tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2601668724734543642024-03-13T17:03:37.651+01:00Michael Munk PhotographyDriven by a passion for nature, for people and for life.
Through travel across the continents of the world,and the diversity of peoples mind and culture.
Freelance photographer on a mission to express the unique characteristics of life unfolding
right before your eyes.
Enjoy!MunkPhotographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14734827938696553850noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260166872473454364.post-77320097502035165352011-04-11T22:05:00.006+02:002011-04-14T21:26:44.370+02:00Waterfall<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Basic theory behind capturing a waterfall or a river</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 7.5pt; line-height: 115%;">By Michael Munk<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Amazing silk-like waterfalls and smooth fantasy-like rivers. These are images you will often see in magazines or on websites. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">At first sight it looks like an awfully difficult picture to take</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">, or something made by a professional in some kind of editing program. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">These assumptions are not true! </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857844688/" title="Autumn leaves by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Autumn leaves" height="500" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4857844688_436a9d30d0.jpg" width="334" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857844688/" title="Autumn leaves by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 0.4 sec </span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/13</span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 17mm</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">In the following I will show you the stepping stones necessary for creating such images yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Silk-like water images are relatively easy to make!</span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">In my first years of photography </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">I remember the frustrating situations</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"> when I got to a waterfall or any other location with waterflow – </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">how do I get the best of this opportunity??</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><b> </b>Water has always fascinated humans, and few things are more impressive than standing at the foot of a majestic waterfall. The deafening roar of the thousands of liters of water falling over the edge every day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">BUT how do I possibly capture even a fraction of this intense atmosphere?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">First of all there are two basic things to consider if you have a moving object such as running water:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><b>Freeze</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"> – Do I want to freeze the picture to capture the fascinating details of the water?</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Motion</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Do I want to </span><span lang="EN-US">enhance the motion of the water to ad a dynamic touch?</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The first is “less complicated” than the second one, so let us begin with “freezing a waterfall”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">As we learned previously in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/shutter-speed.html" target="_blank">shutter speed</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">when freezing an image we have to look at the lighting setting: </span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Is it early in the morning? </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Or is it during the brightest hour on a sunny day? </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Or perhaps on a rather dim overcast day.</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">You will probably need a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">shutter speed</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 14px;"> faster</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"> than 1/60</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><sup>th</sup></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"> of a second to accomplish this, and an </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">aperture smaller than f/5.6</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"> (so a lager f/”number” e.g. f/5.6 - f/22) to get a large enough DOF (depth of field) to capture all the details but not too small either thus you might block out too much light to use the faster shutter speeds.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">And now back to that silk-like effect.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">To motion-blur the water - this is the option many photographers chooses. I think one of the main reasons for this, is the fact that it is an effect easily achieved with DSLR, but pretty difficult with a normal pocketsize camera. Another reason is because the auto-mode most likely would select the settings fit for freezing the water. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">In other words: making that blurred water effect shows that you can step out of auto-mode and use the potential of DSLR cameras.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5120132547/" title="Rhine fall by night by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Rhine fall by night" height="333" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1250/5120132547_aed8f49c45.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5120132547/" title="Rhine fall by night by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">Exposure: 332 sec </span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/4</span></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 200</span></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 40mm</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>How do they do it?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">First of all you will need <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">a tripod</span> or at least a rock (or anything else like it) to position your camera. Of cause this is important as we are working with longer shutter speeds (as I talked about in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/shutter-speed.html" target="_blank">shutter speed</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Next step: When the camera is on the tripod and the (potentially) right composition is chosen, you will have to leave auto-mode and use shutter-priority or manual-mode. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Depending on the light conditions and amount of blur you want </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">I will recommend shutter speeds close to 1 sec</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Unfortunately it is not always as simple as described above. Because when pushing the shutter speed to blur the motion of the water you always risk ending up with an </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">over exposure</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">. With parts of the picture either partly or totally “blown out” with too much light. This will be bright white areas without any details (e.g. an over exposed sky will appear bright white without any contours).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">There are different ways of dealing with this issue:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><b><u>Low ISO</u></b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Keep the ISO speed as low as possible. (e.g. ISO 100). In that way the sensor is less sensitive to light (see the article on </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/iso-speed.html" target="_blank">ISO speed</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">for more information) and this will allow a longer shutter speed. