Photography Guides: When To Turn Off Manual Focus

Nowadays autofocus is a standard on pretty much every single camera, from pro model DSLR’s to compact point and shoots. For this article Il be talking about manual focus. This is usually only available on DSLR or Bridge cameras, I.E cameras with interchangeable lenses or “super zoom” cameras. So if you don't have one of these types of cameras this article wont really help you much, but its good stuff to know for the future so read on anyway if you like.

First off, low light. Autofocus relies on light and contrast to hunt the sweet spot. When there isn’t much light, the camera can have a hard time finding and figuring the range of an object from you. So unless you have a focal point that has some light, the lens will just hunt back and forth looking for a range, it wont even let you take a shot in most cases. Manual focus will enable you to get your shots off, although it can be difficult judging if you are in focus when its dark.

Next up is composition. Remember the article on the rule of thirds i wrote yesterday (19/12/09), well using autofocus while practicing the rule of thirds is not going to work, unless you are using spot focus, but that's another article. Say you were shooting a tree in a field, and you wanted to put this tree on the left of the photo. If you use autofocus here with a centralized focus, you will just focus past the tree and get a poor shot. Switch to manual focus and you can have the tree perfectly crisp with a nicely blurred background.

Macro, or close up photography, is another way of utilizing manual focus. When you are shooting macro, your depth of field will be very shallow, and the autofocus will have a hard time hunting for a focal point, as it wont know what you want to focus on. And if you are using a macro extension kit (i wrote about this previously, check out the article for more info ) you will have no option other than to manually focus. Next up, shooting through glass. Imagine you are shooting at a zoo, and the subject of your shot is behind a glass panel, if you use autofocus, odds are it will pick up the glass rather than the object behind it, depending on how clean the glass is, or how many reflections its picking up.

With HDR shots, manual focus is a must. If you are capturing several frames that will be exactly the same, except for exposure, its important you have the exact same focus in each frame. With autofocus on it may choose a different focus point in each frame etc... Its just not worth the risk. For wildlife and high speed action, autofocus can be turned off too. Even the fastest autofocus systems have a hard time keeping up with a flying bird or a motocross rider, therefore its sometimes better to focus on where you expect the subject to be, and wait for the shot. Also the noise from the autofocus motor may scare any wildlife you are trying to shoot, although that isnt too likely.

I hope you enjoyed this and it helped you out with focus issues. Thanks. Photo used in the article courtesy of http://mark1624.deviantart.com Check him out.

Photography Guides: The Rule Of Thirds.

Basic stuff here i know but sometimes its good to refresh yourself on composition and just how important it is to a good photograph. You can discuss settings, aperture vs shutter speed, what ISO is appropriate etc.. All day. But without good composition, the photo is nothing more than a technical demonstration. Composition is to me, what separates a good photo from a great photo, and is the single most important thing you can learn when it comes to photography.

We are influenced by the rule of thirds everyday, without realizing it, in adverts, photos, paintings. What is it? Essentially its a format for good composition, used by photographers, painters, anyone in the visual industry so to speak. You need to imagine that your composition, what you see through your viewfinder, being divided into thirds equally along both its shortest and longest sides, see the photo at the top of the article for reference. It doesn't matter if the picture is landscape or portrait, you still divide into thirds equally along both its longest and shortest sides. For square pictures, you still divide by thirds along the upright and the horizontal.

What we are looking for are the intersections where the lines cross, rather than the individual boxes. If the focal point in a photo falls along one of these lines, then we can say it confirms to the rule of thirds. This is just a guideline though, remember that. You should never get too caught up with trying to put your focal point directly on one of the cross sections for every shot. Also, remember, if you don't manage to apply this rule to a photograph you have taken, you can always crop the photo to comply to the rule of thirds, so long as it doesn't affect the composition you were initially shooting for.

Apart from the intersections, the horizontal and vertical lines can play an important role in composition themselves. For instance, with the horizontal line you can place the horizon of a landscape at the upper or lower line, rather than just in the center, leaving you with a more unique composition than if you had just put it dead in the middle.

