tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36775715893991383242024-03-04T22:51:20.795-08:00Photography - Trial and Error wayThis blog is for those who want to take better photos. With any camera. Does your camera not take good photos? Probably it is not camera's fault. Either the light is not enough or your camera needs some help from you. With Trial and Error method, you can improve your photos in 2 easy steps! 1) Find the problem with the photo, 2) then try to fix it and take a photo again! Repeat the process until you get a photo you like!
http://www.trialanderrorphotography.com/JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-43413667271752628642017-10-05T21:35:00.001-07:002017-10-05T21:35:27.986-07:00Sometimes it is all about Focusing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Almost all cameras these days have AutoFocus- AF. I am sure you know that pressing the shutter release button half way, you can tell a camera to focus for you. <div>
Probably you may not know this part. When you press it half way first time, camera will focus on the nearest object. This is how most cameras work. Here is the first photo I took of the Moon today with my Panasonic FZ200 fully extended- 24x zoomed.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT30I0-CprbCHqGXUekOG8-FxcsIQe8qqgtIHe_vk_9YNeEr6xa2S40Lka6hvbADI61cK1yxH8j_e-ybe0Xe2PQ3mbv_8-LMoHTnW3RNBJ-edSv4YlNDT1hKj6li2oZohrD_VTriz27qM/s1600/P1210255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT30I0-CprbCHqGXUekOG8-FxcsIQe8qqgtIHe_vk_9YNeEr6xa2S40Lka6hvbADI61cK1yxH8j_e-ybe0Xe2PQ3mbv_8-LMoHTnW3RNBJ-edSv4YlNDT1hKj6li2oZohrD_VTriz27qM/s640/P1210255.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Focusing issue in a camera</td></tr>
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As you can see, it focused on the closest tree branch and hence it is in focus but the Moon is out of focus. My interest was in capturing full moon.</div>
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Second time, I kept pressing the Shutter Release button half way multiple times until the lens had it focused on the moon. Most cameras have these feature. If you do not want it to focus on the closest object. leave the shutter release button and then press it half way again. This time, it will focus on some other object in the frame. Keep doing it until you see the object you are interested in in focus.</div>
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See the second picture I got when I was sure the focusing area- the green square on most cameras that indiacate the focus lock- was on the Moon!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN051_JFMen91SJs_Cv3dwi9TRJNTyg3uJnON2h6JbgRsIPAV12gRNx1z8eqA7bWTWXKLhD-JwS2GDWPZHkWwtGK5gXVvC_V7NN90jW7yspHKwykbf7mhQwVaeWVB3Lzn4Hi8X8GxGPlo/s1600/P1210256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN051_JFMen91SJs_Cv3dwi9TRJNTyg3uJnON2h6JbgRsIPAV12gRNx1z8eqA7bWTWXKLhD-JwS2GDWPZHkWwtGK5gXVvC_V7NN90jW7yspHKwykbf7mhQwVaeWVB3Lzn4Hi8X8GxGPlo/s640/P1210256.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take photo of Full moon</td></tr>
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I hope this small lesson helps you take better photos. Most cameras have this Trial and Error sort of feature built into it to help you select the right object to focus on!</div>
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If you are still not able to focus properly, you can change the AF to MF.- from Auto Focus to Manual Focus and do your own focusing!</div>
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Enjoy photography!</div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-28729516293633237012017-08-19T13:25:00.002-07:002017-08-19T16:08:59.199-07:00How to take photos of Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some tips on how to take photos of Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">On Monday, August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will be visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States; If you are not within that band in the USA, you will still be able to see a large portion of the Sun covered by the Moon. </span><br />
<span style=" font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon's apparent diameter is larger than the sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometers wide.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now let us get to the main topic: How to take photos of the Solar eclipse.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun photo in Auto mode.</td></tr>
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<span style=""><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">To be ready for the Solar Eclipse photos this Monday, I wanted to run a quick test. I have few SLRs but I took out the fixed lens Panasonic FZ200 which offers easy convenient 24x zoom. Also, when there is abundant light, or too much light in this situation, any camera would work almost equally. The Bokeh of SLR is not possible as you can't take photos with wide open aperture. Also, SLRs are good for low light but here we are in a situation which has too much light. <br />So I turned on my camera, pointed it to the Sun and tried to take a photo. Here is what I got: </span></span><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Probably you wouldn't be able to see the photo on the right because it is all white! The Sun is the brightest object for any camera so in Auto mode, all I got was a perfect white photo! (I had to add a border on it so you can at least assume that there is a photo!)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">I needed to reduce the light getting into the camera. I changed the camera mode to Manual from Auto. To minimize light, I set up the fastest shutter speed of 1/4000, smallest aperture of f/8 and lowest ISO of 100 on my Panasonic FZ200. This is the best this camera would go to take the least possible light. I zoomed to 24x- around 600mm equivalent on a full frame camera. I took another photo. Same result. I couldn't take a photo of the Sun. It was all white! </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Now to be able to take photos of the Sun before and during the Solar Eclipse, I had to do something. I needed to find a way to reduce the light getting on to the sensor. On a summer day, to reduce light getting into our eyes, what do we do? We put on sun-shade or goggles. This is was I needed to do for my camera. I have few natural density filters but my son, Miraj, took them with him on his trip to Sweden and Iceland to photograph water falls. Also, I am not sure if 2x, 4x, 8x ND filters would be able to block enough light. I thought of putting sun goggles in front of the lens but it is not convenient to hold both the camera and the goggles same time. Suddenly an idea stuck into my head. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I searched for some old X Ray in the house. Luckily (LOL) having two sports loving boys in the household, it wasn't a difficult job. I cut a piece and put it in front of my camera. Look at the photo of my camera below! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5kswPnCMQInSzhi5p4c-_h2QsbonAxHV9Y8l36qfwNDLoUpYq73DXQ6VpCeD1BZ5fX8JXpjQncXU-0iyoKNO-m6QmcgKXyVU3GxJyja-9bh55iEHnQkLZ6uu0XfA_Hc_NKAEI4SCFT8/s1600/20170819_122238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5kswPnCMQInSzhi5p4c-_h2QsbonAxHV9Y8l36qfwNDLoUpYq73DXQ6VpCeD1BZ5fX8JXpjQncXU-0iyoKNO-m6QmcgKXyVU3GxJyja-9bh55iEHnQkLZ6uu0XfA_Hc_NKAEI4SCFT8/s400/20170819_122238.jpg" title="Take photos of Solar Eclipse" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panasonic FZ200 for Solar Eclipse</td></tr>
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I went out in the backyard, pointed at the bright noon Sun, zoomed the lens all the way to 24x and voila, I had limited most of the light and I was able to capture the photo of the Sun. I am excited with this camera jugaad and I am sure I would have fun taking photos of the eclipse on this Monday. I am all set!</div>
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There is one side benefit I guess for people who are not in taking eclipse photos. You can use your camera and this X ray film to watch the solar eclipse safely on the camera LCD instead of risking your eyes to look directly at the Eclipse. (Disclaimer: I think this should be safe but I can guarantee the safety. I am not an expert. Please ask my smart friend, Google!) </div>
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Here is the photo of the Sun I just took with the X Ray film in front of the lens! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun photo at noon in broad day light!</td></tr>
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As I say on this blog, in most of the situations, you can take better photos with some easy to follow tips. Possibility of Trial and Error photography is the biggest blessing of digital cameras. Take a trial photo. Find the issue. Try to fix it. Here, the issue was too much light. The solution was to try to reduce the light!<br />
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-23539173849472112382016-12-01T23:28:00.002-08:002016-12-01T23:29:56.418-08:00Taking best photos at the Top of the World- 124th floor at Burj Khalifa in Dubai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Currently, Burj Khalifa in Dubai holds the world record of the tallest structure or building in the world. There is always a long line of visitors who pay from $30 to $100 to go on the 124/125th or 148th floor of it. Naturally, every visitor of the world famous building tries to take some photos. Most of the time, the photos do not come out well. The reason is the high dynamic range. In Dubai's desert like condition, outside is mostly very bright compared to inside the observation gallery. <br />
If you take a photo in an Auto mode, the face will be too dark so your friends would not be sure if that person is you or someone else. Or if your camera decided to expose your face properly or used Flash, it is very likely that you will look great in the photo but the background will wash out! Your friends wouldn't know if you are on the top of the world or looking the window of your office building LOL.<br />
Photo 1: Exposed for the face will wash out the background.<br />
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Photo 2: If you want to expose for the background, the face will be too dark.<br />
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So what is the trick to take nice photos at this Top of the World?</div>
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Trick#1. Use Trial and Error. Take few photos in landscape modes and in Auto mode. Now turn on the Flash and take a photo first in Auto mode, then in Program mode and then one in Landscape mode. It is possible, one of the photos will come out good.</div>
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Trick#2. If you want to take a great photo in such situations where you want to capture background as well as subject nicely, here is my trick.</div>
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Take a photo in landscape mode of only the background.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burj Kahlifa</td></tr>
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You can see that the photo came out nice! Now I read the 3 important numbers that the Camera had used. The shutter speed was 1/640 second, aperture was f/4 and ISO was 100. Bingo!<br />
I changed the camera mode to Manual mode. Set shutter speed, aperture and ISO to these values! Had my family sit in front of the glass and I took a new photo with Flash. As I turned on the flash, there was enough light to brighten my family! The shutter-speed of 1/640 second, aperture of 4 and ISO of 100 was enough to bring in the background!<br />
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What do you say? With some trick, I was able to take a nice photo at the Top of the World, 125 th floor of #BurjKhalifa !<br />
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-27371504746616261302016-10-09T11:13:00.000-07:002016-10-09T11:13:19.849-07:00How to turn okay outdoor photos in the Sun to nice photos? It is easy. Just use Exposure Compensation or meter it on the dark object!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
How to turn okay outdoor photos in the Sun to nice photos? It is easy. Just use Exposure Compensation or meter it on the dark object!<br />