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><u>Aperture</u></b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">– If it is several hours after sunrise or </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">before sunset</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> there might be a lot of light so you have to close the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/aperture.html" target="_blank">aperture</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"> (e.g. f/22) This will let the smallest amount of light inside the camera during the long exposure. Below is an example of this.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5120689200/" title="Small waterfall by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Small waterfall" height="333" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/5120689200_569128940c.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">Exposure: 1 sec </span></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/22</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 40mm</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><b><u>Time of the day</u></b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Pictures of water with a blurry effect is almost only possible if the weather is overcast or early in the morning or late in the evening. Again this is simply because </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">there are too much light during daytime hours</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">. Sometimes being in a dense forest create low enough light conditions to get a long enough shutter speed (see picture below which is taking on a sunny midday). </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Another way is to do a very long exposure at night (like the second picture above, of Rhine fall)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857221841/" title="River flowing by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="River flowing" height="333" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4857221841_bf316ca52d.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857221841/" title="River flowing by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><b><u>Filters</u> </b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">– Now you might ask how these pictures with blue sky, sun and silky water are made. The simple answer to this is – </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">use of filters</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">. This is another great features you have with DSLR compared to compact cameras. You have the opportunity to put on different filters. In this case a ND-filter (Neutral Density filter). I will get further into this subject later on. But in short they work </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">like sunglasses which are placed in front of the lens</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">. Depending on the strength of the polarization they are letting less light through the lens. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Below are three examples of normally used ND-filters:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">ND2 Reduces with 1 f/stop 50% of the light is transmitted</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">ND4 Reduces with 2 f/stops 25% of the light is transmitted</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">ND8 Reduces with 3 f/stops 12,5% of the light is transmitted</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Note that there are other ways of using ND-filters, but this is what most use it for. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US">Now it is time to </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">go out there and </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">practice!</span> Use this basic theory, but<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> don’t be limited by it! </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">To end this subject I have found a couple of other examples and ways of capturing a waterfall.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">First</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> look for ways to make the waterfall a part of a bigger picture. Like this one where you might not notice the fall at first until your eyes follows the line created by the blue sky which leads directly to it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857844562/" title="Waterfall in the forest by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Waterfall in the forest" height="500" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4857844562_9b02f0cecd.jpg" width="334" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857844562/" title="Waterfall in the forest by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">Exposure: 1/50 </span></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/11</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 17mm</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Another way is to get a whole new perspective</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US">. Pictures like the one of Iguazu falls below are a bit more expensive as it requires either a plane or a helicopter. But sometimes the pictures and the memories are worth it!</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857845048/" title="Iguazu falls by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Iguazu falls" height="375" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4857845048_8910e70ecb.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857845048/" title="Iguazu falls by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">And finally you will sometimes need to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">introduce some recognizable objects in front</span> of the falls to get a sense of perspective. And I will bet that you can come up with something a lot more original than this example.</span><span lang="EN-US"> :-)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5120739390/" title="Skogar waterfall by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Skogar waterfall" height="500" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1160/5120739390_3baba1c026.jpg" width="333" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">Exposure: 1/125 </span></div></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="color: #c5c5c5; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/18</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #c5c5c5; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="color: #c5c5c5; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 17mm</span></span></span></div><div style="color: #c5c5c5; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Enjoy all the great wonders of water out there!</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>MunkPhotographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14734827938696553850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260166872473454364.post-38913034692744641082011-03-24T23:51:00.008+01:002011-04-12T18:56:10.014+02:00ISO speed<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Basic camera technique – part three of three</span></b></span></b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Michael Munk</b></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is the last brick that we have to add to our base for mastering the technical aspect of photography.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The last part of the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/exposure-triangle.html" target="_blank">Exposure triangle</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">left to learn about is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>ISO speed</b></span>. This will give us a whole new dimension of control in low light situations.</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5078809928/" title="Lapwing touchdown by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Lapwing touchdown " height="337" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5078809928_ac0b6ed48a.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5078809928/" title="Lapwing touchdown by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 1/1000 </span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/4</span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 200mm</span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">In “the old days” ISO (International Standards Organization) made this standard for measuring the speed of film for photography. It simply means how fast a film <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">responds to light</b>. Before digital photography you had to change to another film. Luckily with the modern cameras we only have to push a button, and the sensor inside the camera becomes more or less sensitive to light. