Snapshots to Photographs: RAW vs JPEG

 Photography Tips, YouTube  No Responses »
Feb 062013
 

This episode of Mark’s Photography Spot is the third in a series of videos I’m doing to help you get your camera out of “Auto” mode. I call the series “Snapshots to Photographs” This episode addresses the “big debate” in digital photography, RAW vs JPEG:

I have a definite opinion on this and that opinion is: “Shoot RAW when you want to get the most out of your image and shoot JPEG when you want to be able to quickly share an image or don’t have the desire (or need) to actively post process the image”.

In terms of my photography that equates to me shooting RAW about 90-95% of the time and JPEG the rest. In terms of your photography, only you know what those percentages will be.

Here is why I shoot RAW the majority of the time, and why I recommend that you do the same:

If you are new to photography and want to take the best images possible I would encourage you to shoot RAW as much as possible and use software (Lightroom, for example) to fine tune the image out of the camera.The reason is because RAW files are essentially a “digital negative” and have pretty much all the information that is available for any one particular image. You, as the photographer, will have a lot more latitude to adjust and refine the RAW file to create the final image that you can then save as a JPEG or other format. Shooting JPEG’s, on the other hand, results in a file that is created using in-camera processing. This process often times sacrifices quality for speed, smaller file size and portability. Once the camera creates it’s interpretation of the image and writes that to your memory card as a JPEG file, there is no going back. You won’t be able to recapture the original image and make anything more than basic adjustments. That’s the biggest downside of JPEG files.

Now that you know to shoot RAW whenever you want to get the most out of your photography, stay tuned for the next videos in this series as I dig a little deeper into Aperture and Shutter Speed.

You’ll be able to find all the videos in this series in the playlist “Snapshots to Photographs”.

If you like what you see here, Please Subscribe to the channel!

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=marksphotographyspot

Don’t forget to join the Mark’s Photography Spot group on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/marksphotographyspot/

In addition to this channel, you can also follow me here:

Mark’s Photography Spot.com: http://www.marksphotographyspot.com
My Google+ Page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101061915862182396523/posts
My Flickr Site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marksinderson/

Thanks for watching and Happy Shooting!

Snapshots to Photographs-Learn The Secrets Of ISO

 Photography Tips  No Responses »
Jan 222013
 

This episode of Mark’s Photography Spot is the second in a series of videos I’m doing to help you get your camera out of “Auto” mode. I call the series “Snapshots to Photographs” This episode is about one of the key components of exposure-ISO, which determines your camera’s sensitivity to light.

Here’s a more detailed description:

ISO-This determines your camera’s sensitivity to light. The higher the number, the more sensitive, the lower the ISO, the less sensitive. ISO is expressed in numbers, usually something like 100,200,400,800,1600,3200. Each larger number indicates a doubling in sensitivity. So, going from an ISO of 100 to 400 means that the camera is going to be four times as sensitive to light at ISO 400 then ISO 100. Higher ISO can help you get an image you might not be able to get, especially in lower light but it comes at the price of increased noise in the image.

You can use ISO to give you more shooting options. By increasing the ISO you have the ability to get images in conditions you might not be able to otherwise. Here are some examples:

 

  1. You can increase ISO in order to be able to capture an image in a lower light environment such as a concert. By bumping up the ISO you can compensate for a darkened room and still be able to capture images.
  2. A higher ISO can allow you to use a higher shutter speed-Each “bump” up in ISO allows you to use a shutter speed that is ½ as fast. So, for example, going from ISO 100 to 400 will allow you to increase your shutter speed from 1/250 to 1/1000 (all other things being equal), which might be needed in order to stop action effectively. This is one of the ways that many sports photographers are able to get the shots they do, by using a high quality zoom lens along with a camera that does well at higher ISO.
  3. If you are looking to increase the depth of field in a photo, shooting through a smaller aperture (ones with a bigger f/number) is needed. Sometimes the only way to accomplish this is by increasing the camera’s light sensitivity (ISO).


