was about learning how to find flattering light in many different lighting situations. The participants were only allowed to use natural light and a reflector. It was so awesome how excited these ladies got over the class. They really pushed themselves and made the most of some pretty challenging weather conditions. Watching their photography blossom over the course of 4 weeks was so exciting. The class will be offered again in late August if you missed the second round.  If you’re not already a member, what are you waiting for?   Lifetime members get the chance to enroll in all the Clickin’ Moms workshops before anyone else. So why not sign up for a lifetime membership? You won’t regret it!

None of these pictures have  been processed in Photoshop.:)

Week One/Window Light:

Danika D.

Rachel P.

Week Two/Open Shade:

Beth F.

Courtney

Week Three/Backlighting:

Kate B.

Diane S.

Shannon J.

Week Four/Silhouettes:

Beth F.

Courtney

Here is what the participants are saying about Finding The Light 101.

Jenn:
“I just finished up my last assignment for this workshop, and I’m really sad about that! I’ve enjoyed it so much that I don’t want it to end! I thought I would share my experience in case anyone else was thinking about taking this particular workshop. For me, this was exactly the instruction I needed. Beth is an awesome teacher.  The material she covered in these last four weeks is invaluable! The ability to “Find the Light”, to me, is a #1 priority. Until now, I had no idea EXACTLY what that meant. The way she breaks it down and explains everything is so perfect. She was really good to give example, after example, after example, which is great because I am a visual person! The lessons are fantastic, but the assignments make you get out there and literally Find the Light….not just any light, but the RIGHT light. Everything just makes a lot more sense to me now. I feel so much more confident in my skills. These are lessons that I will come back to time and time again. If you are thinking about signing up, don’t hesitate!”

Lisa:
“I have to jump in and agree  — GREAT workshop!! Beth’s lessons were well written & organized, easy to understand and had plenty of visual examples (can you tell I’m a teacher???). Also, each week’s skills built nicely on the prior week’s skills — so I was able to actually *use* what I’d just learned over and over. The CC was invaluable and plentiful! Beth and Megan & Misti were generous about their feedback & I felt I even picked up quite a few other tips in addition! Light is a foundation of great photography. Being able to *see* the light is critical & I feel like I’m in a completely different place now when I’m shooting. CM has really tapped into a great area with their workshops. There is sooooooo much talent on this board I’m so glad there is such generosity in sharing it!”

Carrie:
“I can’t agree more with the ladies above. I have taken the 101 course and the Finding the Light course. I have learned so much in the last 8 weeks. I NEVER could have done learned this much on my own so quickly. I have 2 little ones and taking courses outside of my house just didn’t work with my schedule right now. I could work on assignments and check out the forums when my babies were sleeping. These 2 courses were more than I could have asked for. I can now “see the light”. Beth, Misti and Megan gave excellent constructive feedback that has allowed me to grow tremendously. If you are sitting on the fence, don’t question it. It is worth every penny.”

Diane:
“I just finished this workshop and am amazed by how much I have learned. Before I had no idea how to find the good light. I was convinced you could only shoot in the shade. Seriously, this has brought me to the next level. Beth is an amazing instructor. Her, Megan, Misti and Sarah give the nicest critique – meaning even if you didn’t find the light, they told you exactly what should be done differently so you can find it the next time. I love that. Thank you ladies for an amazing experience.”

Shooting in Full Sun

For many of us, we avoid shooting in full sun like the plague.  But with a few tips it doesn’t have to be the bane of your existence.:)  Week Two of  Lynne Rigby’s Rock Your Camera 201 workshop has participants jump into shooting in full sun.  Scary, huh??  Don’t worry -they’re in good hands.:)

Here’s a standout example from one of our members – this is her actual assignment for RYC 201 and she has graciously allowed us to share it with you on the blog.  She did an awesome job.  Well done, Louise!  I lived in the UK for eighteen months and know full well that finding the sun period can often be a challenge in and of itself.:)  Thanks for sharing with us!!

Rock Your Camera Week 2 – Embrace the Sun!!

1) Full Sun, midday. Taken when I first got my reflector. Really tough but found the reflector did help but had to fiddle around with it as at first it was blinding.

Settings – F/3.5, ISO 200, s/s 1/800.

Edited

2) Shot around 3.30pm, sun behind her slightly to her right.
Settings F/2.8, ISO 200, s/s 1/1000

Edited

3) Shot around 6.30 pm
Settings F/2.5, s/s 1/640, ISO 200

Edited

4) Shot around 7 pm
Settings- F/2.2, ISO 250, s/s 1/640.