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A low number gives low sensitivity to light. </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Picture it like putting on sunscreen before sunbathing. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">ISO </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">100</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> A sun blocker with a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">high factor</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> – You can stay for hours without getting a sunburn.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">ISO </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1000 </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Normal </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">medium factor</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> sun blocker – You will get a suntan faster. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">ISO </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6400</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Almost like putting on pure water – You will get sunburnt fast.</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">So when and why to use the ISO setting? When I have to choose which settings to use I always ask myself some basic questions. I will return to these later on in this article. First I want to give some basic guidelines for the ISO speed in priority- or manual-mode:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">ISO </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">100</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> On a sunny day you should keep the ISO low!</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">ISO </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">400</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> On an overcast day or at dusk and dawn</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">ISO </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">800+</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Inside at night without flash</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>Remember to keep the ISO as low as the conditions allows it</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">So far so good. We have a setting to compensate for low light conditions. But what is the catch?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The higher ISO the lower quality of the image</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">ISO 100</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> will give crisp and razor-sharp images (with little noise/grain). Like the image of the lapwing in the beginning of this blog. The more you bump the ISO the more noise you will get. Below I have made a comparison of two images, from the same location a few minutes apart, to illustrate the downside of choosing a high ISO speed in low light. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5550764993/" title="ISO by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="ISO" height="456" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5550764993_7c9904b5f3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5550764993/" title="ISO by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c5c5c5; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now with this knowledge let us get back to a couple of questions to ask yourself before pushing the shutter. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">What do I want with this image?</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">How do I achieve this?</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">How is the lightning?</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">What aperture and shutter speed will it require?</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">What is the lowest ISO speed to make this possible?</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">And then some more concerning composition, but that is another article to be made in the future.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here are situations where a higher ISO is useful:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Indoor family get together some times a flash would just ruin the moment</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Indoor sport event fast moving objects in poor light</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Concert again low light</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Indoor architecture fx churches and galleries have rules against the use of flash</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another example is the next two images both taking during a full moon. Depending on the setting you will get different results.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: center;">A low ISO speed and a long shutter speed will give this glowing light effect</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5084172746/" title="Moonlight painting Vandet sø by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Moonlight painting Vandet sø" height="337" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5084172746_81aacc149c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5084172746/" title="Moonlight painting Vandet sø by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 25 sec </span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/4</span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 22mm</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">A high ISO and faster shutter speed will capture details and create another mood</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5550483252/" title="Super moon by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Super moon" height="500" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5305/5550483252_451289488c.jpg" width="339" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5550483252/" title="Super moon by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div style="font-size: x-small; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 1/80 </span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/4</span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 500</span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 200mm</span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to use high ISO in a <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">creative way</span></b>? If you have the right scenery, then a grainy and noisy images will result in a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">special mood and a raw appearance</b>. Like this last image. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5119816353/" title="Kayaking before the sun rises by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Kayaking before the sun rises" height="338" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1382/5119816353_7a33119b65.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5119816353/" title="Kayaking before the sun rises by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><br />
<div style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 1/50 </span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/4</span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 1000</span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 17mm</span></span></div></div></div></div></div><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Of course there are really good tools in post production (PP) to reduce, or ad, noise from your pictures. I will not go further into this at this point. But still these various types of software will improve a lot of the unwanted noise. I will return to this later on. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Generally you want to keep the ISO as low as possible. But make sure to bump it up when needed. It is the only way to get the result you are after. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Enjoy!</span></b></div></div>MunkPhotographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14734827938696553850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260166872473454364.post-59471974196050454342011-03-17T13:48:00.016+01:002011-04-14T09:05:02.510+02:00Aperture<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Basic camera technique – part two of three</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b>By Michael Munk</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">This will be the second step on our way to understanding “</span><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/exposure-triangle.html" target="_blank">the exposure triangle</a>” and therefore achieving absolute control over our camera.