Photography tips: Exposure and F stops

Photo Tips Week 3.

This week we are going to look at some of the basic technical properties of your camera phone and DSLR. Don’t worry, I’ll do it in stages which will help everyone to get far superior images and more from their camera.

As I’ve said before, most camera phones are now designed to basically do everything for the photographer but they can, and do make mistakes. My aim is to assist you to know the necessary controls and improve images.

In the iPhone manual it states “Before you take a photo, the iPhone camera automatically sets the focus and exposure, and face detection balances the exposure across many faces”. This is wonderful but you’ll see from my illustrations that this does not always work. All cameras can be fooled, even the most expensive.

When I’m making an image on my phone, I firstly touch the point I want in focus and that starts the ball rolling. Next, I look at the exposure, basically is the image too bright or too dark. The secret to a great image is to have as much detail as possible in your highlights (Bright areas), mid tones and shadows (Dark areas).

If you now touch a light area on your image the phone will expose or adjust the image to suit that particular area. I’ve illustrated this with two pictures of our dog ‘Milo’. The first image was ‘suggested’ by my phone and the second ‘I’ selected the white hair on his chest. You can see a lot more detail in the second image.

If you want to manually adjust the exposure, do the following:

When the exposure symbol appears (right) drag it up or down to adjust the exposure, to either make it brighter or darker. This means that ‘YOU’ are deciding on the exposure you want.

To lock your manual focus and exposure settings for upcoming shots, touch and hold the focus area until you see AE/AF Lock (AE is Auto Exposure and AF is Auto Focus); tap the screen to unlock settings. This allows you to frame the image as you like and as long as the AE/AF lock icon appears it will stay at that exposure and focused on where you wanted.

Take Continuous shots.

This is similar on most phones. Press and hold the shutter button (the one you usually take the picture with) and the camera will take several images. Depending on the phone it counts the number of images. Simply take your finger off when you want to stop.

On my phone, if I’m using the highest quality setting it will NOT let me do ‘continuous mode’. I have to change the quality setting to 10 Mega Pixels instead of 40 Mega Pixels.

On iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, swipe the Shutter button to the left to take rapid fire photos. On all other models, it the same as above.

The counter shows how many images you took.

1. Lift your finger to stop.

2. To select the photos you want to keep, tap the Burst thumbnail, then tap Select.

Gray dots below the thumbnails mark the suggested photos to keep.

3. Tap the circle in the lower-right corner of each photo you want to save as an individual photo, then tap Done.

To delete the entire Burst, tap the thumbnail, then tap .

To assist you with the ‘Rule of Thirds’, that we discussed last week, some phones have an ‘Align your shots’ feature.

To display a grid on the camera screen that can help you straighten your shots, go to Settings > Camera, then turn on Grid.

Zoom in or out

On all models, open the camera and pinch the screen to zoom in or out. Again, if you are using the highest quality settings this may not be allowed. Personally I would prefer to use the highest quality setting and crop the image myself to ‘move closer’ to the subject. For me you get better quality using this method as the next image quality to the best of 40 Mega Pixels is only 10 Mega Pixels.

DSLR.

If you are using the ‘Green or Auto Mode’ on your DSLR you will find the same problems occurring. Even though your camera may be more expensive, as I’ve stated before all cameras can be fooled. There are other ways around it, from using other available settings and experience but the one I’m going to explain now will get you started. The others I’ll explain later in the series.

The EV Button (Exposure Value or Exposure Compensation Button)

Exposure Compensation allows us to override exposure settings picked by the camera’s light meter, in order to darken or brighten images before they are captured. When a camera is pointed at something very dark, the meter will think there is very little light and brighten or overexpose the image, whereas a very bright subject, where the camera sees lots of light, like a snow scene will cause the meter to darken the exposure thinking there is too much light.

Our way around this is to use the EV Button while in automatic mode (this also works in other modes which we’ll discuss at a later stage). If you make an image and it appears either dark (underexposed) or bright (overexposed) use your EV button to either brighten or darken your image. This can take a few images to get right but it is worth it. Press and hold the EV button and move the value to either minus or plus to either underexpose or overexpose your image.