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Here is the original photo:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo in Auto mode</td></tr>
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As the photo was too dark in the Auto mode, I used Exposure Compensation and set it to +1.5</div>
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Here are new photos! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrXc5OBnCcisVwfvuDRmXFRzYF7Zr5LF_2-uq_94k_xDaTfupmSaDqHsqXLxf2Z3IrbzoIeRsbjARtcutJkNl5R0TJ9b1LJqb_BmRl_Nix6Hey_4uIZKLXJPKYdaCI0wGjFZUvvkgS6Y/s1600/20161008_102608_30081058552_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrXc5OBnCcisVwfvuDRmXFRzYF7Zr5LF_2-uq_94k_xDaTfupmSaDqHsqXLxf2Z3IrbzoIeRsbjARtcutJkNl5R0TJ9b1LJqb_BmRl_Nix6Hey_4uIZKLXJPKYdaCI0wGjFZUvvkgS6Y/s640/20161008_102608_30081058552_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New photos with Exposure Compensation of +1.5</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtK9SyYeYwURBomCvZUzfGb-PtIt1kRM8nQGrIqVP0teNLZEZep9sd9KkMR0hjNV2AaiiCMNgPtG298YaDW8lT4VtPJwSNaY9ereP0wYbDJZ0gkCUrLHCVjy6n2kuSGSTAZJ51geIvL2k/s1600/20161008_102615_30110871431_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtK9SyYeYwURBomCvZUzfGb-PtIt1kRM8nQGrIqVP0teNLZEZep9sd9KkMR0hjNV2AaiiCMNgPtG298YaDW8lT4VtPJwSNaY9ereP0wYbDJZ0gkCUrLHCVjy6n2kuSGSTAZJ51geIvL2k/s640/20161008_102615_30110871431_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-38261979659815565172016-05-25T09:53:00.000-07:002016-05-25T09:53:01.184-07:00Focusing on smartphones!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When you are taking photos with a smartphone or a camera, it is important to focus properly. Luckily, these days, focus is built into most cameras, if not all, and it is very easy to use. On most cameras, you press the shutter release button half way to tell the camera to focus.If you are using a smartphone camera to focus, just touch the area of the photo on the screen to tell most cameras where to focus. <div>
Proper focusing can make your photo look great. </div>
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Here are two photos that I took with a Samsung Note 4 camera. I wanted to focus on the flowers closer to my phone camera.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVGHMW3rc1EZDdMYZUnHvT70n6bsREv7TnXHegKkWmYW93bvCf2IsxXoNYmqcYpH62sWCbrdC-AqIKHvJInj-yWeAy9pT-bd7-T7WL9YXT-JKYyy_do-GAhGkpza_OOGcz3dW75fY7QU/s1600/20160505_185540%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVGHMW3rc1EZDdMYZUnHvT70n6bsREv7TnXHegKkWmYW93bvCf2IsxXoNYmqcYpH62sWCbrdC-AqIKHvJInj-yWeAy9pT-bd7-T7WL9YXT-JKYyy_do-GAhGkpza_OOGcz3dW75fY7QU/s640/20160505_185540%255B1%255D.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I didn't like blurry flowers in the center of my capture. Also, I wanted to highlight these flowers in the center and have the tree in the background- a bit blurred.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QgngeatrGZMVKfhc7nqZJq66VcwGbZac2bByIRFjsV1HhZ6mommUxAdD9urpokhZZclRi6hGM9a3BX1gGHiWNiDiXlQop8ztBtlIh_l6JpgDtVhIKYKnGnj_18BLZCwIRy08EvvSW_g/s1600/20160505_185545%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QgngeatrGZMVKfhc7nqZJq66VcwGbZac2bByIRFjsV1HhZ6mommUxAdD9urpokhZZclRi6hGM9a3BX1gGHiWNiDiXlQop8ztBtlIh_l6JpgDtVhIKYKnGnj_18BLZCwIRy08EvvSW_g/s640/20160505_185545%255B1%255D.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here is a photo I took by tapping on the flowers.<br /><br />As I keep telling on this blog, most smartphone cameras or real cameras are smart but often times they act dumb ;) If you don't like the photo that is taken by the camera, help your phone or camera a bit. Tell it what you are looking for and it will give you a better photos. Photography is so simple these days with Trial and Error way!! Take a photo, if it does not come out well, tell your camera by pressing a button or two and you will be able to take a much better photo.<br />#Trial&ErrorPhotography<br /></div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-57079858802384606852016-02-12T21:15:00.002-08:002016-02-12T21:15:56.922-08:00The Sun can make or break your photos! Use it to your advantage!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: left;">Some parents and I were taking photos of kids in my son's school on Super Hero day. We wanted to</span></div>
<span style="text-align: left;">capture kids wearing super hero clothes. To get better light on the face, the natural instinct was to have kids face the Sun. However the morning Sun was coming in the eyes and kids were barely able to keep eyes open. See the first photo below. One could barely recognize any kids. It was a disaster.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7Wcn6mUX-pr_2ZaejhLjnK_C_pBBeI64PdFOjsXHz9sLxieb0hlRO2dn8m4Y1UoiRjRHv_IETJcdNhsCeHJnXdI_9HbBJUkKqbSp6x93xN6IeQCzLvH9K80GBe5YMaRCqh_vtVDv8jw/s1600/20160212_075845_24617572959_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7Wcn6mUX-pr_2ZaejhLjnK_C_pBBeI64PdFOjsXHz9sLxieb0hlRO2dn8m4Y1UoiRjRHv_IETJcdNhsCeHJnXdI_9HbBJUkKqbSp6x93xN6IeQCzLvH9K80GBe5YMaRCqh_vtVDv8jw/s640/20160212_075845_24617572959_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />To get better photos, I asked kids to keep the sun on the back so they can keep the eyes open. However, as there was significant back light, I knew the photo will be very dark. So I quickly changed Exposure Value compensation on my Samsung Note 4 phone. As the bell had rang, kids were rushing to get back into the close so I didn't have lot of time to fine tune exposure. I just move it to some positive value and took the shot. As you can see below, the photo came much better. YOu can see kids and their super hero t shirts better. It is not a perfect photo but it would work to share with other parents and save the photo for memory</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSdefNvh_bE27DT8NZJT78U6h6yju-0D5_ztq6daD8ZHGqUmkyMRFt2XdyVbvtNTGR2LZZUHilBtsPQ8dhCea0PLRr9l7hNQSf7KkRyCN1lchoRRJfW9q0Ig7Wi-siOhPybe25cl_x51E/s1600/20160212_075913_24870585692_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSdefNvh_bE27DT8NZJT78U6h6yju-0D5_ztq6daD8ZHGqUmkyMRFt2XdyVbvtNTGR2LZZUHilBtsPQ8dhCea0PLRr9l7hNQSf7KkRyCN1lchoRRJfW9q0Ig7Wi-siOhPybe25cl_x51E/s640/20160212_075913_24870585692_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Isn't Trial and Error photography easy and effective?</div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-20939348185242115522016-02-09T12:23:00.002-08:002016-02-09T12:23:49.962-08:00A beginner photographer- how much money should you spend on a tripod?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It all depends. If you are a beginner photographer, I am going to assume that you have got an entry level DSLR camera and a kit lens for few hundred bucks. <b>On that assumption, I am going to give you some practical advice</b>. It does not make sense to spend a hundred or so dollars on tripod in my opinion and that money can be well spent on some lens to improve quality of your images.</div>
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The real question is where and how do you want to use a tripod. How serious are you about photography. I have bought and used 10 plus DSLRs so far- from mirrorless to full frame. I am not a professional photographer. I shoot for fun and I think I am a serious enthusiast. I started with a cheap $30 tripod (I have a good quality Vanguard tripod with ball head for last 6 months but I have not yet used it!). The fact is I rarely carry a tripod with me. I use tripod in very limited situations. For indoor photos of family, gatherings, events, a tripod is not that useful as most people move within 1/50th of a second. Shooting slower than that, even on a tripod, will give you blurry photos most of the time. Plus for events and gatherings, unless you are hired to shoot, carrying a tripod is a bit of overkill IMO. Now for outdoor or travel photos, most of the time, the light is enough so you do not need slow shutter speed and hence a tripod is not needed.</div>
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When and where I use a tripod. I use a tripod when I am shooting sunset or in low light WHEN subject is not really moving much. (In this kind of situations too, I am generally able to find a place or a thing to put my camera on to keep it steady. However it is a compromise and you have to sacrifice angle/level etc but it does come handy when I don't have a tripod with me). I use tripod when I am shooting stars in a dark night, or when I want to capture silky look in moving water or a waterfall. Or sometimes, I want to take photos of myself, or a group with myself included, and in that case, with a remote control/timer, I would put my camera on a tripod. There may be few more instances but a cheap tripod has worked for me, for quite a few years.</div>
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Now coming to the main question: how much should you spend on a tripod. A cheap tripod works fine in indoor use. It works fine outdoor too but when it gets windy, you would need a good tripod. A cheap tripod also gets you shake when you use the shutter release. To overcome that, you can use 10 seconds timer so that shake is less of a problem. In case of wind, you might need to take 5-10 photos to get one usable photo with a cheap tripod but it can work.<br /><br />Here, I am not trying to say the expensive tripods are useless or bad. If you can spare 100 bucks, you can get a decent tripod- new or on Craigslist/eBay. If you don't want to spend that kind of money, you can probably live with a $30 tripod. After some time, if you see a need, you can upgrade. Expensive tripods are great (I love how my new Vanguard feels!) but they are expensive, they are bulky to carry and may not suit well for many beginner photographers. If you are into family/people photography, you can buy a Canon or Nikon 50mm F1.8 lens with the money saved on a tripod and that will give you better ROI IMO.</div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-50689993226344792652015-10-15T10:39:00.003-07:002015-10-15T10:45:41.383-07:00How to capture lightning photo with a cell phone or any camera.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As people say the best camera is the one that is with you. It was time to go to sleep and my 8 year old told me about lightnings in the sky. We rarely get lightning in California sky. It is even rarer commodity than the rain in California LOL. I watched out the window and saw it happen 2-3 times. I took out my cell phone and tried to take a shot.<br />
The first one I shot without changing any settings. It was a disaster! Camera fired flash and the flash reflected back to the lens so the photo was a waste. I immediately got in to trial and error method.<br />
Turned off flash. I knew I need to have a dark image. Any camera, including smart phone cameras, try to make photos bright so I went to settings, tapped on Exposure value and told camera to set it to -1.5. Once you click on Exposure Value, a line will come up with values from say -3 to +3. You set it to more negative when you want to tell camera to take in less light. You can set it to positive to tell camera to take in more light. Here I wanted my Samsung Note 4 to take less light. This setting has one more important side benefit. As I asked camera to take in less light, it resulted in faster shutter speed. This can reduce any chance of shake due to holding the camera in hand. This is a big benefit in low light so I often underexpose my photos when I don't have a tripod.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07RcrSO9KeiCVm2zA7DH5f37CWVdhHjlzvY6H9utyGTT8DXK96CLS5ymSKEYXcUlT6_LbVf-mAGpSoAqnQDrac4fQtBChLnRZfrJlQk3m37U91ZbwCtYxAxf8fUbJlFul5lk-oUOk46c/s1600/22197147305_845fec7573_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Note 4 Samsung Camera settings" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07RcrSO9KeiCVm2zA7DH5f37CWVdhHjlzvY6H9utyGTT8DXK96CLS5ymSKEYXcUlT6_LbVf-mAGpSoAqnQDrac4fQtBChLnRZfrJlQk3m37U91ZbwCtYxAxf8fUbJlFul5lk-oUOk46c/s640/22197147305_845fec7573_o.jpg" title="Note 4 Samsung Camera settings" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">smartphone screenshot</td></tr>
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Then I started taking photos. The first photo was as much dark as I wanted but there was no lightning.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTdKN5PbFKKmqetVndKHt5MwOKr_U9PGDf4QnSwWgTRHIBcG_DLOSI1Cy0fdTK1NTiacETifE1l2ZE3DXzoBx0Q4zredd_Hu0JrdNpjFP3tT8VU9ZoJ3O9UQC_I8F-AQuFjzHI4Mz6qg/s1600/22170226042_06efbc6c42_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTdKN5PbFKKmqetVndKHt5MwOKr_U9PGDf4QnSwWgTRHIBcG_DLOSI1Cy0fdTK1NTiacETifE1l2ZE3DXzoBx0Q4zredd_Hu0JrdNpjFP3tT8VU9ZoJ3O9UQC_I8F-AQuFjzHI4Mz6qg/s640/22170226042_06efbc6c42_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photos with -2 EV</td></tr>