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/shutter-speed.html" target="_blank">Shutter speed</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Aperture</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"></span><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/iso-speed.html" target="_blank">ISO speed</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5030471532/" title="Dew on Conifer by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Dew on Conifer" height="333" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5030471532_0149d7b784.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 1/100 </span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/2.8</span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 100mm</span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">When you get to the point where you have reach an understanding for the technical aspect and learned how to control light you can start to unfold your creativity for real. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Aperture is the enchantment of photography</span></b><span lang="EN-US">. This is the most important feature in directing light inside your camera. As I will show you in this article changing the aperture leads to dramatic changes in the appearance of your image!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">Learn to control aperture and you will learn the magic of photography. <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">Previously (in “</span><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/exposure-triangle.html" target="_blank">the xposure triangle</a>”) I gave a metaphor for a better understanding of the elements inside a camera. As you might remember <b>aperture is both the size of the window and the effect of pulling the curtains</b>. There will be more about this in a moment.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">We learned (in “</span></span><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/shutter-speed.html" target="_blank">shutter speed</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">”) that shutter speed is measured in parts of a second (denomination 1/200). </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Aperture is measured in f-stops</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> (</span>f-number, focal ratio, f-ratio or relative aperture). As mentioned before; a change in shutter speed or aperture doubles or halves the amount of light coming through your lens. I gave this following example of three exposures resulting in <span lang="EN-US">similar</span> images:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt;"><br />
<ul><li>1/125<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and f/11</li>
<li>1/250<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and f/8</li>
<li>1/500<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and f/5.6</li>
</ul><div><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The next image illustrates the effect of <b>increasing</b> f-stop (f/2.8 – f/4 – f/5.6 – f/8 – f/11...) with a fixed shutter speed and ISO speed. As you can see this <b>decreases</b> the aperture. One-stop increment will effect in halving the “light gathering area”.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5533598074/" title="Aperture 1 by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Aperture 1" height="500" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5056/5533598074_9eb7006c88.jpg" width="348" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">The illustrated circles are actually pretty much what your lens opening looks like. In some lenses you can see these blades when looking direct through it (without camera house attached). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">Another rule of thumb which is handy to keep in mind is the “<b>Sunny 16 rule</b>”. It is quite simple. When photographing an object in direct sunlight use this as “starting point”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">“Set the <b>aperture</b> to f/16 and the <b>shutter speed</b> to the same as (reciprocal of) the <b>ISO speed</b>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<ul><li>f/16 ISO <b>100</b> 1/<b>100</b><sup>th</sup> sec</li>
<li>f/16 ISO <b>200</b> 1/<b>200</b><sup>th</sup> sec</li>
<li>f/16 ISO <b>400</b> 1/<b>400</b><sup>th</sup> sec</li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">Of course in real life it all depends on which type of photo you want. For an example in landscape photography the <b>guideline</b> below is often useful. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5111037263/" title="Cost of Thy - Bulbjerg by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Cost of Thy - Bulbjerg" height="500" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/5111037263_411c84e135.jpg" width="333" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 1/200 </span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/22</span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">ISO 200</span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 17mm</span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">Start with one the following f-stop (corresponding to the conditions) and adjust shutter speed afterwards.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<ul><li>f/22 Snow/sand – a lot of reflection and therefore a lot of light</li>
<li>f/16 Sunny</li>
<li>f/8 Slight overcast</li>
<li>f/5.6 Heavy overcast (f/5.6 is not really ideal for landscape (see DOF below). Keep a smaller aperture and push the ISO speed instead.</li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">I remember one single thing that took ages to understand and remember when I started with a more “serious” form of photography.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">That these two facts apply (look at “aperture 1” above for better understanding): <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<ul><li>a <b>small f-number</b> is a <b>large aperture </b>(bigger opening and therefore more light).</li>
<li>a <b>large f-number</b> is a <b>small aperture</b> (smaller opening and therefore less light).</li>
</ul></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Depth of Field (DOF)</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">As a new photographer you will feel bombarded with different AND difficult technical terms and abbreviations. Not all of these are really important. But <b>“Depth of Field” is one of the important ones!</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">I have taken a series of photos with the single purpose of exemplifying what DOF is and how to use it in a creative way. There are a number of ways in making a shallow depth of field.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">First let us have a look at what depth of field involves. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<ul><li><b><span lang="EN-US">Large depth of field </span></b><span lang="EN-US">– most of the image will be in focus. Both objects close to the camera and far away. (E.g. landscape, the picture of a costline above)</span></li>
<li><b><span lang="EN-US">Small (shallow) depth of field</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> – only a little part of the image will be in focus and the rest will be blurry. (E.g. macro, the picture of dew in the start of this blog)</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">And more important – how to get these two different effects:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<ul><li><b><span lang="EN-US">A large aperture</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> (small f-number) will result in a <b>shallow DOF</b>.</span></li>
<li><b><span lang="EN-US">A small aperture</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> (large f-number) will give a <b>larger DOF</b>.</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">The following is meant to show three ways of changing the depth of field. I will not go deeper into the theory behind why these effects occur as this will get a bit too technical at this point. Just note that it's the way it is. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US">The first method (Aperture II):</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> The obvious way is, of course, to use either a small or a large aperture. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<ul><li><b><span lang="EN-US">Image on the left:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> When using a <b>small aperture</b> (small opening) the leafs in the background makes it hard to make out the details of the branch in front</span></li>