I must be learning as when I looked at the shot I wish I hadn’t chopped her off at the joints, this is something I probably wouldn’t have noticed before.

Edited

This was a HARD assignment but think I have learned loads from it so thank you!

Thank you SO much for sharing your assignment with us, Louise!   Fantastic job!

Our Rock Your Camera 201 workshop is being held again starting August 23rd.  Registration  is on right now for Lifetime Members and will open to everyone on Thursday.  Due to the need for natural light for the workshop it likely won’t be held often, if at all, during the winter months so don’t miss out!!  This class gets tremendous raves each and every time – you won’t be disappointed.  Thanks for sharing your student’s awesome-ness with us, Lynne!

The Dreaded “Your camera takes really nice pictures” Comment.

We’ve all heard it at some point of another. We’ve all complained about it. One of our fabulous members did something about it and posted about it on her blog. She agreed to let me share it here, with you!  The author is Erin Farrell of  Erin Farrell Photography. Follow the link to check out her gorgeous work and Erin, thanks for letting us share!

Imagine that you’re baking dessert for a party.  It’s your special recipe: the one everyone asks for.  You make it from scratch, of course, never looking at the recipe that you committed to memory so long ago.  Sugar, beaten eggs, sift in the flour…  you’re crafting something delicious from basic elements.  Now you’re at the party and everyone is gushing about your dessert.  The flavor!  The texture!  But most of all you’re being asked, “what kind of oven do you have?  It makes great cakes!”

That’s pretty much how a photographer feels when people look at their photos and say, “your camera takes great pictures.”

Of course it’s not the camera that takes great photos, any more than it’s the oven that makes a great dessert.  Ovens and cameras are just tools that make our jobs easier.  Yes, better equipment does make a difference.  I wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses if it didn’t.  However, you must understand the camera to take advantage of all it can offer.  Just because you’re using a professional camera does not mean you are producing professional images.

It’s all about what you know: the technicalities of photography.  You have to determine just the right type and direction of light, position your models to take advantage of that light and create a pleasing composition, utilize the correct camera settings (aperture, ISO, etc.) and work with your models to make them feel comfortable.  And that’s just the first half!  After the photo shoot there is still post-processing to be done.

I decided to do a little experiment.  I used my friend’s daughter as my model and brought my brother with me for a mini session.  Not at a garden or the beach, but at Houlihan’s Restaurant situated right in the middle of the mall parking lot.  (I figured a little challenge never hurt anyone.)   I set my camera to auto, handed it over to my brother and sent him off with my model for 10 minutes to see what he could do.   When they came back, it was my turn (using my camera on manual, of course).  Same camera, same location, same model.  The only difference was the person using the camera.

I was anxious to get home and look through them.  These are all straight out of the camera, with no processing.  You’ll see that there wasn’t a whole lot of thought put into the first set; my brother pretty much stuck the poor girl in front of different trees and snapped away.  The exposure isn’t perfect, the color is off in some and the composition is boring.

Non-professional using a professional camera:Professional using a professional camera:

And just because your session is over, that doesn’t mean the photographer’s work is.  Far from it, actually.  I carefully go through each image and select the very best.  From there, I process each one carefully.  Sharpening, smoothing, dodging, burning, cloning, layering… you name it!  Most of the images from this session look pretty good right out of the camera, but you can see how just a little processing gives them a bit more “oomph”.  :)

After processing my photos, I pulled a couple of my brother’s images into Photoshop to see what I could do with them.  It sure did take a lot more work to get his photos looking good!

Even turning a color image into black and white is more complex than it seems.  Sure, there is an auto black and white feature in Photoshop, but let’s take a look at the difference of the results between doing that and the way I normally do it.  See the difference?  The one on the left is very flat and dull-looking.  The one on the right has greater depth; there’s a wider range of shades from darkest black to whitest white.

Professional photographers spend so much of our time researching, learning and networking.  We have a tendency to live, eat and breathe photography.  For instance, even when I’m taking a drive out to visit family, I’m always looking out the window, scanning the horizon, taking mental notes of great places to hold a photo session.  And if I happen to drive past a wheat field at sunset?  It takes every ounce of willpower not to drag my hungry, tired kids out of the car for an impromptu photo shoot. Professional photographers put all of their passion and knowledge into every wedding, graduation, birthday and family photo session.  If expensive tools were all it took, producing great images would be a piece of cake.  Amazingly delicious cake, of course.