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Now comes the real Trial and Error. You don't know when lightning will fire so I kept clicking photos. After 10 or so trials, I was able to catch it in the photo. Though quality wasn't great but I was able to get a photo of lightning which I though I would never be able to take!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4PaeZtunE2y4EQhUqvelz9cYbcm6zXWCw1HybY5HNbfIFNUqA1Hj7UWdIeP8oVRcqPGWyGqr2ogm5r2Cj1fE16VzbnbZwlZPOYQ4m6U-jmPskD135HJ8ZFbSAZCh_G_JCg5IodPKb54/s1600/21560112454_b4bbf12f56_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4PaeZtunE2y4EQhUqvelz9cYbcm6zXWCw1HybY5HNbfIFNUqA1Hj7UWdIeP8oVRcqPGWyGqr2ogm5r2Cj1fE16VzbnbZwlZPOYQ4m6U-jmPskD135HJ8ZFbSAZCh_G_JCg5IodPKb54/s640/21560112454_b4bbf12f56_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lightning photo with cellphone</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>One more alternative for lightning photos:</b></span><br />There is another way to take photos of such uncertain things. Many new cameras which record 4K videos also let you save individual frame as a photo! Many new Panasonic cameras have 4k video so to make it easy, shoot a video and then take the best frame and save it as an image.<br />
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As I keep saying, it is not difficult to take good photos with any camera.<br />
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-62425908772038876612015-09-29T15:04:00.001-07:002016-02-05T10:29:37.266-08:00Light- How much light is around us and what does it mean for photography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While deleting some images on my computer, I came across this old image/graph that mentioned typical light intensity for different situations. This can be helpful to know limitation of cameras in low light. If you want to take good photos in low light with your iPad or iPhone and if you are not able to do so, it is not your fault.<br />
In graph below, we are not supposed to remember various numbers but this one does show how dramatically light varies from situation to situation. In outdoor under mid day Sun compared to a bright indoor room, light intensity is 500 times more! When you compare this bright mid day under Sun to an indoor dim room, the light intensity is 6000 times more!<br />
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Clear Full Moon light is around .03 Lux. Typical Starlight is around .001 Lux.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZvGwOO-imMOTnw5gfW1oJGfI5jZTxIoQgy9dyvx_PcRkWPkdZmNBuzrmSiqz89jfCKulq3RNGbMPQh2hsj8HW4J6y8dNnagKQOEDBToXerasxyphQESUnGKal17RVIEMkm5xSbDqDqQ/s1600/Light+for+Photography.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZvGwOO-imMOTnw5gfW1oJGfI5jZTxIoQgy9dyvx_PcRkWPkdZmNBuzrmSiqz89jfCKulq3RNGbMPQh2hsj8HW4J6y8dNnagKQOEDBToXerasxyphQESUnGKal17RVIEMkm5xSbDqDqQ/s640/Light+for+Photography.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So up to 500 Lux, a handheld camera can take good sharp photos IMHO (my guess). However to take good photos in situations with lesser light, we need either a tripod or faster and/or bigger sensor cameras and a stationary<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Practical considerations for Light and Exposure in day to day use:</span></b><br />
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* iPhone 6 has widest aperture of 2.2. Assuming ISO of 400 (beyond 400, images will be grainy) and very stable hands, you can take shutter speed of 1/75 seconds.<br />
With this, the lowest light you will need to take sharp good photos with your iPhone 6 is around 226 Lux. This means in brightly lit homes or in offices to outdoor photos, an iPhone or any latest smartphone camera can be useful.<br />
If you like to use ISO at 100 only, you will need 907 Lux of light intensity.<br />
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* On the other extreme, high end full frame SLR with a fast lens of f/1.2 can take good photos even at ISO 3200. Assuming same shutter speed of 1/75 seconds, it can take good photos in light as low as 9 Lux!<br />
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If you have a Lux meter, you can use this equation (Lux= Square of F number * 1/shutter speed * (250 /ISO)) for determining the variables like Shutter Speed needed, or ISO needed for a given aperture. The discussion in this post is mostly to get a feel about what is going on when you press the shutter release button in any camera. In reality, when you press the button, the sensors and computers inside you camera, takes the reading of the light in the frame and uses some equation like above to set up aperture opening, shutter speed and/or ISO depending on the mode. If you shoot in Manual, you provide the numbers and camera stops thinking. If you are in A or Av mode, you tell camera what value to use for aperture. If you have set up ISO too, camera will determine shutter speed based on some equation like the one above.<br />
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So ignoring bokeh or image sharpness with faster lens and bigger sensors on DSLR, an iPhone or any smartphone or a fixed lens camera can take good photos in light that is 200 Lux or more. This means well lit indoor or bright outside. With bigger bodies and more investment, you can go down as low as 10 Lux hand-holding your camera which would be Family living room lights, relatively dim indoor, office building hallways or very dark overcast day.<br />
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Now with a tripod and if you subject is stationary, you can go and shoot in almost any situation. If you want to shoot stars though, you need only a high end DSLR as if you go beyond exposure of 10-20 seconds, you will capture movement of stars.<br />
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Hope this helps.<br />
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Sources:<br />
If you want to get into technicality of exposure, here is a nice summary on <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56335022">DPReview chat</a>. Not sure if it is accurate but it mentions that<br />
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N^2/t = L*ISO / (10/0.67)<br />
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....for ISO = 100, N = 2.8, t = 1/100, and a calibration constant K = 12.5, the required luminance would be about</div>
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L = 2.8^2*100*12.5/100 = 98 cd per sq. meter</div>
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to produce a middle grey tone in your final image. Illumination is trickier, and a typical calibration constant is 250 for incident light measured in lux. So for this same example we would need</div>
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L = 2.8^2*100*250/100 = 1960 lux.</div>
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I know LUX is very confusing measure compared to meter or centimeter for length, pound or kg for weight or second/minute for time. Lux measures intensity of light. Instead of getting into technicals of it, I would rather remember relative values so you can understand how it affects photography.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
If you want the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux">definition of Lux, here it is from Wikipedia</a>.<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">The </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">lux</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> (symbol: </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">lx</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">) is the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="International System of Units">SI</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> unit of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminance" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Illuminance">illuminance</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> and </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_emittance" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Luminous emittance">luminous emittance</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, measuring </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_flux" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Luminous flux">luminous flux</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> per unit area.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-1" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> It is equal to one </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit)" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Lumen (unit)">lumen</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> per square metre. In </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photometry_(optics)" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Photometry (optics)">photometry</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, this is used as a measure of the intensity, as perceived by the human eye, of</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Light">light</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> that hits or passes through a surface. It is analogous to the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiometry" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Radiometry">radiometric</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> unit watts per square metre, but with the power at each </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavelength" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Wavelength">wavelength</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> weighted according to the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminosity_function" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Luminosity function">luminosity function</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, a standardized model of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Human">human</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> visual brightness perception. In English, "lux" is used in both singular and plural.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-2" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a>"</sup></div>
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Here are some examples of the illuminance provided under various conditions:(Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux">Wikipedia</a></div>
<sup class="reference" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"></sup><br />