<li><b><span lang="EN-US">Image of the right</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: It is a different story with a large aperture. Here the background is all fuzzy which “hides” all the disturbing elements.</span></li>
</ul></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5533016647/" title="Aperture 2 by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Aperture 2" height="380" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5533016647_6801723962.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US">The second method (Aperture III)</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: As you can see below (“Aperture 3”) changing only the distance (camera – object) will have an effect on DOF. This is, among other things, useful in portrait and macro photography. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5533017267/" title="Aperture 3 by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Aperture 3" height="380" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5533017267_d6de022bd5.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US">The third method (Aperture IV)</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: The focal length will affect the DOF. Again this is why portrait photographers often use a telephoto lens.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5533599926/" title="Aperture 4 by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Aperture 4" height="380" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5136/5533599926_e1ee2a3372.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">Just to drive home what depth of field is I have made this illustration (below). It is extremely simple but hopefully it gives a visual idea of the concept of depth of field. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5533018349/" title="DOF by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="DOF" height="461" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/5533018349_9ceae8eecd.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">One last thing that I personally find really important is that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"less is more"</span>. The simpler you keep an image the greater effect it will have on the viewer. I will return to this subject later on but DO notice that DOF is an effective way of keeping an image simple. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;">And as always I want to state that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">you need to grab your camera and go experimenting on your own</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">!</span></b> Use different setting and break out of your comfort zone – the auto-mode!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Enjoy! </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>MunkPhotographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14734827938696553850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260166872473454364.post-74563989749695182482011-03-09T02:00:00.020+01:002011-04-14T09:06:32.351+02:00Shutter Speed<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Basic camera technique - part one of three</b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">By Michael Munk</span></b></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This will be the first description of the three elements; </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/shutter-speed.html" target="_blank">shutter speed</a></i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/aperture.html" target="_blank">aperture</a> </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/iso-speed.html" target="_blank">ISO speed</a></i>, that I previously introduced in ”<b><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/exposure-triangle.html" target="_blank">The exposure triangle</a></b>”.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Before I get started I have two notes for this article. I have given the EXIF informations (Exchangeable Image File Format) for the example images pay attention to these for better understanding. And you can simply click the images for a larger view.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857193979/" title="Marathon by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Marathon" height="333" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4857193979_4ab7e7e16b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857193979/" title="Marathon by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 1/40 </span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/7.1</span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">ISO 125</span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 17mm</span></span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The definition of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shutter speed</b>: a common name for exposure time –<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the effective length of time that the shutter inside the camera is open</b>. Consequently the time light is allowed to reach the camera censor and creating the image. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">To control separate parts of “the exposure triangle” you have to leave auto-mode and use either Priority- or Manual-mode. To achieve this turn the “camera mode dial” (on top of the camera) to:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<ul><li>Shutter-priority: “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tv</b>” or “S”depending on camera type (Time value/Shutter-priority).</li>
<li>Manual-mode: “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">M</b>” (manual)</li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">The shutter speed is measured in seconds – often in fractions of a second.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">On most modern cameras you can choose between many steps of shutter speeds. To outline this “scale” and give you a better overview I have picked some main points and given a short description and some useful situations. Starting with the fastest shutter speed. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5029856321/" title="Deer jumping by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Deer jumping" height="333" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/5029856321_97c8856dbb.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 1/2500 </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/4.0</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">ISO 250</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 200mm</span><br />
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</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">1/16000<sup>th</sup> s</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: The absolute fastest shutter speed available (only available on the top models) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-indent: -65.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">1/8000<sup>th</sup> s</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: Fastest shutter speed for most DSLR cameras. Useful for getting racer sharp images of moving objects (animals, cars etc.). Requires good light conditions, a large aperture (lots of light) and probably push the ISO number up (larger than ISO 100).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-indent: -65.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">1/2000<sup>th</sup> s</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: A fast shutter speed to capture fast moving objects in normal light (overcastted summerday)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-indent: -65.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">1/250<sup>th</sup> s</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: To freeze normal day picture like humans and buildings. This speed also allows a small aperture (f/11) and therefore a good depth of field (DOF). I will explain this in the following article about aperture. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-indent: -65.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">1/60<sup>th</sup> s</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: Slower shutter speed that doesn’t freeze object instead gives a motion blur. Useful in making panning images and getting a small aperture (f/9-f/16) for great landscape shoots with a good DOF.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-indent: -65.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">1/8<sup>th</sup> s</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: Longer exposure which allows the possibilities of creating great motion blur effects. Another use of these slower shutter speeds is, in combination with tripod, bean bag or other camera support (rocks, bag…), to get pictures of immobile object or landscapes in low light conditions.