Enter Here

Now that you have your SLR Camera and have spent sometime with it, you’re probably looking for your next step.  Yes you’ve mastered the art of getting the best shots and you know the equipment up and down, but do you have what it takes to take it to the next level?   Do you think your camera shots are good enough to get paid?

Photography is a hobby that is enjoyed by many, but what many photography lovers don’t know is that they can actually turn this hobby into an hobby that can make them some cash on the side.  Think about it.  You probably have thousands of pictures you have taken sitting on your hardrive and everyone in a while you go back to take a look at your work. You have some pretty awesome shots.

Me being me I knew I had some nice shots but didn’t want to go through the normal rigamero trying to peddle pictures for those who wanted them. Lucky I came upon a nice ebook from Raven Jackson that gave some nice tips on how to get my pictures out the right way.  The book even shows how to turn this wonderful hobby into a small business.  Check out Raven Jackson’s Camera Biz MyCameraBiz ebook if you want to make a little cash on the side.  Although I’m not making the same $219 dollars a day as the site claims.  I am making a nice chunk of side cash and I’m happy the book has at least paid for itself.  You can get the book here

Knowing Which Digital Slr Camera Lens is Right for You?

When shopping for a Digital SLR Camera people often overlook or skimp on the camera’s lenses. Camera Lenses serve as the digital SLR cameras “eye,” the lens determines what and how your camera will see your subject and how well that view is transmitted to the camera’s sensor chip for recording. The way I like to look at camera lenses is as painter’s brushes, broad strokes, medium stokes, all purpose brushes, and small detail brushes. There is a lot to learn about digital slr camera lenses and this article will serve as a basic outline to understanding them. The following sections explain the basic types of digital SLR camera lenses, how they work, and how to select them.

Focal Length

On a digital SLR camera the focal length of the lenses measures the distance between the lens and the image sensor, measured in millimeters. Lenses can be classified into subgroups like prime, macro, wide angle, normal, telephoto, and zoom lenses. They are also rated in regards to f-stop or speed an example would be a F2.0 50mm lens or a 1.4F 80 mm lens. We will explain this later in this article.

Prime Lenses:

Prime lenses are fixed focal length lenses like a 50mm 1.4f lens. To zoom with these types of lenses you need to use your feet and to get closer or farther away from the subject. Traditionally prime lenses are sharper and faster then zoom lenses. If you’re on a budget you can pick up some amazing used older prime lenses off eBay or your local camera store.

Macro Lenses:

Marco Lenses are your detail brushes they enable you to get up close and personal with your subject. These types of lenses are used for extreme close ups on small objects like daisies, pennies, and food but not limited to these types of subjects. Examples of macro lenses are 50mm and 100 mm macros. These lenses are also great for selective focus types of photos.

Wide-angle Lenses:

Wide-angle lenses are your broad stroke brushes; these types of lenses have short focal lengths. The short focal length has the visual effect of “pushing” the subject away from you and making it appear smaller. The beauty of wide-angle lenses is you can be relatively close to your subject and fit a broad stroke of the background into the scene.

One problem with wide-angle lenses is known as convergence, a distortion that makes vertical structures appear to lean toward the center of the frame. A way to check if the wide-angle lenses you are interested in has convergence is to take test pictures before buying the lens. With high quality wide angles lenses like Canon “L” series lenses address this convergence issue well. Examples of wide-angle lenses are 15MM, 17mm, 24mm and 28mm lenses.

Normal Lenses:

Normal Lenses try to mimic how the human eye sees and are some of the most versatile lenses you can use. These are my all purpose brushes, and are somewhere between a wide angle and a telephoto lenses. If you buy just one lens try and buy the fastest normal lenses you can like a 50mm 1.4f lenses. Some examples of normal lenses are 35mm; 50mm, 65mm and some consider a 80mm a normal lens.

Telephoto Lenses:

Lenses with long focal lengths 100mm and higher are called telephoto lenses. A long focal length seems to bring the subject closer to you and increases the subject’s size in the frame. Telephoto lenses also give your subjects a graphic look and flatten out your subject. These lenses are my short stroke brushes.