<table class="wikitable" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); color: black; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; margin: 1em 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; text-align: center;">Examples</th></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"><b>Illuminance</b></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"><b>Surfaces illuminated by:</b></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">0.0001 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Moonless, overcast night sky (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star#Radiation" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Star">starlight</a>)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-radfaq_3-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-radfaq-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a></sup></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">0.002 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Moonless clear night sky with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Airglow">airglow</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-radfaq_3-1" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-radfaq-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a></sup></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">0.27–1.0 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Full moon on a clear night<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-radfaq_3-2" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-radfaq-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-4" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[4]</a></sup></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">3.4 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Dark limit of civil <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Twilight">twilight</a> under a clear sky<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-5" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[5]</a></sup></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">50 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Family living room lights (Australia, 1998)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-energyrating_6-0" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-energyrating-6" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[6]</a></sup></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">80 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Office building hallway/<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet_(room)" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Toilet (room)">toilet</a> lighting<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-7" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[7]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-8" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[8]</a></sup></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">100 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Very dark overcast day<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-radfaq_3-3" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-radfaq-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a></sup></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">320–500 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Office lighting<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-energyrating_6-1" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-energyrating-6" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[6]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-9" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[9]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-10" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[10]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-11" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[11]</a></sup></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">400 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunrise" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Sunrise">Sunrise</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Sunset">sunset</a> on a clear day.</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1000 lux</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Overcast day;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-radfaq_3-4" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-radfaq-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a></sup> typical <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_studio" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="TV studio">TV studio</a> lighting</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"><span class="nowrap" style="white-space: nowrap;">10<span style="margin-left: 0.25em;">000</span></span>–<span class="nowrap" style="white-space: nowrap;">25<span style="margin-left: 0.25em;">000</span> lux</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Full <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Daylight">daylight</a> (not direct sun)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-radfaq_3-5" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux#cite_note-radfaq-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a></sup></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"><span class="nowrap" style="white-space: nowrap;">32<span style="margin-left: 0.25em;">000</span></span>–<span class="nowrap" style="white-space: nowrap;">100<span style="margin-left: 0.25em;">000</span> lux</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Direct <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Sunlight">sunlight</a></td></tr>
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<sup class="reference" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><br /></sup></div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-60568357403850392602015-08-08T11:15:00.001-07:002015-09-16T10:45:18.996-07:00Mobile phone camera versus a regular camera: Something your mobile phone camera can't do!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Want to join for this hike today (September 16, 2015)?<br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Some, generally rich, folk will gather at this place today and talk about how to make rich richer in this country. Cursing but not offering any viable solution on immigration or healthcare... Millions of us will tune in on CNN (Crap No News) to watch them and get brainwashed.. They will tell you that unless you give tax breaks to rich, no jobs will be created (I know this will be left for Presiden</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">tial debates and may not be here on this GOP debate) though the fact is Bush's tax breaks caused more job loss and pain for the economy..but anyway, I am planning to go on Mt McCoy today evening and take few more shots with some zoom lens. At least, I know I will be able to enjoy beautiful sunset. Interested in joining for a hike and taking photos?<br /><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/gopdebate" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">#GOPDebate</a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/republicandebate" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">#RepublicanDebate</a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/simivalley" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">#simivalley</a><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/reaganlibrary" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">#ReaganLibrary</a></span></span></div>
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Here are two photos that show you what your mobile phone can't do. It can't zoom in!<br />
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Here is a photo taken with a mobile phone. You can barely see the Presidential Library in the photo below. It was almost a mile away! See the next two photos taken with a regular camera- Panasonic FZ200. You can not only see the library but also the Air Force 1 plane inside!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpc8dSY77NUFfmU8gU2yKKVDTPnDRNrrKm6-9zp_fQRgZ5ZAcq2NbW2vfPivRCFtyd5GwSSI89QawF8WSV0ayPN9jfY-z9ic4QaNUZaO8INZrdCfTf-EAQKhX3mbmErYtKzudmttjksjk/s1600/20150806_200148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpc8dSY77NUFfmU8gU2yKKVDTPnDRNrrKm6-9zp_fQRgZ5ZAcq2NbW2vfPivRCFtyd5GwSSI89QawF8WSV0ayPN9jfY-z9ic4QaNUZaO8INZrdCfTf-EAQKhX3mbmErYtKzudmttjksjk/s640/20150806_200148.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Samsung Note 4 photo</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VU_VqIWJS4c0jdGiMGmMOJN1iitBGQ9co3RlWW3ZlKfi7I2SK411FNK-hlvV3Ihk0YxLqLD4-M3QptrktA0jMO4i5QfAh_jveNkHwAsvs8AjNOkD_YTsKCnt1OJZQbnHU-7PKWcVrZM/s1600/P1100043-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VU_VqIWJS4c0jdGiMGmMOJN1iitBGQ9co3RlWW3ZlKfi7I2SK411FNK-hlvV3Ihk0YxLqLD4-M3QptrktA0jMO4i5QfAh_jveNkHwAsvs8AjNOkD_YTsKCnt1OJZQbnHU-7PKWcVrZM/s640/P1100043-001.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zoomed in photo</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTNMf6aAT9nYaLBUnJyM30xSQOuhmpR9CBPpNJ8xjlvjZvbsbmEq78Y0gtDjmVaE-vow3HDbmoIsUOWTSfEChcq1wok9ZqLTQvjkLtKLqyG4zPOtjPueUEGlPeiAFSwD9ksd80qGhgVQ/s1600/P1100043-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTNMf6aAT9nYaLBUnJyM30xSQOuhmpR9CBPpNJ8xjlvjZvbsbmEq78Y0gtDjmVaE-vow3HDbmoIsUOWTSfEChcq1wok9ZqLTQvjkLtKLqyG4zPOtjPueUEGlPeiAFSwD9ksd80qGhgVQ/s640/P1100043-002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-2021706731795459122015-06-18T16:54:00.001-07:002015-06-18T20:58:31.736-07:00How to take wide angle photos with a cell phone: Hollywood Sign- from a good to a great photo in 5 seconds.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This weekend, I took a friend to hike on the Mt Lee which has world famous Hollywood sign on. This is a very nice, popular hike in LA. It is sad that the residents of the area, near Beachwood Rd, have made parking a nightmare. Most of the spots require permit so you really need to know me well to get some inside tips on where to park when you are thinking on hike on the Hollywood Sign hike- Mt Lee. Anyway, this is a photography blog so I don't want to bore you with hiking details.<br />
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When reached the top of Mt Lee, we were above (behind) the famous Hollywood sign. We want to take a photo but when I took a photo with my camera, unfortunately my camera did not have wide angle necessary to get the whole sign in the background. Immediately, I had an idea. I took a regular photo with my Samsung Note 4 camera.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVJXonKivWQ5We32K4V5unYQFSdW_F3yOyskMNZR8W27qAQWQv0V6HPBaWL-ao4yXXP0qBD8POkYTUwSUTRpv_Xgvy2f14IMzBhvoBaaWpvkIG9g3NcCrCkC1uqCNvUKwsy-QEWCqe-A/s1600/HolloywoodSign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hollywood sign hike" border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVJXonKivWQ5We32K4V5unYQFSdW_F3yOyskMNZR8W27qAQWQv0V6HPBaWL-ao4yXXP0qBD8POkYTUwSUTRpv_Xgvy2f14IMzBhvoBaaWpvkIG9g3NcCrCkC1uqCNvUKwsy-QEWCqe-A/s640/HolloywoodSign.jpg" title="Hollywood sign from the top" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hollywood Sign hike</td></tr>
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Still the cell phone camera was not wide angle enough. So I changed the setting to Panaroma and moved my camera left to right. Within 5 more seconds, I had the whole sign in the background. It is all trial and error photography. Once I found what problem I had, I tried to find a solution and I had a nice photo.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDlv6ckYj5ztLqNcCcEpMbkFSETxsOscy0-_VC-XWTA6y1RBQ3oH0NTAaOOOOo1lhzsEyW5bWTl3rnwrTtsw56lVGDCmeqONQLdxC5vHc3Md8M_7dEHms5nlVSKNxf_Fz3eMtG3PkwY8/s1600/Hollywood_Panaroma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDlv6ckYj5ztLqNcCcEpMbkFSETxsOscy0-_VC-XWTA6y1RBQ3oH0NTAaOOOOo1lhzsEyW5bWTl3rnwrTtsw56lVGDCmeqONQLdxC5vHc3Md8M_7dEHms5nlVSKNxf_Fz3eMtG3PkwY8/s640/Hollywood_Panaroma.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Hollywood sign photo</td></tr>
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Trial and error photography- one easy way to take great photos.</div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-83785368996257171472015-06-02T15:08:00.001-07:002015-06-02T15:08:49.908-07:00Take a better photo by moving people around with Trial and Error Photography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday I was taking photos at my son's school - Vista Fundamental Elementary School in Simi Valley. 3rd Grade classes had Apple Valley days and there was graduation ceremony. After the event was over, my wife and some of other moms asked me to take there photo. It was a mid day with harsh Sun. Luckily they were standing under a tree. I knew that under the shade, I had better chances for taking a good shot. However I didn't know in which direction to stand them. As most of us know, light is a very important factor in photography. In open space, there are variety of things that reflect light of different quality and in different directions. Brighter surfaces reflect more light and some surfaces make light even softer. I didn't know which direction which spot will work the best. As I wasn't sure, I decided to stand them in 2-3 different directions and take photos.<div>
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Here is the first photo.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1geah3_NTZDGTkYgePDhnvO7OhmVF-TQdtPzVZUzVBevG2KW3yrFgZPoDhUIV8zoToGns9prOOPm-qDdUx3zcayJ676DIZoom6wwRT2lYPIVG7rLfOKda6BAiS6IKQGzgbwdIp29S2w/s1600/IMGP4154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Day light portrait" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1geah3_NTZDGTkYgePDhnvO7OhmVF-TQdtPzVZUzVBevG2KW3yrFgZPoDhUIV8zoToGns9prOOPm-qDdUx3zcayJ676DIZoom6wwRT2lYPIVG7rLfOKda6BAiS6IKQGzgbwdIp29S2w/s640/IMGP4154.JPG" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daylight portrait</td></tr>