There are other ways that ISO is used in photography but the three I mentioned above seem to be the most common. As you gain more experience with your camera you will learn what ISO settings work best, given the capabilities of your camera and the lenses you own. The key is to not be afraid to experiment and see for yourself the differences in using a high or low ISO make in your images.

While setting a high ISO is often a recipe for increased noise i an image, the software tools we have available to us today can clean a surprising amount of that noise up. My recommendation is to always use the lowest ISO you can, just to reduce the amount of noise in your images as much as possible.

As I have mentioned in the previous videos, a great resource for learning more about exposure is the book “Understanding Exposure”, written by Bryan Peterson. It is well worth reading and explains how ISO, Aperture and Shutter interact to create a final image. Here is a link to the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817439390?ie=UTF8&tag=photographyblog-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0817439390

Stay tuned for the next videos in this series as I dig a little deeper into Aperture and Shutter Speed.

You’ll be able to find all the videos in this series in the playlist “Snapshots to Photographs”.

If you like what you see here, Please Subscribe to the channel!
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=marksphotographyspot

Don’t forget to join the Mark’s Photography Spot group on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/marksphotographyspot/

In addition to this channel, you can also follow me here:

Mark’s Photography Spot.com: http://www.marksphotographyspot.com
My Google+ Page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101061915862182396523/posts
My Flickr Site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marksinderson/

Thanks for watching and Happy Shooting!

Snapshots To Photographs-The Components Of Proper Exposure

 Photography Tips, Uncategorized, YouTube  No Responses »
Jan 162013
 

This episode of Mark’s Photography Spot is the first in a series of videos I’ll be doing to help you get your camera out of “Auto” mode. I call the series “Snapshots to Photographs” This episode is about the components of proper exposure-ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. These three things work together to create the image on your camera’s sensor or film. Here’s a brief description of each:

ISO-This determines your camera’s sensitivity to light. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive. ISO is expressed in numbers, usually something like 100,200,400,800,1600,3200. Each larger number indicates a doubling in sensitivity. So, going from an ISO of 100 to 400 means that the camera is going to be four times as sensitive to light at ISO 400 then ISO 100. Higher ISO can help you get an image you might not be able to get, especially in lower light but it comes at the price of increased noise in the image.

Aperture- This is the size of the opening in the lens/camera that light passes through when the image is taken. Apertures can vary from as big as f/1.4 to as small as f/32. The smaller the f/number the larger the opening. Aperture allows you to manipulate the depth of field in an image. Using a small aperture like f/16 will give you image a large depth of field with everything in focus while using a large aperture like f/2.0 will give you a shallow depth of field allowing the background to be blurred.

Shutter Speed- If you want to control how long light hits your film or digital sensor, you do it by changing the shutter speed. Shutter speed is often expressed as fractions of a second (1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30…) A shutter speed of 1/500 is faster than 1/250, which is faster than 1/60, etc. Varying the shutter speed gives you the ability to emphasise motion or stop action. A fast shutter speed will stop a race car in your image while a slower shutter speed will introduce interesting motion effects.

The important thing to remember is that every single image you take with any camera is the result of manipulating ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed. They are all interrelated and changing one component forces you to change the others. This gives you a lot of creative freedom but also forces you to pay attention to what you are doing to get the image that you want.

A great resource for understanding exposure is the book “Understanding Exposure”, written by Bryan Peterson. It is well worth reading and explains how ISO, Aperture and Shutter interact to create a final image. Here is a link to the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817439390?ie=UTF8&tag=photographyblog-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0817439390

Stay tuned for the next videos in this series as I dig a little deeper into ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed.

You’ll be able to find all the videos in this series in the playlist “Snapshots to Photographs”.

If you like what you see here, Please Subscribe to the channel!
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=marksphotographyspot

Don’t forget to join the Mark’s Photography Spot group on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/marksphotographyspot/

In addition to this channel, you can also follow me here:

Mark’s Photography Spot.com: http://www.marksphotographyspot.com
My Google+ Page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101061915862182396523/posts
My Flickr Site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marksinderson/

Thanks for watching and Happy Shooting!