Zoom Lenses:

Zoom lenses are special because they can be very versatile. These types of lenses vary in their focal lengths and come in many in wide-angle, telephoto, and wide-angle to telephoto. In my bag I carry a 17mm to 35mm my wide–angle broad brush, 24mm to 70mm my medium brush, and a 80mm to 200mm my short brush. With these three lenses I get a very board range of focal lengths for any situation. All of my zooms are at least f2.8 through out the lenses range, which means my f-stop can stay constant while I am zooming in and out. These types of lenses are very expensive but so get what you pay for. When shopping for a zoom lenses check out the f-stop range rating. An example is a 24mm to 300mm f3.5-f5.6 lenses meaning the lowest f-stop you can shoot is at the 24mm range of the lenses and when you zoom to 200mm the lowest you can go is f5.6. Zoom lenses can give you flexibility and versatility all in one lenses. When buying a zoom lens try and get one that is made of glass and is the fastest you can afford, you will not regret it.

Understanding what these different groups of lenses can do will help you make more informed decisions on what lenses to purchase and what to put in your camera bag.

Understanding how the focal length of your lenses relates to the shutter speed you are shooting with.

If your shooting with a 50mm lenses the rule of thumb is that you can hand hold your camera with shutter speeds of 1/50th of a second and higher. With a 200mm lenses that it’s 1/200th of a second. With expensive image stabilization lenses you can hand hold a 200mmm at about 1/100th of a second maybe 1/60th of a second if you have steady hands. One trick I have used to squeeze an extra shutter speed stop while hand holding my camera is holding my breath and keeping my arm tight close to my chest. Knowing your lenses and remembering this simple tip should yield sharper results in your photos while hand holding your digital SLR camera.

Understanding the focus system in your camera

Practically every digital SLR camera focuses when you press the shutter button halfway down. Usually you will hear a beep and see a green or red square through the viewfinder. This is what the camera is focusing on. Then press the button the rest of the way down to take the picture. Understand that the computer inside the camera is looking at differences in image contrast and that difference is what is focusing the camera. Most digital SLR cameras also let you change the focus point manually to anywhere there is a predetermined point in the viewfinder. At a minimum you will get 9 points of focus up to 45 points of focus. It depends on the model and make of your digital SLR camera.

While executing my day-to-day shooting I always start with my focus point in the center of the viewfinder then I move it according to the subject I am shooting. It is easy to forget about where you set your focus point and then wonder why your photos are off focus or out of focus. So when you start a shoot the first place to check is where your focus point is and then center it, this should help you get more shots in focus.

Stability and when to use a tripod

If you are dealing with long exposures when shooting or if the shutter speed exceeds the focal length, then you need to use a tripod. All tripods are not the same. If in the studio a lightweight tripod can be used effectively if you weigh it down with sandbag or an alterative weighting device. When outdoors use a tripod on the heavier side is probably best, it also depending on weather condition. If there is a lot of wind you really need to secure the tripod with weight or some tripods even have a feature where you can spike them in the ground for more stability.

Any movement during a shot with a long exposure will almost always render that shot useless and that is why stability is so important. One of the newest advancements in camera technology is “image stabilization” in both lenses and camera bodies. This new technology is great and its best used if shooting with two hands on the camera and bracing your body against something. Still in some shooting situations there is still no replacement for a good weighted tripod.

How to handle strong backlighting

Backlighting subjects can be our enemy. Many people try to shoot a photo with a strong bright window light in the background, and then wonder why the shot didn’t come out. Why does this happen? The bright light from the window floods the lens, and your camera usually can’t compensate for it. One way to combat this is to use a fill flash on your subject or use a large white fill card. Another option is to diffuse the strong window light and fill the subject with a white fill card. Do not be afraid of backlighting use it to your advantage, just remember you need to counteract a strong backlight with a strong fill.

Understanding the effects of ISO in Digital SLR Cameras

Digital SLR cameras have some of the same characteristics as film SLR Cameras like interchangeable lenses, viewfinders, matrix metering, etc, but they do not handle ISO the same way. They are similar in that the relative ISO setting handles the light sensitivity that reaches the sensor or film. Where they differ is in the look they achieve in the final product. High ISO speeds on film have a certain film grain look to them that can be pleasing, but high ISO speeds on a digital SLR camera creates noise on the files and the look is not the same as film grain. In most situations noise is your enemy. If you want that film grain look, shoot your digital photos with the lowest possible ISO and then use Alien Skins Exposure® 2 plug in for Photoshop to achieve that film grain look.

In closing mastering these five tips will make your photography stronger, sharper, in focus and properly lit.