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-indent: -65.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">1 s</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: “Only” (I don’t want to kill creativity! There are NO such things as rules, “only when”, “don’t do this, “you can’t do that”… etc. ALWAYS BE CREATIVE AND EXPLORE NEW WAYS!) with use of tripod for low light photography.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-indent: -65.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">30 s</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: Longest shutter speed in most DSLR cameras. Used in night photography – long exposure.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-indent: -65.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">BULB</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: Keeps the shutter open as long as the shutter release is hold. With a remote control only battery life limits the exposure time. This can be used in star trail photography (30min – infinity). Low light photography is one of my favorite </span>subject areas and I will return to this.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5044467547/" title="As seconds pass by by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="As seconds pass by" height="500" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5044467547_a822d7abcc.jpg" width="333" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 20 sec </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/16</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 40mm</span><br />
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</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">If you want sharp images “a rule of thumb” is to <b>use a shutter speeds that is greater than the focal length</b> you are using. Let us take an example to understand this rule.</span><br />
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<ul><li>If you shoot at 40mm keep the shutter speed higher than 1/40<sup>th</sup> sec.</li>
<li><span lang="EN-US">But if you shoot at 200mm you should go faster than 1/200<sup>th</sup> sec. (1/200<sup>th</sup> – 1/8000<sup>th</sup> sec.)</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In theory this is a good rule but in practice <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">you will be using shutter speeds of 1/60<sup>th</sup> of a second or faster<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Again we need to look at light to find an explanation. Because at 1/60<sup>th</sup> sec. or slower there is a great risk of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">camera shake</b>. Which results in blurred or out of focus images. Simply because a handheld camera will move during exposure (changing the “light picture” the camera “sees”).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">As I said you can prevent this by stabilizing the camera (using tripod, bag, rock…)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Don’t forget the exposure triangle – a change in one setting will affect the others (ISO and Aperture)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I am afraid the next few lines will get extremely technical so feel free to skip this and read the examples instead. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Halving the shutter speed - doubles the exposure (1 EV more)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Doubling the aperture (halving the f/”number”) – increases the exposure by a factor 4 (2 EV more)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">That explains the fact that standard apertures differ with about 1.4<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Let us take an example</span></b><span lang="EN-US">:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">A picture taken at these three different settings will look almost the same regarding exposure (in relation light).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We double the shutter speed (less light manage to reach the censor). To compensate for this we make a bigger opening in our lens with a smaller aperture (remember the window metaphor: “draw back the curtains”)</span><br />
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<ul><li>1/125<sup>th</sup> and f/11</li>
<li>1/250<sup>th</sup> and f/8</li>
<li>1/500<sup>th</sup> and f/5.6</li>
</ul><div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I will give a more detailed explanation of the use of this in a future article. <o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Enough with all the technical nonsense for now! Let us look at something more tangible instead.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Questions you should ask yourself before choosing a shutter speed</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">1.</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> Plain and simple: "What am I photographing?" </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> "What is the motive?"<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 130.4pt;"><span lang="EN-US"> "Are there any moving objects?"<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"> If yes, then:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">2.</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> Do I want to freeze these objects – make then look still?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">3.</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> Or do I want to make a blur effect on purpose – creating a sense of movement.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5076146310/" title="Ducks on the move by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Ducks on the move" height="304" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/5076146310_76982f27c5.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 1/10 </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/4.0</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 160mm</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Many people want all their photos to be as sharp as possible. I agree that a lion portrait with extremely sharp focus right in the eyeball can give you great pleasure to look at. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">BUT on the other hand <b>a well done motion blur can generate a special atmosphere</b>, or tell an amazing story which would have been lost in a racer sharp image. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857814584/" title="Spice price by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Spice price" height="500" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4857814584_9e0e324aa3.jpg" width="334" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Exposure: 1/25 </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Aperture: f/7.1</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">ISO 100</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Focal length: 17mm</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">When you have shot your perfectly sharp image - DO look for alternative options - be creative! You might get even better images with unusual settings, or at least get some priceless experience!</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>MunkPhotographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14734827938696553850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260166872473454364.post-63332956694491206642011-03-08T01:53:00.009+01:002011-04-14T09:09:37.833+02:00Exposure triangle<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>By Michael Munk</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">When I took my first steps into the world of photography I remember that the most confusing about it all were the complete chaos concerning camera settings. New difficult technical terms, and some even more puzzling systems of numbers describing all sorts of things. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">But with the knowledge I have got now I know how important a deeper understanding for all those technical details are. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It all comes down to one of the most important (if not THE most important) aspects of photography – understanding light. The perfect motive or the perfect scenery might be captured in a picture, but that wow-effect which amazes people only comes with interesting light.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">It is all about understanding the light – how it behaves – how to control it – and how to capture it!</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></i></b><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I will go deeper into this subject later on. But for now I want to go through the basic elements of taking a picture. Whether it´s done with a point-and-shoot- or a DSLR camera it involve three elements. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Three interconnected vertexes in a triangle. They all relate to light: How it enters the camera. How much that enters and they determinates if the exposure becomes the image we had in mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The three elements are:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<ul><li><span lang="EN-US"> </span><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/iso-speed.html" target="_blank">ISO speed</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/shutter-speed.html" target="_blank">Shutter speed</a></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US"> </span><a href="http://munkphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/aperture.html" target="_blank">Aperture</a></li>