As you can see from the illustrations I underexposed the initial image by three f stops or three exposure values in one increment steps and then overexposed by the same quantity.

When we go through the other programmes on your DSLR I’ll give you ‘Rules of Thumb’ or general rules which will help you improve.

Until next week, enjoy your camera and stay safe!!

Photography Tips : Composition and ‘The Rule of Thirds’

Tips Week 02. By Ken Finegan

This week I want to cover some basic composition and perspective techniques in both portraiture and landscape. This is an area in which quite a lot of people make simple errors that can be remedied very quickly.

Remember, rules are used to guide us, if we learn to use them properly then we can break them when we know what we are doing.

The most common error is usually made when people are making portraits. Can you guess what it is? Yes, the head of the person is usually centered with loads of empty space to the top of the picture or worse still the subject ends up with the top of his or her head cut off!!!

So, how do we remedy this? Firstly let’s work with the DSLR. If I’m making portraits I usually position my focus point at the top of the frame. This makes me position the subject’s head in the correct place and works for both landscape shape and portrait shape.

Landscape shape is

and portrait shape is

With the camera phone I think the best way is to slow down slightly and think about your image. As per last week’s tips position the head of your subject at the top of the frame, watching not to go too close and cut some of the subject’s head off and tap on the face of your subject on the phone to focus.

The camera phone has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage in this case is that we tend to hold the phone away from us and this leads to ‘shake’ or movement. This can blur the image slightly and with movement we might crop too tightly on our subject. Just initially slow down and keep the face/head in the correct position.

When you send your images for printing it is always good to know that printers tend to crop in slightly into your image to get a finished print. So I would not go too close to the subject in case they lose part of their head during the printing process.

Now, let’s consider backgrounds. Most people will stand their subject directly against a wall or Granny’s floral curtains, but I tend to disagree with this. By doing this we tend to make the background as important as the subject, which is not what we want to do.

By taking the subject away from the background we emphasise the subject and not the background. We also tend to ‘blur’ the background slightly and create shapes in the background which can be increased or decreased by our settings. If we look at the picture of Sean Geeney, you can see how the background is blurred emphasising the subject. I will deal with these settings at a later date. Some of the new camera phones have this setting included and can blur the background in varying degrees.

Another thing to watch out for as well with camera phones is perspective. The lenses on phones tend to be wide angle. These lenses distort, especially if they are used too close to the subject or at an angle either looking down on a person or looking up at a person.

If you look down on a person from a height, such as a child you make the head of the subject larger than the body and if you go too close this distorts the features. So, not the best look in the world.

The best way is to try and keep the phone as near vertical as possible to avoid distorting the image and not go too close. Some of the newer camera phone have a zoom option which helps with this.

Remember a point from the last tip: if you are making portraits always make 3-4 images to ensure you get a good image (no tongues out or eyes closed!!)

The beauty of the DSLR camera is that they usually come with a kit lens (17-55mm) with an optical zoom feature. This allows you to zoom closer to your subject and blur the background without any distortion. But the same applies, do not make a portrait too close with the wider setting, such as 17mm, as this will distort the features of your subject.

Landscapes:

The best time to make landscape images is of course during the ‘Golden Hour’. Either at sunrise or sunset.

This gives beautiful warn tones and long shadows and possibilities of silhouettes. Every time you make an image, even in the same place you can achieve a different spectacular image each time. At a later stage I will go into some of the more technical issues when you get used to your DSLR.

The rule that most artists and landscape photographers use is ‘The Rule of Thirds’. This means that we divide our image into three horizontal parts and three vertical parts. Where the lines intersect, we call them power points or points of interest. These are good positions to place something of interest, something important in the image. It doesn’t mean you have to put something of interest in each point but some.

This tends to make our images better, avoids splitting the centre of the picture with the horizon line (keep the horizon line either on the lower third or the upper third) and makes our images more aesthetically pleasing. Of course all rules can be broken, but let’s get used to using the rule correctly first.

The images of Carlingford Lough are good illustrations of the rule of thirds but not only that but of perspective as well.