How Completing A Project 365 Will Improve Your Photography

 Photography Tips, YouTube  No Responses »
Jan 022013
 

In the last video I spoke about the Project 365 that I was just about to complete. Well, I finished it up yesterday, December 31st. It was actually a project 366 for me since I started the project on January 1st, 2012

This video is about how you can improve your photography by completing your own project 365:

I have become a better photographer over this last year and I owe a lot of it to the Project 365. Here’s a couple of benefits I’ve realized as a result of completing the Project 365:

1. I have improved my ability to see things as a photographer-Over the course of the year I noticed that I was starting to see the world through the eyes of a photographer more and more. This allowed me to focus on the important parts of what I was seeing and take better photographs.

2. My composition skills have improved-Compared to last year I am better at placing images in the viewfinder of the camera, resulting in better photographs. This is entirely due to taking more photographs.

3. I am becoming my own best critic-Over the last year my skill at critiquing the photographs I make has improved, This means that I spend less time staring at the computer wondering which photographs are best. I have developed a taste for what I like and what I don’t like and that makes me a better photographer in the end.

Bottom line, if you are looking to become a better photographer I would heartily suggest that you embark on your own version of a Project 365. The benefits you will get are many and you will have fun doing it!

At the end of the video I have added about 35 images from my Project 365 showing some of the different pieces of life that I captured during the year. If you want to see the entire 366 images you can check out my Project 365 set on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marksinderson/sets/72157629914272749/

If you like what you see here, Please Subscribe to the YouTube channel!

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=marksphotographyspot

In addition to this channel and blog, you can also follow me here:
My Google+ Page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101061915862182396523/posts
My Flickr Site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marksinderson/

Thanks for watching/reading and Happy Shooting!

Happy New Year And Some Photography Resolutions For 2013

 Community, Photography Tips, YouTube  2 Responses »
Dec 312012
 


It’s resolution time again. As 2012 ends and 2013 is right around the corner many of us make resolutions for the new year. Well, in addition to the usual ones of “lose weight” or “get in shape” how about some photography related resolutions?

As for me, there are a few things I want to accomplish photography-wise:

  1. Take as many photographs as possible.
  2. Purchase some new equipment, a fast-prime lens (24-35mm) as well as a macro lens so I can try my hand at photographing little things.


For Mark’s Photography Spot:

  1. Focus the channel on helping the typical person take better photographs
  2. Do as many equipment reviews as possible with the reviews focusing on whether or not you’re getting your money’s worth when purchasing new equipment.
  3. Build some interactivity into the channel.


My suggestions for your own photography resolutions:

  1. Resolve to get your camera out of “Auto”-Take the time to learn about the other modes of your camera such as shutter-priority, aperture-priority and “Manual” so that you can learn how to “drive your camera” as much as possible.
  2. Resolve to shoot as much as possible-Get in the habit of taking a camera with you wherever you go and start looking for opportunities to make photographs
  3. Be critical of your work-Really look at your photographs and decide what you do and don’t like about them then try to improve the next time you go out.


That’s about it. I’m excited for 2013 and I hope y’all have a safe and Happy New Year!

 

Happy Shooting!

Film Photography: Overview of How To Develop Film At Home

 Community, Photography Tips, YouTube  No Responses »
Dec 242012
 

I had a roll of 35mm film from my Yashica GSN camera (stay tuned for my film camera video!) that needed to be developed so I documented the process to give you an idea of how easy it is to develop film on your own. I included a few of the developed images at the end of the video so you can see the results of the development process:

This is just a basic overview of the steps in developing black and white film. I plan a much more in-depth video(s) to cover the specifics of film developing including the equipment, chemicals and technique required. I’ll also cover the steps involved in getting your developed film onto the computer, including scanning and editing the images.Stay tuned for that in the next month or so.

In the meantime, maybe this video will get you thinking about film photography and maybe even developing your own film.

Happy Shooting!

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