</ul><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5507650438/" title="Exposure triangle by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Exposure triangle" height="640" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5507650438_d3eb421d8b_z.jpg" width="594" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span> </span></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It is in the middle of this triangle the exposure is made. BUT as they are connected we can’t change one without it affecting the two others. This is an essential fact to keep in mind before pressing the shutter release.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Different situations require specific setting of both ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed – keep all three in mind!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">There are some (among photographers) common know metaphors to ease the understanding of these settings.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The window</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This metaphor was helpful to me when I struggled with understanding especially Aperture and ISO speed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5120687520/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="By the fire by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="By the fire" height="333" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1077/5120687520_e7068f9c29.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></span></div><span lang="EN-US">Imagine this: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Your camera is like a sealed house with only one large window (this window is the opening in your lens).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The size of this window can differ (Corresponds to how big an opening your lens can make - maximum aperture. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A big opening allows a</span> lot of light <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">inside</span>, but a bigger opening is more e<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">xpensiv</span>e). </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">For example take these two lenses:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM Price example: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">1.289,00€</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt;">) Price example: <o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">4.494,00€</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">These are very similar lenses but one has a bigger opening (f/2.8) and therefore capable of capturing more light thus more expensive.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now back on track; we have our different maximum window sizes: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Maximum apertures:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">f/1.2 Very big window<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">f/2.8 Pretty big window<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">f/4.0 Normal window<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">f/5.6 A bit smaller window<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Now imagine a curtain which can be pulled and drawn back. If it’s almost shut only little light enters.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">f/1.2 Curtains are drawn back – plenty of light (Max aperture - lens completely open)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">f/8 Curtains are pulled a bit<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">f/16 Closed quite a bit – less light enters<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">f/32 Only a small crack for light to enter (Min aperture)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I used to think the biggest mind job about aperture was this fact:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">A small number (f/"number") is the biggest opening in the lens.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Now when adjusting ISO you should imagine that you are standing in front of the window looking out. Now you have a choice of different sunglasses.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">ISO 100 The darkest biggest glasses imaginable<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">ISO 400 Lighter but yet quite dark<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">ISO 800 Light brownish sunglasses<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">ISO 3200 Glasses with little sun blocking effect<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The more you push the ISO to compensate for low light conditions the more noise/grain you will get in your image.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Always use the lowest ISO possible! ISO 100 on sunny days. Push it up a bit in low light conditions.</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Shutter speed is simply the time from you open the shutters outside the window until you close them again. So it is the amount of time when light is allowed inside the sealed house. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This is not a “perfect” description of the technique inside a camera and there are other good metaphors. Nevertheless I hope you have got the overall idea of the mechanisms behind controlling light during an exposure. This article will be followed by a couple of more detailed articles of how and when to use different settings. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Always remember that it takes a long time and a lot of practice to feel confident about the camera settings! But I can only encourage you to try the Priority-modes and Manual-mode. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">As I have said before<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">In digital photography you can take as many shots as you like without any cost – go explore your equipment and explore the light!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>MunkPhotographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14734827938696553850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260166872473454364.post-51480787847974349032011-03-05T23:22:00.005+01:002011-03-22T22:52:58.580+01:00First hurdle of photography<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>By Michael Munk</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">I don’t hesitate to make the assumption that most people have taking a picture at some point. Most in the occasion of a family get-together or the ordinary travel photography on holidays. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">And on the other hand I guess many people at least once in their life have had this feeling:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“I wish I’d taken that picture!” </span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">From my own experience I know that the following statement is often a common thought among people who has never had any interest in photography.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“I need really expensive gear to get those amazing pictures myself”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">From my point of view this is only about 10% of the truth! Yes, I admit that some pictures can only be done with a DSLR camera and again some only with a special kind of lens. BUT I also know that all professional photographers can make extraordinary images with a point-and-shoot camera and a free version of a post-editing program. Why is that?