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I made them face South direction. Probably the background was too bright or may be the grass below didn't reflect back light well. Photo didn't come out good. I wasn't happy plus I like to try to take a better photo. I moved them to face the East. Look at the second photo:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8hWmIQjZ6PC8XbP7q1TcaXFmOeKvhEbtdJWaDsI02NFym-9k8xeEW4VZSA39b25UomqmTKnXXmU0CKUFGEjhh11rKyPvig-hZethrXSbur6w6AU65y9fKDLD_hT-X9np1t0xF1Fao5k/s1600/IMGP4155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="ladies group portrait" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8hWmIQjZ6PC8XbP7q1TcaXFmOeKvhEbtdJWaDsI02NFym-9k8xeEW4VZSA39b25UomqmTKnXXmU0CKUFGEjhh11rKyPvig-hZethrXSbur6w6AU65y9fKDLD_hT-X9np1t0xF1Fao5k/s640/IMGP4155.JPG" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Facing East.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Dk_KfRer_m9-XQf-87wNSeFKnGrSviTIAKmj1YKtj2CcW5lV2PK9QaTcwHhQ-jq7Syj_oQRlKOUVcnPEfnwrIY3yWID938YYnYrxjh0iaogI07XOpaaWUXVPIKEl5zEq9RKDEU772MI/s1600/IMGP4156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Photos in natural light" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Dk_KfRer_m9-XQf-87wNSeFKnGrSviTIAKmj1YKtj2CcW5lV2PK9QaTcwHhQ-jq7Syj_oQRlKOUVcnPEfnwrIY3yWID938YYnYrxjh0iaogI07XOpaaWUXVPIKEl5zEq9RKDEU772MI/s400/IMGP4156.JPG" title="" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8RcPRIS0SaAohSix9m_yAw6LlBTx0dO3JYt0X1Qz4k8AE9MK3JbRKgQZsqTCmOWO6SR8VHMdP2RwNEf2IVYeqN_O0H-A2JkhFDlyQx_rVrog12ka_I5HrvoxIgT_jPPENsFAuCVRtPI/s1600/IMGP4157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8RcPRIS0SaAohSix9m_yAw6LlBTx0dO3JYt0X1Qz4k8AE9MK3JbRKgQZsqTCmOWO6SR8VHMdP2RwNEf2IVYeqN_O0H-A2JkhFDlyQx_rVrog12ka_I5HrvoxIgT_jPPENsFAuCVRtPI/s640/IMGP4157.JPG" width="640" /></a>When this group of ladies faced East, the photo got worse. Now I knew if I ask them more times, I would get in trouble. Other 3 moms would probably not show their annoyance but I wasn't sure about my wife. Anyway, I wanted to take one more chance. I asked them stand facing the West. Somehow it worked very well. I took 2 quick photos. I showed photos to them and I know all 4 of them were happy. They complemented me for being a good photographer. Photos did come out bright with natural skin tones. We were able to use natural light to make a nice group photos for these 4 moms. For me, it was just a Trial and Error way of photography. As I keep saying, photography shouldn't be that tough. We don't need to take classes or get into technical theories. Follow two simple steps of Trial and Error Photography. Take a shot. Find an issue and try to correct it.</div>
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Enjoy photography.</div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-23684183680106361652015-05-15T12:26:00.000-07:002015-05-15T12:26:44.487-07:00Trial and Error with quick cell phone photography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When you take a photo with a cell phone and if you want to take a better photo, Trial and Error Photography can help you quickly and without too much effort.<br />
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It was a nice rainy day in Los Angeles. When I looked outside through glass window, loved the clouds, blue sky and soft light on the trees and building structures. I wanted to take a good photo. So first I took a photo in default mode. Then, thankfully on my phone camera, I can use Exposure Compensation. I changed it to EV 1.5 and took a photo. Then turned on HDR (which automatically brought EV back to zero) and took the third photo. Look at these 3 photos taken within 30 seconds. Then I compared them and kept the one I liked.<br />
Here are 3 photos. Tell me which one you like!<br />
Don't you agree that it is easy to take better photos with Trial and Error method?<br />
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Photo in default Auto mode:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4ol1s536F1Lt9_7sVjRwppeE6zr95878S0SUduKNUHzeDujB3UsO6Hv-iLnKCkZOPca6LMv5HGWIfc7Re6aH0LbWnccS4p9Df03oBgd5D1nu6PPQE1mu0ZsrT24dHBiSEqlNU2eEazY/s1600/TrialnErrorPhotos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4ol1s536F1Lt9_7sVjRwppeE6zr95878S0SUduKNUHzeDujB3UsO6Hv-iLnKCkZOPca6LMv5HGWIfc7Re6aH0LbWnccS4p9Df03oBgd5D1nu6PPQE1mu0ZsrT24dHBiSEqlNU2eEazY/s640/TrialnErrorPhotos.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photos in Auto mode<br /></td></tr>
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Photo with Exposure Compensation:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeT-I3n8-gzdg4t-iIStzJynqB-SxE9rF8_UGHS5Ysl1egqekAPruL00lwv3w3b2bBZ0HT0sxGD6d9keBtvrBvOVZuaTOyuyAu3teL8PjDk18Wkixq_9D7JHAn5Au3Qf1N43EkZqxjSRI/s1600/TrialnErrorPhotos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeT-I3n8-gzdg4t-iIStzJynqB-SxE9rF8_UGHS5Ysl1egqekAPruL00lwv3w3b2bBZ0HT0sxGD6d9keBtvrBvOVZuaTOyuyAu3teL8PjDk18Wkixq_9D7JHAn5Au3Qf1N43EkZqxjSRI/s640/TrialnErrorPhotos.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Photo with Exposure Compensation</span></td></tr>
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Photo in HDR mode:<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8_CS5c-ajQD_LI2sYU_jkryStp4pfMWJ_xvxEfQ3taS6e1j19I_7AiEOxFLyrkJtdUXoFr4uZO1Mkto5XzTGi6Ehz-J8mze3U-OEx_dLvDeKw2-4ot_L78fjsq4FBvZMv9HgXndltTQ/s1600/TrialnErrorPhotos_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8_CS5c-ajQD_LI2sYU_jkryStp4pfMWJ_xvxEfQ3taS6e1j19I_7AiEOxFLyrkJtdUXoFr4uZO1Mkto5XzTGi6Ehz-J8mze3U-OEx_dLvDeKw2-4ot_L78fjsq4FBvZMv9HgXndltTQ/s640/TrialnErrorPhotos_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HDR mode</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-88408142064479427492015-05-04T22:15:00.000-07:002015-05-04T22:35:13.856-07:00RAW vs JPG image- which format is better?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I never shot in RAW format...until yesterday. It was sunset time and the colors were coming very saturated in photos I was taking with Panasonic FZ200. I decided to try RAW format. Here are two photos- one out of box with Jpeg and the second one is converted from a RAW image. In RAW vs JPEG comparison, I am sold to RAW format now. Wish I had started using RAW format earlier :(<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpCy2hVs_0BQJk3_zq9Aq02pb1klp5kZJxw0-werWFeMWjAtIw0yHP1tZRKOL9oLcdn9GCkNPX7ccaK-BPlLm3gxEgIPghTKHG7tU5Y4XpxEmEOT4lFeGnFn32Z6RiTQiJSQy18yYTWo/s1600/P1060567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpCy2hVs_0BQJk3_zq9Aq02pb1klp5kZJxw0-werWFeMWjAtIw0yHP1tZRKOL9oLcdn9GCkNPX7ccaK-BPlLm3gxEgIPghTKHG7tU5Y4XpxEmEOT4lFeGnFn32Z6RiTQiJSQy18yYTWo/s640/P1060567.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo in JPEG format out of the camera.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHYmj_Sr9QTMCpY5Zkd1XWjKOgDBllckJssqfe7agYd1j76dFOFcYPctcmwqOoiXs8Yhz8kxgpYk8HvvC0pWZnt34-8gQuEPOQ0rpCFFre4NbJ8fYrjkbPNjwd7TrvYLqsGWGH1qEFe4/s1600/P1060567x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHYmj_Sr9QTMCpY5Zkd1XWjKOgDBllckJssqfe7agYd1j76dFOFcYPctcmwqOoiXs8Yhz8kxgpYk8HvvC0pWZnt34-8gQuEPOQ0rpCFFre4NbJ8fYrjkbPNjwd7TrvYLqsGWGH1qEFe4/s640/P1060567x.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image shot in RAW format<br />
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Here is one more example of Raw vs Jpeg.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZomVfjDW8XSbM1Xlp4ocHkIbVr6Dz_Fek6GtrilMxwZcY9zS9zS7WoMUt5ySckxAGuR_KBYlWXpgRXSEkeHCfpzSVXaTG2rWbWKAKnlWI-Mr8jyP4YUAuHcdbESPJ86guAphseUDWEU/s1600/P1060610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZomVfjDW8XSbM1Xlp4ocHkIbVr6Dz_Fek6GtrilMxwZcY9zS9zS7WoMUt5ySckxAGuR_KBYlWXpgRXSEkeHCfpzSVXaTG2rWbWKAKnlWI-Mr8jyP4YUAuHcdbESPJ86guAphseUDWEU/s640/P1060610.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out of camera jpeg image</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4ytqxfNoWwrcB6aXji1sa7I7u5PfmFFBZ_Ptkkz-OWV3jV_MGo94LYvspBcOTV-SjayGrB10BjVCQvXixxoH4crO8w4h8C2q6f-MpdYykAK79gVBrf-bB72gGL-z2761fDvzjSeJrtc/s1600/P1060610x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4ytqxfNoWwrcB6aXji1sa7I7u5PfmFFBZ_Ptkkz-OWV3jV_MGo94LYvspBcOTV-SjayGrB10BjVCQvXixxoH4crO8w4h8C2q6f-MpdYykAK79gVBrf-bB72gGL-z2761fDvzjSeJrtc/s640/P1060610x.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jpeg from a raw image.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-37926402871007316162015-04-03T14:33:00.000-07:002015-04-03T14:33:21.296-07:00Cell Phone camera vs DSLR camera in landscape/ day light photography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When it comes to landscape photography in good day light, it really does not matter what kind of camera you have. With abundant light, there is no need for a fast lens or a big sensor. Also, in landscape photography, you want to keep most of things in nature. Smaller sensors and tiny lenses are naturally capable of keeping everything in focus.<br />
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I was at Mary Lake in Mammoth Lakes area. I have a Pentax K-30 dSLR, Panasonic FZ100 24x zoom and Samsung Note 4 mobile phone camera. Here are some photos. As you can see, they all took good/comparable photos.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8XEX4rD-vk3j7aeWlE27BZoflq6uQJ4OLexUMURSPyNSktLNDv6uPThQ8v8klPUIDYYdRizZUtpL9X37kBfIO8YCdP46OUI05bidSnf7W9DoUe8gqIC1PnuQ4y5JQQ5okgSdBj8g_-M/s1600/11038644_10153419913514206_421081256499029882_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8XEX4rD-vk3j7aeWlE27BZoflq6uQJ4OLexUMURSPyNSktLNDv6uPThQ8v8klPUIDYYdRizZUtpL9X37kBfIO8YCdP46OUI05bidSnf7W9DoUe8gqIC1PnuQ4y5JQQ5okgSdBj8g_-M/s1600/11038644_10153419913514206_421081256499029882_o.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKt_Z5XMqtsQnJeG2vxF1Lgsm_EBanCdg8Eku94xHw1uaQKEg8mAAJAzMBoStWzRaIBLbO5BndcBKZfUFfNAuX4Ac-oOkMswvNlvWdoMTV6RbaVce8853pXr-JSbcelJ6XHaw_eQPE4ow/s1600/20150329_130004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKt_Z5XMqtsQnJeG2vxF1Lgsm_EBanCdg8Eku94xHw1uaQKEg8mAAJAzMBoStWzRaIBLbO5BndcBKZfUFfNAuX4Ac-oOkMswvNlvWdoMTV6RbaVce8853pXr-JSbcelJ6XHaw_eQPE4ow/s1600/20150329_130004.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here are two more photos of taken around same place same time:<br />
Here is a photo with a cell phone:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxmZGEHsCKSFY0RR0gD_13c5rURrywSMzFAQ2H6eeZwdCDcUh8no8nxIn8g2gR7slpFMNZdc6wpCTGxmfhzrUqzv3GABtSENjg4z6gPScEz3NSi1v7mKipEGD9qJG8DrIcv4yoy4h3Kk/s1600/20150329_121018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxmZGEHsCKSFY0RR0gD_13c5rURrywSMzFAQ2H6eeZwdCDcUh8no8nxIn8g2gR7slpFMNZdc6wpCTGxmfhzrUqzv3GABtSENjg4z6gPScEz3NSi1v7mKipEGD9qJG8DrIcv4yoy4h3Kk/s1600/20150329_121018.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Here is a similar photo with a camera/DSLR:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvbFYalm9G1GDULA48PuBU2IHf-0rq-qjaQwqN9cI63cucuFbdcMkjtc5je02cGMoTbI7BgXHFlMmI6ZMv-xNyNUPiCN31Vd8mdODbl3JZiV5fo37F3PQ3t4bquo80Cp9qQyjISZbmNA/s1600/11069300_10153419917009206_3076345021346354598_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvbFYalm9G1GDULA48PuBU2IHf-0rq-qjaQwqN9cI63cucuFbdcMkjtc5je02cGMoTbI7BgXHFlMmI6ZMv-xNyNUPiCN31Vd8mdODbl3JZiV5fo37F3PQ3t4bquo80Cp9qQyjISZbmNA/s1600/11069300_10153419917009206_3076345021346354598_o.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-66630985325722803722014-12-09T11:40:00.004-08:002014-12-09T11:42:17.175-08:00Photography tip: How to take a nice photo of the Moon?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Photography tip: How to take a nice photo of the Moon?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">I wanted to test my new camera (Panasonic FZ200) so decided to take a photo of the moon. Out of the box, like 99% other cameras, the photo was bad. I changed Metering Mode to SPOT and took the photo again. Metering mode is in Set Up for any camera and usually gives three options: Smart/Evaluative/Matrix, Partial/Center-weighted, Spot. When you select Spot, camera looks at the light in the center only. Bring the Moon in the center of your screen and camera will do the job correctly. Try with your camera and let me know.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Most cameras use by default Smart/Intelligent/Evaluative/Matrix based logic for metering. That works well in most situation where light is more or less uniform. However if you have some very dark and some very bright spots in your photo, try switching to Center Weighted or Sport metering and you will see what you would like to see in your photograph. Also metering off of faces can get you better skin colors in portraits and in photos of people. Normally, I rarely use Maxtrix/Evaluative/Smart metering mode on my cameras.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9c4PLtQkZuC5ArgQmU_AOsJezUB5nlWBZMl-gg5RL3spOfZcTFYfUzW8vHVaZwo5zQUFutyyqXaRzHDbhQ3-nmiJutF8WAgaJjaF1nMQvD_JiAkWjSwDOg8f-hsanbl7UNbt5s0IRW4s/s1600/P1000044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9c4PLtQkZuC5ArgQmU_AOsJezUB5nlWBZMl-gg5RL3spOfZcTFYfUzW8vHVaZwo5zQUFutyyqXaRzHDbhQ3-nmiJutF8WAgaJjaF1nMQvD_JiAkWjSwDOg8f-hsanbl7UNbt5s0IRW4s/s1600/P1000044.JPG" height="441" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Now here is a photo with Metering mode set to Spot:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfLKmedCrva29IhObIXjssyQTh0jOBLwQPVu5ba_S8LFNGVHWE0m7XR6nOOI9lFFLzjClzIZIg8wBbMfFglFJxzdK5BMixUDnN-EN4yb4bvSFLudfNTZcdyOHC_S3Zr7hOFzM9Et5-GjY/s1600/P1000042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfLKmedCrva29IhObIXjssyQTh0jOBLwQPVu5ba_S8LFNGVHWE0m7XR6nOOI9lFFLzjClzIZIg8wBbMfFglFJxzdK5BMixUDnN-EN4yb4bvSFLudfNTZcdyOHC_S3Zr7hOFzM9Et5-GjY/s1600/P1000042.JPG" height="432" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span></div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-79001900884114355872014-10-06T12:09:00.002-07:002014-10-06T12:09:37.841-07:00Motivation for photography??<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Do5b2rtw-dTG_C3SlC1QqiFcaY0IGCN3Cb8nVv1C614rNiOJdH5vZCuKJlTRdUE1ejrrS12izGNzNIDtIPXAnra9xc_QSESjrolUHu8viJUOd8YznYmQiegwyWDcPW55pePfLWz6dRI/s1600/Photography.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Do5b2rtw-dTG_C3SlC1QqiFcaY0IGCN3Cb8nVv1C614rNiOJdH5vZCuKJlTRdUE1ejrrS12izGNzNIDtIPXAnra9xc_QSESjrolUHu8viJUOd8YznYmQiegwyWDcPW55pePfLWz6dRI/s1600/Photography.jpg" /></a></div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-16419213482412570602014-09-24T12:16:00.002-07:002014-09-24T12:16:55.897-07:00SLR vs Compact (Fixed Lens) cameras<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span lang="EN">SLR Cameras:<br />