That's essentially there all is to it. Once you know it well, you will start seeing it everywhere. For instance look at Van Gogh’s starry night. The focal points are along the lines and intersections rather than the center, it is visually far more pleasing this way. It seems people are subconsciously drawn to those 4 intersections in a picture. Another thing to remember, is that this isn't a “rule” so to speak, more of a guide. But its up to the individual artist to make use of it however they want. Good Luck.

Photography Guides: The Key To Long Exposure Shots.

In theory long exposure shots are relatively easy. Put your camera on your tripod, compose the shot, then set the timer, or use a remote to hold the shutter open, and your done. In reality its a bit more complicated. First off, what you’ll need.

- A camera you can manually set the shutter speed on, ideally one with bulb mode (meaning the shutter stays open for as long as you hold the button down for).

- A tripod, there are no rules as to what type you should get really, just make sure its a firmly built tripod that isnt too light. The last thing you want is the wind affecting your shots. Most tripods come with a hook built into the main support, that allows you to hang your camera bag, or whatever weight you can find, this helps with stabilizing.

- A remote shutter isnt necessarry but its highly reccomended. You are probably limited to 30 second exposures if you dont use bulb mode, and its practically impossible to hold the shutter down for that long without moving the camera and blurring your photo. They can be picked up pretty cheaply, and a cable one is all you will probably need. They make wireless ones with many different features but that will probably overkill for most peoples needs. Just make sure you get one that is compatable with your camera.

- Patience. Expect to wait anywhere from a couple seconds to a hour for some photos, although that is the extreme end of long exposure shots.

One thing you will learn about long exposure shots, is there is a lot of trial and error whilst learning. Try not to underexpose the photo, ideally you want a little over exposure, it makes editing the photo far easier when you get it onto your computer. It also plays a part in reducing the noise in the photo. The great thing about digital photography is the ability to check your mistakes on the fly. This means for instance, you can take the first shot at say f7 for 5 seconds, check how it comes out, and adjust accordingly, until you find the sweet spot between aperture and shutter speed.

The sweet spot depends on what you want to shoot. Lets use clouds as an example. In general, a wider aperture and shorter shutter speed will take in more light, resulting in cleaner looking lines and better looking clouds, but you dont get any sense of movement in the photo. The alternative, a narrower aperture with a longer shutter speed, means you will take in less light, there will be less detail and contrast, but you get a “silky” look to the clouds, with a sense of movement you couldnt acheive with the shorter shutter speed.

Focusing can be a pain when its dark, as the camera has a hard time auto-focusing since there isn’t much light, and its sometimes hard to judge if you have the focus right purely through the viewfinder when its so dark. If your lens can focus to infinity, set it to that. If not, try and find a light source thats at a similar range to the object of the photo your looking to take, and autofocus on that, then lock the focus to manual so it cant try and correct itself. But at the narrow apertures you will probably be working on, it doesnt matter so much, it wont make much of a difference, so try not to get too caught up in focusing. Good Luck.

Photography Products: Macro Extension Tubes... Worth the Purchase?

Extension tubes are a useful accessory for newer users of DSLR and SLR cameras. They provide a cheap way of getting macro shots while providing very impressive results considering how little they cost compared to a true macro lens. They work by simply moving the lens forward so you can focus on a smaller subject. Of course you will never get as good of a result using the tubes as you would with a "true" macro lens, but for a first time macro photographer the results are more than adequate.

Unfortunately, extension tubes without electrical contacts, which the majority of them don't have, will force you to use manual focus alone, and in some cases force you to shoot "wide open", i.e the largest aperture, that your lens can achieve. This will mean in most cases a very shallow depth of field. Another issue with them, is that as the lens is pushed further away from the body, the longer the exposure must be to gather enough light to take the shot correctly. This means a tripod is nearly always necessary, and makes shooting moving objects quite hard.

There are many places you can buy extension tubes, and they shouldn't cost you more than 10 dollars/6 pounds, since there are no electronics in most basic models, and no optics whatsoever. Search flickr or DeviantART for a few examples of what you can do with extension tubes. I included a shot of my own for you to take a look at and see what you think.

To summarize, cheap and useful way of attaining macro results, not as good as the real thing, but very impressive for the price, and something I'd consider a great introduction to macro photography.