These two images were made from the exact same spot within seconds of each other. I literally just changed the perspective. In the first image I tilted the camera down slightly and captured more foreground and in the second I tilted the camera up to capture more of the beautiful sky. This creates two wonderful images from the same position.

I hope this gets the artistic juices flowing. So until next week, ‘keep safe’ and enjoy your camera.

Check out our Landscape images available to purchase online.

Photography Tips

Tips Week 01 by Ken Finegan

Over the next few weeks I aim to clear up some of the difficulties people find with photography in general. But before starting down a technical route there is one major thing I want to address.

Photography for many is a wonderful hobby and some people don’t want to know all of the techniques and technical information. This is fine. Photography gets you out and about (safely), clears your mind and puts you in a better place. I find it’s like therapy!

There is nothing more I like than to stroll with my DSLR, Drone or Camera Phone while making images. The hours fly by and if you can do this with your partner in life, what a better way to spend an afternoon, early morning and sunset.

So, then the main thing to do with photography is enjoy it.

Lets start with the basics, firstly FOCUS.

Focus may seem like a very basic point but it is essential. Every time I make an image I focus making sure the part of the image I want in focus, is.

With DSLR’s (Digital Single Lens Reflex Cameras) they normally come in auto mode when you buy them. That is fine but when you want to focus they normally bring up several points within little boxes in the viewfinder or screen and it may not be necessarily the point YOU want in focus. Fine the selector button on your camera and change it to single point focusing (your manual will have this and it is very easy to do). This allows YOU to select which part of the image YOU want in focus. This is the SUBJECT of your picture.

For people using camera phones, touch the screen at the point you want to focus on. This will focus on your subject and bring up other options as well but we will deal with these later on.

In this picture taken on my cameraphone I focused (touched the screen) on the apple in the background.

In this picture taken on my cameraphone I focused (touched the screen) on the apple in the foreground.

All digital compact cameras and DSLR’s have a two position shutter release button (the button you make the picture with). When you press the button half way the camera focuses on your subject. NOW, if you keep that button half pressed (don’t take the pressure off the button) you can now move slightly to position your subject wherever you want in the frame and it will stay in focus or sharp.

Focusing and the 3F’s

Simple, but Very Important

1. Focus 2. Frame 3. Fire

· Focus. You decide on your point of focus not the camera. Select single point focusing in the menu of your camera. This point can be altered but for the moment please select the centre point.

· Half press the shutter release button and focus on your subject.

· Do not let the pressure off the shutter release button. By doing this your lens will remain on the original point you focused on even if you move.

Frame:

· By framing I mean that you move the camera (slightly) to position your subject where you want them in the frame.

· You must not move forward or backwards, keep in the same plane as when you focused. This is very important. If you have a focus lock button on your DSLR or digital compact camera you can also use this facility. Some lenses have this facility also.

Fire:

· When you are sure that you are happy with the composition of your image gently press the shutter release button without making sudden movements or changing the framing of your subject.

· In all types of photography, especially portraiture, it is wise to take more than one image of your subject. Why?

· For several reasons:

· 1. Closed eyes,

· 2. Expressions,

· 3. Variation of pose, posture. Do not bank on one image being the best. You have to be certain! You decide where you focus: You decide the SUBJECT.

When you are making images, especially portraits DO NOT make the picture and then look at the screen straight away. What’s the first thing that happens? Your subject comes over beside you and looks.

You now have to reset the subject and start posing all over again. As long as you have the camera/camera phone up to your eye or in front of you your subject will not move. Make several images of your subject and select the best one.

Let’s end with a couple of basic settings I would recommend.

Firstly quality. I would always shoot with the best quality available, whether video or stills. You can always lower the quality in post processing with programmes such as Photoshop, Gimp (freeware) or other photo manipulation software.

For those with DSLR’s you can use either RAW or JPG’s or a mixture of both. For general news and sport I only use JPG’s.

Mostly I use 400 ISO (I will be dealing with ISO later). I call it the ‘Irish’ ISO because it covers most of the situations I come across.