Advantages:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Normally
better image quality which stands out indoor or in low light compared to small
compact cameras<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Provides
to ability to control Depth of Field (or selective focusing) to keep certain
things in focus everything else out of focus. The kit lens are limited in this
capability but you can achieve greater control with fast or wide aperture
lenses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">You
can change lenses and use many accessories like external flash, remote control,
filters, extension tubes, macro tubes etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Better
build, better life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Normally
they offer lot of manual controls<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN">Issues:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Bulky
and difficult to carry around<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Normally
expensive. Accessories like lenses etc can also cost significant money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">In
good light or in outdoor use, there is not much advantage unless filters are
used.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN">Compact Cameras:<br />
Advantages:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">They
are cheaper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Easy
to carry around. Compact in size.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">You
can get tremendous zoom up to 60x in some of the cameras. This comes vary handy
in outdoor photos and in travel. It is difficult to get this kind of zoom in
SLR cameras.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">In
outdoor, good light, they are as good as any camera. They work great in
landscape cameras or in situations where you want most things in the scene in
focus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Compact
cameras offer macro shots. In macro mode, camera can focus on things very close
to camera. To get similar ability in an expensive SLR, you will need a
dedicated Macro lens. By nature, compact cameras offer great macro photography.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN">Issues:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Many
models do not offer enough manual controls<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">They
struggle in low light or in indoor photography<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Don’t
have options to use many accessories like different lenses, filters, external
flash etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">It is
difficult to achieve bokeh or background blur with small sensors and tiny
lenses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-59729780249962860862014-09-24T11:54:00.001-07:002014-09-24T11:55:42.420-07:00Camera comparison iPhone5 vs iPhone6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Looks like in Auto mode (without any setting), iPhone5 and iPhone6 have more or less very similar picture quality. One noticeable difference is that iPhone6 camera is more wide angle.<br />
Here is a photo taken with iPhone5:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBus5fGvEEYI0Vd792K0pd-dPAEI4_z6u6ZqgZV982XjnMhFgz46SX5pU_-3i2T8lv4177L4YrQebauEBGNp7nMQbSFWxdaj_jWANPCrCGK_Iv6_tn-5XI8M4HGNC6U7uy551XXgxpjI/s1600/iPhone5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBus5fGvEEYI0Vd792K0pd-dPAEI4_z6u6ZqgZV982XjnMhFgz46SX5pU_-3i2T8lv4177L4YrQebauEBGNp7nMQbSFWxdaj_jWANPCrCGK_Iv6_tn-5XI8M4HGNC6U7uy551XXgxpjI/s1600/iPhone5.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo with iPhone5</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here is a photo with new iPhone6<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCWlasCu1XEWP-yqyfHmL2d0_CRoaW1laQYu-p_ogQ8p3orA5MMMf1ZKPA7RZx7Gd3R7gsXaLTy718BLKm05slvZOef9te0yBrtD-XtxECT6itG41BeC92MUmjE0YoSI9VcKfhbRC1sAw/s1600/iphone6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCWlasCu1XEWP-yqyfHmL2d0_CRoaW1laQYu-p_ogQ8p3orA5MMMf1ZKPA7RZx7Gd3R7gsXaLTy718BLKm05slvZOef9te0yBrtD-XtxECT6itG41BeC92MUmjE0YoSI9VcKfhbRC1sAw/s1600/iphone6.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo with iPhone6</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Besides being wide angle, looks like iPhone6 lets you control exposure right on the screen. Tap the screen and a metering circle will come up with a + sign. Touch it and it it will let us increase or decrease the exposure. The cool part is you will be able to see the impact of it live on the screen so you can decide which exposure level to use.<br />
If you have just iPhone5, don't worry. You can still set us exposure by touching various parts of the screen. Touch a darker object/part in the screen to make the photo brighter or touch a brighter spot on the screen to make the whole photo darker. For details, please see <a href="http://photography-with-any-camera.blogspot.com/2014/09/better-photos-with-any-smartphone-camera.html">my last post</a>.</div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-18270746134931035282014-09-18T12:18:00.001-07:002014-09-18T12:22:55.008-07:00Better Photos With Any Smartphone Camera<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Smartphone cameras are more prevalent and more popular
than dedicated cameras these day. There are two main reasons. Most of us have a
smartphone with us most of the time and this results in an always-available camera.
The second reason is that the smartphone cameras are getting better in
capabilities. They generally have respectable 8MP resolution and they do pretty
good job for day-to-day photography in good natural light.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">As you have noticed, most smartphones are fully
automatic in nature. They don’t let you do manual focusing or select aperture,
shutter speed or ISO. Thy generally have just one or two controls. They
generally let you select Flash. Other than that, there is nothing else you can
do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN">Advantages of phone cameras:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Easy to use.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Always Available: We have them with us almost all the
time. There is no need to carry an extra gear!</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Shortest response time: Compared to a typical camera
which you have to take out of the bag, turn on, focus and shoot, a phone camera
is always on and you can take a photo in a fraction of a moment.</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Offers Auto-backup: In your traditional camera, your SD
card can go bad or can get lost but most camera phones automatically backup
photos in cloud storage.</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">HDR and Panorama: Unlike traditional cameras, most
smartphone cameras these days offer HDR and Panorama shots. With HDR, you can
easily take day light, high-contrast photos with more details than a regular
capture. The Panorama offers you to take wide angle shots very conveniently.</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Wide Angle photos: Most phone cameras are naturally wide
angle so you can cover more without needing to change a lens.</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Macro photography: Smartphone cameras are great for good
light macrophotography. No need for a macro lens or changing any settings.</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Issues with camera phones:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Not many controls available. You can’t do much if you don’t
like the shot your camera takes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Tiny sensors and tiny lenses limit your ability in low
light or indoors. Many times your photo may look better in iPhone’s retina
display or Samsung’s bright LCD screens but viewing them on a standard computer
monitor or an HDTV, you will see the issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">If you print camera phone photos, most of them may not
look as good as photos taken with a dedicated camera.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Flash. Most phone cameras have a flash but I think their
flash is more of an issue than an advantage. Their Flash is a tiny LED which
most of the time will wash out your subjects in photos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">How to take better photos with a smartphone
camera?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">For taking photos
of the landscapes, turn on HDR and take some phones with HDR too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Many times for
landscapes, use Panorama feature to make your landscape photos look even
better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN">Enable your
phone camera to take photos with touching the screen. This is one powerful way
to take better photos with your smartphone. When you touch, camera focuses on
that particular subject. This way you can control the focus in your camera. The
area you touch also tells camera to expose based on the light in that area. If
you touch a dark area in your frame, your smartphone will think that the scene
in front of it is dark so it will take in good deal of light. This can result
in more details but some parts getting washed out. On the other hand, if you
touch some brighter area, the phone will think that the scene is too bright so
it will take in less light. This will result in an under-exposed darker photo.<br />
<br />
Here is an example. On my hike, I took a photo of Simi Valley, CA in Auto mode
(I mean just pressing the Capture- Shutter Release button):</span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWEi6sUM3OzLFjwk_ZsFUafzc6BMqwlqMxMlmhC3aM474BX0dwbWvU3IvRafCY6lmrRFw-CMsrLeDbPRx3TJtKjNw7TX7ufWFfpQYXAM8GHUAUtuKnmlEb4CHUb98vPzbyl3KppFFjSU/s1600/iPhoneAuto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWEi6sUM3OzLFjwk_ZsFUafzc6BMqwlqMxMlmhC3aM474BX0dwbWvU3IvRafCY6lmrRFw-CMsrLeDbPRx3TJtKjNw7TX7ufWFfpQYXAM8GHUAUtuKnmlEb4CHUb98vPzbyl3KppFFjSU/s1600/iPhoneAuto.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a><br />
Now if I wanted to get better sky colors, I would need to tell my iPhone to
take in less light. To achieve this, I touched the sky in the frame. Here is a
photo which captures the sky colors well:<br />