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Because getting amazing images is mostly about opening your mind to creativity and practice your ability to think out-of-the-box - to realize the potential of every moment in any situation.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5071883791/" title="To trees holding hands at sunrise by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="To trees holding hands at sunrise" height="500" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5071883791_3ce396ca29.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Every beginning is difficult and it takes practice to develop! Just as well as sport, a new job and riding a bike does. It all takes time. And we all remember a time when a certain task seemed impossible, but we managed to learn it anyway.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span lang="EN-US">All things are difficult before they become easy. Otherwise we would all be equally skilled!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Therefore do not expect National Geographic to ask for your photos to begin with and you will have smaller risk of disappointment. Because one of the worst motivation killers on the way to become a better photographer, is to compare your own work with all the professional images out there! Instead keep track of your own improvements. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Each time you take a photo, you will get a little bit better!</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: black; font-size: 7.5pt; line-height: 115%; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span></i></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Digital photography of our time offers a very important feature – DELETE. This provides the opportunity to practice and explore the marvelous potential of modern cameras without consideration. Don´t be afraid to lie down, climb high, get close or step back and push the shutter button over and over again. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/4857822302/" title="Yellow, black and blue by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Yellow, black and blue" height="333" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4857822302_606de548c9.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: xx-small;">© Copyright by MunkPhotography.com</span></div><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Another piece of advice when using a DSLR: Learn from it! Notice what setting it uses in different situations. Also force yourself to leave the Auto-mode and explore the way the camera acts in the Priority-modes. After a while this will lead you to exploring Manual-mode. I will do a more detailed article about using the different camera settings later on but here are some quick guidelines:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Shutter priority </span></b><span lang="EN-US">(“Tv” or “S” on the top dial): How does different shutter speeds change the result of my picture? How does the aperture (chosen by the camera) vary when I change the shutter speed? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span lang="EN-US">1/4 sec. Low shutter speeds is useful in low light<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span lang="EN-US">1/80 sec. Medium shutter speeds is good for normal photos in reduced light conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span lang="EN-US">1/1000 sec. High shutter speeds is useful in freezing fast moving object (cars, animals)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Aperture priority </span></b><span lang="EN-US">(“Av” or “A” on the top dial):<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>How does the shutter speed vary when I change the aperture. How does the depth of field (DOF) change at different apertures?<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span lang="EN-US">f/2.8 Useful for low light and portrait<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span lang="EN-US">f/16 Useful for landscape photos on a sunny day<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span lang="EN-US">f/22 Only allows a small amount of light through the lens<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Manual mode </span></b><span lang="EN-US">(“M” on the top dial): This is ultimate control of both shutter speed and aperture.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Always remember this<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></i></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">All the professionals have taking thousands and thousands of useless beginner photos!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">All the pictures you see online and in magazines are those very few good images that have managed to get through the eye of the needle. You WILL get something close to that some day - soon...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><br />
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</div>MunkPhotographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14734827938696553850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-260166872473454364.post-8773878201096753842011-03-01T16:16:00.004+01:002011-03-17T01:38:14.871+01:00Welcome to my Blog!<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>By Michael Munk</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">I'm glad that you would join in! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This will be me quick introduction to the fundamental idea of this blog.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">There are incredibly many different articles and blogs about becoming a better photographer available online. But despite that wide range of informative websites I couldn’t find a single good one to guide me, and provide me with some useful basic advices from unpack<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ing the camera, to the </span>point I am at today.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">So I have started this blog to share the experience and the knowledge that I have gained through the endless hours spend with my camera. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I will take you step by step through the jungle of photography. And through a series of continuous and progressive articles, providing you the tools, and the "right" way of thinking, to create images to be proud of! <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Hopefully you can learn just a tiny bit from all the mistakes I have made, and become a better photographer yourself. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Whether you use the latest and most fancy DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex) camera or just an ordinary compact camera there will hopefully be some useful advices and facts anyway. As photography mostly is about developing your creative approach! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This following quote boils it all down to the very basic of getting that WOW! –effect.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><b><i>“Stop taking pictures, start creating images”</i></b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">When you start asking yourself some very important questions you will start improving the quality of your captures both on holiday and on dedicated “photoshoots”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Before moving on I have to state this: I am in no way a professional photographer just as well as I do not know any of the bottom line answers! <i>All I rely on is my own meandering experience</i>. Based on that I will give a few simple advices. Furthermore I write in a foreign language so please have me excused for my misspellings! :-)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">As time is a scarce resource I will strive to post a minimum of one article per month. Sometimes it will be less and sometimes more. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">I hope you will enjoy and get a few useful tips along the way. And perhaps also getting one step closer to loving those priceless moments - get that special feeling when it all clicks! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">For any questions please feel free to contact me.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Michael@munkphotography.com<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/munkphotography/5298750881/" title="Ice cold movement by MunkPhotography, on Flickr"><img alt="Ice cold movement" height="500" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/5298750881_e5ecc3ea87.jpg" width="288" /></a>MunkPhotographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14734827938696553850noreply@blogger.com3