</span><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_20" o:spid="_x0000_i1026" style="height: 277.5pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 370.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\jpatel\AppData\Local\Temp\1\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape><span lang="EN"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsYxmGg3mA6Fg1gCyszpYzgzYTB8O4gO4ecgrwsu6n3gd-OOxFYOGgn6KL3ruPBw_gA_B1tVA8c3i54Yq9pbRQIHLEqU9FaMntHu0BbqFFRIsjm0qRGIA8bQFjNVVUz1wpajQeGAmxHek/s1600/iPhoneUnderExpose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsYxmGg3mA6Fg1gCyszpYzgzYTB8O4gO4ecgrwsu6n3gd-OOxFYOGgn6KL3ruPBw_gA_B1tVA8c3i54Yq9pbRQIHLEqU9FaMntHu0BbqFFRIsjm0qRGIA8bQFjNVVUz1wpajQeGAmxHek/s1600/iPhoneUnderExpose.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a><br />
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Now if I want to over expose the phone, I would touch the darkest part (most
towards the bottom of the frame). Here is a photo with much more light in. It
has much more details but the sky is washed out:<br />
</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_1889752288" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" style="height: 281.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 375pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\jpatel\AppData\Local\Temp\1\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJ66KRYgSMEcnv3_KuPw-1Prlg4oA8iSVbyUxi-BYXs98VnMUb9mxNN6NqtBxvMCGvMXJv9DFCzK8vOKyXun3x0zz3KYT9GXLYOnJrTNPScLbf0_H0VYVbOb2OtcrF0rZsH4ZRV-k5F4/s1600/iPhoneOverExpose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJ66KRYgSMEcnv3_KuPw-1Prlg4oA8iSVbyUxi-BYXs98VnMUb9mxNN6NqtBxvMCGvMXJv9DFCzK8vOKyXun3x0zz3KYT9GXLYOnJrTNPScLbf0_H0VYVbOb2OtcrF0rZsH4ZRV-k5F4/s1600/iPhoneOverExpose.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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If you are reading this article on a bright table or a phone, you may not see the variance in light but on an IPS monitor (or in reality), all 3 photos have different exposure/light. Also, I am not telling you which photo is better here but I am trying to show you that you can control the light intake or exposure with a smartphone camera even though there may be no button there.</div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-68685968659543350522014-09-03T16:55:00.000-07:002014-09-03T16:55:02.620-07:00Want to take beautiful photos of waterfalls?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Want to take beautiful photos of waterfalls? Do you like that milky/silky smooth effect in waterfall photos? You can take such photos too, in most situations, with most cameras. It is not difficult. However in following cases it becomes a sort of challenge.<div>
* Most smartphones or fully point and shoot cameras in many situations will not be able to take such photos. You need a camera that offers some manual controls.</div>
<div>
* If you are looking at the waterfall in broad day light, many cameras may run into limitations. In a sort of low light, you are in good luck.</div>
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During my tour of Big Island, Hawaii, I came across some waterfalls. After some trial and errors, I was able to take some nice photos with a FujiFilm point and shoot camera.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlifGxyLd10MA2w87CXKCepDNXE6C6_LJvUE9-7E92bdwzHGGQ-R1Rk6nYGKg74-2IVPLHOF0FKnHWkkj2jcsMX9oIocFD7BaRVC3VquZFZnWVmPcUkKla5CZ8_g2NaKhfTqYqbZ1iXEc/s1600/14826159358_8d744e73d4_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlifGxyLd10MA2w87CXKCepDNXE6C6_LJvUE9-7E92bdwzHGGQ-R1Rk6nYGKg74-2IVPLHOF0FKnHWkkj2jcsMX9oIocFD7BaRVC3VquZFZnWVmPcUkKla5CZ8_g2NaKhfTqYqbZ1iXEc/s1600/14826159358_8d744e73d4_o.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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The first photo I took in auto mode did not take a photo with the silky feel. So changed the camera to Tv/Shutter priority mode and made some adjustments. In few minutes, I was able to take nice photos.</div>
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Here are some tips for you.</div>
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* <b>It is important that you have a tripod.</b> If you don't have one, find a flat surface where you can put your camera. I didn't have a tripod either but I was able to find a place to put my camera. Many times, I use the strap and put it under the camera to create the angle I need. Takes some time to figure out but if you are lazy like me and don't want to carry a tripod, , this is a small cost. In my experience, in 80-90% of the situations, I am able to find a flat surface to put the camera on.</div>
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* <b>Set the camera to Timer mode</b>- 2 seconds or 10 seconds delayed mode. This helps eliminate the shake due to pressing of the shutter release button.</div>
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* <b>Change the mode dial to Tv or S mode- Shutter Priority. </b>Set the shutter speed to around .5 second or so. Then if needed, you can change it to 1 second or reduce it to .25 seconds or so.</div>
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<b>* Set ISO to 100. </b>If your camera lets you set the ISO, set it to 100 or the lowest value.</div>
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You are all set. Take a photo and see if it comes out well. If the effect is not strong, you can slow down the shutter speed. Let the shutter stay open a bit longer. If the photo comes a bit washed out, you need to reduce the light. To reduce the light, keep the shutter open for less time. In other words, make it faster. As we are shooting in Tv or S mode, camera will choose the Aperture value for us. If you are a bit advanced user, you can shoot in M or Manual exposure mode. Start with Shutter-speed of .5 seconds, f 8 or so and ISO 100. Then as needed, change the values.</div>
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If you are shooting in broad light, your photos are likely to be washed out with such a long exposure. One solution to reduce the light is to use ND Neutral Density filter. This filter is like sunglasses or a tinted film. This can help you shoot with longer exposure without getting your photos washed out. In case if you don't have the filter, you can try to put your sunglasses in front of the camera (make sure you clean them) to reduce the light getting on the sensor.<br />Try this out and let me know if this helps. As I keep saying, if you help your camera, your camera will help you take nice photos. Also, you can take good photos with almost any camera in most of the situations.</div>
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Happy shooting.<br />Here is one more photo I took on that day on the Big Island.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RBvzLnzthlx1TbK5aZpB8VYEPLn2jAowZmGpB4eNx4umdNWEIrHzBSgrzQ9lGXW8Owyx8pgyrWMWQgm54dxJW_j7xEswe3rl-3H989XUu3fcZSmW2AL0rGP5QcJkH3SpbirjrPMB1CI/s1600/15012810815_d3da727bd3_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RBvzLnzthlx1TbK5aZpB8VYEPLn2jAowZmGpB4eNx4umdNWEIrHzBSgrzQ9lGXW8Owyx8pgyrWMWQgm54dxJW_j7xEswe3rl-3H989XUu3fcZSmW2AL0rGP5QcJkH3SpbirjrPMB1CI/s1600/15012810815_d3da727bd3_o.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waterfall, Big Island, Hawaii</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-84910383244560715242014-09-02T17:31:00.000-07:002014-09-02T17:31:11.468-07:00Want to take photos of stars? Here are some tips.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
During my recent visit of Big Island, Hawaii, I was at the Volcano park one evening. As it started getting dark, the sky started filling up with stars. I was busy shooting the red flames of lava and suddenly noticed the stars above me. Unfortunately, I was running out of time as my family wanted to go find a place to eat. I tried to take few shots but I had no luck. Taking good photos of the star-filled sky is a difficult job. Expensive equipment does have an advantage here. An iphone or a compact camera can not help you take nice photos of the sky. An SLR with a kit lens can help you to some extent but a Full Frame camera with an expensive/fast lens can help you a lot.<div>
The next day, I was visiting Mauna Kea and had decided to try to take some photos of stars. I googled to get some tips for astro-photography to make it easy. Then I brought along few lenses and tripod with me. As it started getting dark, there were even more stars than the previous night. It was cold but I was determined to try my best. After some trial and error, I was able to take some decent photos.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhbAc3XvzG24G1XK0ZKIDvWDAFUP1RBlUapsWy8cCnecmG4Po43gHQGWHnY4dBzl_sGChA1ZeKNAX8occHZFW31eMsQ8scV54-E9TE9aw83z8Xeor4bjRgIyN3CG0d7LNhJQcLN2NElzY/s1600/15053209932_81ff6b900f_k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhbAc3XvzG24G1XK0ZKIDvWDAFUP1RBlUapsWy8cCnecmG4Po43gHQGWHnY4dBzl_sGChA1ZeKNAX8occHZFW31eMsQ8scV54-E9TE9aw83z8Xeor4bjRgIyN3CG0d7LNhJQcLN2NElzY/s1600/15053209932_81ff6b900f_k.jpg" height="420" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jBwEdOlJCHOrrHO_4dKbUnCpyamgJ1SC8q49rjIY9kyhXgU6tvn5fw_SGpsh5IfVbhSqomZac8F5x59gjuJ5IPMLw7Dh3Y1zulL3TQB5dVJT41LPtMkbrJbpVEwJa_cLF-KY492DBi0/s1600/15053562525_ca71c44f31_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jBwEdOlJCHOrrHO_4dKbUnCpyamgJ1SC8q49rjIY9kyhXgU6tvn5fw_SGpsh5IfVbhSqomZac8F5x59gjuJ5IPMLw7Dh3Y1zulL3TQB5dVJT41LPtMkbrJbpVEwJa_cLF-KY492DBi0/s1600/15053562525_ca71c44f31_o.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you also want to try to take photos of the sky at night time, here are some tips:</div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Pick your best/most expensive camera. Bigger the sensor, better it will be.</li>
<li>For lens, try to pick a wide-angle lens which is also a fast lens. I know it is difficult to find a wide angle lens which has also a wide open aperture. I didn't have such a lens so I used the kit lens of my Pentax K-30. In some photos, I also used a cheap Fish-eye lens (8mm Rokinon)</li>
<li>Focus the camera to infinity. If you lens has the distance marking, just move it to infinity. Then change the Camera from Auto-Focus (AF) to Manual Focus (MF). Make sure the focus ring does not move. If you have a tape, just tape the focus ring to lens body so you don't lose focus ;)</li>
<li>If you camera has Long Exposure Noise Reduction, turn it off.</li>
<li>Set camera to Manual exposure mode. In the manual exposure, you will need to set ISO, Aperture and Shutter-speed.</li>
<li>Set ISO to 3200 or even 6400. </li>
<li>Set Aperture to the most wide open value you can get. </li>
<li>Set the lens to the most wide angle (lowest mm value). As I had a kit lens, the lowest I could go on 18-55mm, was 18mm. (I also tried with a fisheye 8mm lens. The wide angle photo above is with the fish-eye lens)</li>
<li>Set the shutter speed to around 10 seconds.</li>
<li>Change the camera to timer mode(2 or 10 seconds) or use a remote control so the shake due to pressing of Shutter Release button is minimized.</li>
<li>Place the camera on the Tripod and start shooting. If you are not getting good many stars, either increase ISO, reduce f (aperture value) or show down the shutter speed to 12, 15, 20 seconds.</li>
</ul>
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Trial and Error will help you get better photos.</div>
</div>
</div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-84782717786600588472014-07-01T11:24:00.000-07:002014-07-08T12:09:45.172-07:00Ready to shoot fireworks this 4th of July? Here are some tips<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>4th of July is here. Are you ready to shoot fireworks?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Taking photos of fireworks is not a fun job. I recommend most readers to enjoy the live fireworks instead of trying to take photos to create memories for future joy ;) When you try to take photos, you are in the guessing game. When to click the shutter and how to change settings to make photos come out better. End result is a lost opportunity to enjoy the live fireworks. So my short and sweet advice to most of you is to keep the camera at home so you can fully enjoy those 15 minutes of fireworks. However</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">, if you are like me, I know you are going to try to take some photos of fireworks. If so, read on. Here are some tips for you:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">First some Don'ts and then some Dos (tips):</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">* <b>Don't try to take fireworks photos without a tripod</b>. If you don't have a tripod, find a place to put your camera somewhere so there is no shake. Most fireworks photos require exposure of 2-3 seconds and there is no way anyone can handheld a camera steady for that long period. Any shake and the photo is bad!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">* <b>Don't try to take fireworks photos in AUTO mode</b>. If you have a simple camera that has only AUTO mode, see if it allows you to do Exposure Compensation. If so, make it -1 EV.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">* I have never tried myself but I don't hesitate to say that<b> don't try to take photos with any cellphone/smartphone or a cheap point and shoot camera</b>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">* <b>Use the Fireworks mode if your camera has it</b>. If there is no fireworks mode, beginners can change to Program mode and change Exposure Compensation to -1 or -1.5.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">* If you have an SLR or an advanced Point and Shoot camera but you don't want to get into more detailed settings, just set camera to AV mode. Aperture to 5.6 or 8 on an SLR. For Point and Shoot, use the smallest value. Set Exposure Compensation to -1 or -1.3. Set ISO to 100 or so and take photos. Based on how photos are coming out, you can change settings.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">* <b>Focus camera to Infinity and change the Focusing method from AutoFocus (AF) to Manual Focus(MF)</b>. If you don't have this feature, you camera may struggle to lock the focus every time you try to take a shot. In dark, it can become a real headache for camera to lock focus. One simple trick: change camera to landscape mode and take one photo. This will normally result in infinity focus. Then change the Focusing method to MF from AF.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I was camping at Dogwoods Campground near Lake Arrowhead in Big Bear area, California. We heard that they had fireworks planned so we went there. Unfortunately I didn't have a tripod so I tried to put the camera on a fence but that fence was not steady as there many excited kids leaning on it. Still I think I managed to get some good shots. Btw Lake Arrowhead had the best fireworks I have seen over last 15 years of my stay in the USA!<br />Here are some photos with my Olympus E-PM2.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">* If you are an advanced user, see the tips from Olympus below:</span></span><br />
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<span class="oneoffheader" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px;">Setting the scene for fireworks</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><br />
<img alt="Fireworks" class="oneoff_pic" src="http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/oneoffpages/images/2009/06/fwps2.jpg" style="border: 0px none; float: right; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; margin: 10px 0px 10px 20px; padding: 0px;" /><br />
<div style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">
Summer is known for great fireworks displays. Olympus is known for great camera scene modes. Coincidence? No way. Your first step in taking great pictures of fireworks is to simply select the <strong>Fireworks Scene Mode</strong>. The camera will then slow the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #003399; text-decoration: underline;">shutter speed</a> value and set the focusing point to infinity (∞).</div>
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If your camera doesn?t have scene modes (i.e. the E-1, E-3 & E-5) or is able to support a high-level of manual control, set the camera to manual mode (M) and adjust the shutter speed and aperture. Setting the aperture to F8 and a shutter speed of 3 to 4 seconds should give good results. Set the ISO sensitivity to 100 or 80. And don't forget to change to MF (manual focus) and set the focusing point to infinity (∞).</div>
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<span class="oneoffheader" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;">Here's a rundown of common adjustments<br />made in the Fireworks Scene Mode:</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"></span><img alt="Fireworks" class="oneoff_pic" src="http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/oneoffpages/images/2009/06/fwps3.jpg" id="image3fix" style="border: 0px none; float: right; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; margin: 1px 20px 0px 100px; padding: 0px;" /><br />
<ul style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">
<li>Shutter speed is set to four seconds, which helps capture the streaming trails of the fireworks.</li>
<li>Sets the ISO to 100 and the f-stop to f11.</li>
<li>Sets the White Balance to 5300K</li>
<li>Sets the exposure compensation to -1.0 EV. This is a full 1-stop underexposure to keep the firework highlights from burning out.</li>
<li>Sets the color to Vivid, the Saturation to High and the Contrast to Hard, all of these changes help enhance color.</li>
<li>Sets the Sharpness to Soft, which uses minimal sharpening in anticipation of post-processing.</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Read full tips on Olympus website at <a href="http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/oneoffpages/crm_e_fireworks.asp">http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/oneoffpages/crm_e_fireworks.asp</a></span></span></div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-24907119725672369712014-06-26T12:17:00.003-07:002014-06-26T12:18:37.863-07:00Sometimes you need to tell your camera to use Flash.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
During broad daylight, have you tried to take photos of people against some nice landscape? Have your photos turned bad with beautiful background but people too dark? You are not alone. Sometimes same happens when a person is under a shadow but the scene is very well lit.<br />
One time, I was hiking with a friend on Rocky Peak hike in Simi Valley with his new Panasonic FZ150 (?) camera. It was a hike plus photography tour on a nice June gloom morning in Southern California. We came across a nice vista that showed Simi Valley covered under low clouds/fog. We wanted to take a photo with my friend in it against this very pretty background. As we shot in Auto mode, as the frame had lot of light out there, so camera took a nice photo of the background but my friend wasn't exposed well. See the photo below:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje283iPK0sPFaEYlx5BUGuEcrCDYbUrpWRl7HQJa1IRezCeylaQ-AG1_2JsAQfCFbrCehtP-GwfuuP8XfIJCCzVhnipSuzuJnWYX1Nzru3afDRsizz5Uadt_GBezsQa3R76k-NdCcmcdc/s1600/Photos+with+flash+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje283iPK0sPFaEYlx5BUGuEcrCDYbUrpWRl7HQJa1IRezCeylaQ-AG1_2JsAQfCFbrCehtP-GwfuuP8XfIJCCzVhnipSuzuJnWYX1Nzru3afDRsizz5Uadt_GBezsQa3R76k-NdCcmcdc/s1600/Photos+with+flash+(2).jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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How do you fix such photos?<br />
As there was enough light in the frame, camera naturally didn't use Flash. Most cameras in AUTO mode would not have used Flash here. Many cameras do the same thing in landscape photography. They keep the Flash off. As my friend was within 10-15 feet from the camera, I just turned the flash to On position. I forced camera to use flash. If your camera, in AUTO or Landscape mode, does not let you select flash, change the camera mode to P (program) or Aperture priority. In these modes, you should be able to select Flash mode. Once we had Flash on, see below our new photo.<br />
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As I keep saying on the blog, sometimes you just need to take control of your camera to be able to take better photos.<br />
There are two things to keep in mind. Flash light on most compact camera will not reach beyond 10-15 feet so make sure the objects or persons you like to be brightened up flash are within that distance.<br />
If you are not able to force Flash in a photo, change the mode to Program first. Most cameras have Program mode.</div>
JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677571589399138324.post-59889051505569131742014-05-31T12:34:00.001-07:002014-06-02T10:31:18.270-07:00Taking photos against the Sun? Here are some tips to work around the situation.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Ask anyone and most people say that you keep the Sun on your back to take good photos. That is true because the Sun can brighten up the subject so you can take nicely exposed bright photos. However sometimes it is not possible. You can not move the Sun, right? And many times it is not possible for us to move to bring the Sun behind us. What do you do in such situations? Many of us will blame the situation, or the camera.<br />
I had a similar situation when I visited Disneyland in California a few days ago. I was in the Tomorrowland and wanted to take a photo of the top of the Rocket ride while standing in a line for some other ride. Top of the Rocket ride looked nice but it was too dark because the Sun was also in the same direction.<br />
Here is how I handled the situation. I took a photo in the Auto mode with my Olympus E-PM2 camera. I let the camera do the metering and do whatever it thought right. I knew the photo will not be good.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0U5cffBmG0o1hJY_2PxVjLZQp-uEnV2xmDH3nHjGEfr8dLZ_ZH5uExXjH20GKnLjSst-63fkj4mSr2j9nl6qBb10IwIX1yeFxA48SZ1p8yj8fEAG9znRukXw8b0cRo3_cH2eClpewSc/s1600/P5270042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Tomorrowland" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0U5cffBmG0o1hJY_2PxVjLZQp-uEnV2xmDH3nHjGEfr8dLZ_ZH5uExXjH20GKnLjSst-63fkj4mSr2j9nl6qBb10IwIX1yeFxA48SZ1p8yj8fEAG9znRukXw8b0cRo3_cH2eClpewSc/s1600/P5270042.JPG" height="480" title="Tomorrowland" width="640" /></a></div>
As you can see, the subject came out very dark. I can't blame the camera or the Sun for this! So I decided to help my camera. By looking at the photo, you can see that the subject/the structure I was shooting was dark. In other words, very much underexposed. So I needed to tell the camera to take much more light in. I was more interested in the subject. I really didn't care if the sky gets washed out. So I clicked on the Exposure Compensation button on my E-PM2. Changed the value to +2 and took a new photo. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CCBZFnBsENypX4-UPeWu3RY0FWkO8ryXw2IlhAHD_qONQWi2FPp05VNeyJL6SiUKq_ORT5p-zpAaEuzZBaV-dwMc8KrMua9-_wIncNpZ7tFi2kn1BU3XWzDLP0ECq0AfrZGSwtsPsos/s1600/EVButton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CCBZFnBsENypX4-UPeWu3RY0FWkO8ryXw2IlhAHD_qONQWi2FPp05VNeyJL6SiUKq_ORT5p-zpAaEuzZBaV-dwMc8KrMua9-_wIncNpZ7tFi2kn1BU3XWzDLP0ECq0AfrZGSwtsPsos/s1600/EVButton.jpg" /></a></div>
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Now see the photo below. It was much better than the photo in the AUTO mode. The sky is washed out but </div>
As I have often said on this blog, any camera can do a good job if you are willing to help it in difficult/tricky situations.<br />
There are times when we need to ask camera to take in less light. One case that comes to my mind is when you want to take photos of full Moon. Most cameras do not take good photos of the Moon in AUTO mode but you can move the EV value to -2 (or try with different negative numbers) and you can take nice photos of the Moon. Click on <a href="http://photography-with-any-camera.blogspot.com/2014/04/take-good-photo-of-moon-with-any-camera.html">this link</a> to my earlier post about it:<br />
<a href="http://photography-with-any-camera.blogspot.com/2014/04/take-good-photo-of-moon-with-any-camera.html">http://photography-with-any-camera.blogspot.com/2014/04/take-good-photo-of-moon-with-any-camera.html</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigU6Bs56n6zQINnYSxyE7ismqR3UebjJQIWt5HFOuxki0lZDullx4jASRb3eMR0EzbmSE6phTdEuc3qIA_he7dtYC-YK3bLQL1sEHQxXOZ235yOk7c3sxj2XxusJIDXXh78s50mZDubbw/s1600/P5270043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Tomorrowland in Disneyland" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigU6Bs56n6zQINnYSxyE7ismqR3UebjJQIWt5HFOuxki0lZDullx4jASRb3eMR0EzbmSE6phTdEuc3qIA_he7dtYC-YK3bLQL1sEHQxXOZ235yOk7c3sxj2XxusJIDXXh78s50mZDubbw/s1600/P5270043.JPG" height="480" title="Disneyland, Tomorrowland" width="640" /></a></div>
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JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10971671356566464259noreply@blogger.com1