Assignment 208: Understanding How to Use The Camera In Manual: Part 2

The second of the two blogs in understanding how to the my camera in manual will critic some of my own pictures in relation to the settings, and the purpose/impact of the settings chosen - either manually by me - or through use of the camera in automatic mode.

All of the pictures have been taken recently on a mini-break in Seville.  This break had been planned for a long time - before I had even thought about doing the course but prior to going to Seville I did actually spend time reviewing the use of my camera in manual as I wanted to use this trip as an opportunity to practice my skills in setting that was highly likely to be rich in opportunities for people and architecture. They aren't necessarily the best images - but are used to demonstrate my understanding of what I could have done better.

Image setting:  f5, 1/30 ISO500: I took the photo above several times with different aperture and shutter speed  settings.  I wanted the book title to be in focus and whilst I have achieved this I think in hindsight I could have used a smaller aperture setting to a little more of the background setting and to increase the amount of light to the hat to remove more of the shadow.  It goes without saying that the ISO should have been lower - but this was after my gaff!

All of the images have been taken on my Nikon D70 - with a 18mm-70mm lens.  What I was also having to contend with is extremely bright daylight - there was not a cloud in the sky for three days - not that I am complaining - but it did make it difficult at times to know how to compensate for the sun - and such variance between shade - and no shade!

The time resulted in some good image but also some very disappointing images - and frustrating moments as whilst I gained a better understanding of my camera functions in manual, and what changing each element would do - I didn't really stop to compose the images, and stopped thinking about how each element impacted on each other when changed.

Image settings: f11, 1/60 ISO 500: This image of the bullring demonstrates the issues that I needed to deal with due to the bright sunlight.  It has come out looking a little too bright and has washed out some of the rich colours. A lower ISO in this case would have helped but this was after my gaff with the settings (see below).  Changes in both the aperture and shutter speed would have helped produce a richer image. A different position to take the photograph or a wide angle lens may have also helped as the camera was dealing with two bright colours dominating the picture the sky and the sand and what I really wanted was the arch of the stand and more of the detail in the seating area.

ISO:  My first mistake was setting the ISO - I started out using manual ISO and altering it as I played with images.  Somewhere over the course of the three days I lost the plot with the ISO - having believed I had reset it to 200 so I could focus on playing with the shutter speed and aperture it was only on reviewing the images back home that I realised I had set it to 500 - Steve's first rule of checking your camera's ISO would have been useful on this occasion!  This means that some of the images are not as crisp as I would like them to be on further scrutiny - one lesson I will not forget in a hurry!

Metropol Parasol Seville - You might have expected to see the Cathedral to feature in my photo selection to critic - and whilst I did take many a photo this it was the Metropol Parasol that I think would have afforded anyone looking at architecture as a theme the best opportunity.

Image settings:  f10, 1/800 ISO 500:  I actually think I go this one just about right.  I wanted to capture the pattern of the sun coming through the structure and the contrast of the dark windows curving around the building against the light waffle structure.  The only disappointment is the issue with the ISO as I hadn't paid attention to this detail.



Padlocks on the Puente De Triana de Sevilla

The next two images are of the love padlocks on Seville's Puente De Triana - I didn't understand the meaning of the padlocks until I came home and googled it - if I had I would have added my own padlock as this trip was in part to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary so it would have been an apt gesture.  As it was I just thought the gold padlock against the old wrought iron was a good contrast - and the names and dates added a bit of mystery to the photo.

Image settings: f11, 1/120 ISO 500:
This first image came out too bright and made the scene lacking in any richness.  It didn't bring out the contrast between the railings and the padlock as much as I wanted it to.  The second image I kept at the same focal length as I wanted to retain the enough of the background detail to give a sense as to where the padlock was - but I wanted richer colours and more focus drawn to the padlock itself.

Image settings: f14,  1/250 ISO 500.  I think I did the right think in increasing the shutter speed - but what I have done here is not recognised that link between shutter speed and changing the aperture.  I could have left the aperture where it was, and played with the speed to see what impact this would have had.  I am still pleased with the result of the second image as it does achieve what I wanted to do in terms of contrast and detail.

Culture of Seville:

As one of my assignments is around taking pictures of people in their own settings - simliar to the style of Tom Wood and Martin Parr - so I tried to use the setting as an opportunity to capture some images in this style:

Image Settings: f4.2, 1/320, ISO 500:  I have included this picture because I like the composition - but it is disappointing in every other aspect as it is far too dark and not enough focus is on the image of the shop girl texting on her phone.  I think in hindsight I could have cropped tighter round the image, and it needed way more light that I have given it on these settings. A larger depth of field could have been used as the detail in this image is important and a higher shutter speed - that would bring more light to the image - but without compromising on the deep reds that add to the image.

Image settings: f4.5, 1/200 ISO 200:  On this image I like the bright colours of the busker compared with the light background.  What it needs is maybe a slightly lower aperture to get rid of more of the background - or a different composition as you can't really see what he is doing. I did take some other images that included his strange piano style instrument but these lost the lack of attention on the players face.

Image settings: f4.5, 1/50  Markets and Tapas are a big part of the culture in Seville - I was struck in this image by the size and vivid colours of the fruit and vegetables dwarfing the customers.  I am happy with the depth of field on this and the richness of the colours - what it lacks is more patience by me to wait for the stall owner to come back and serve to add more people detail into the shot.

Whilst I might not get the opportunity to go back and improve on my pictures of Seville - it has proved useful to look back and understand what I might have done differently to get better images next time when I am taking them for my assignment!

Assignment 208: Understanding How to Use The Camera In Manual

The practical session last night, October 6th, was very useful and laid out the requirements for us be able to take demonstrate our skill in using our equipment to achieve the desired results.

Steve outlined the requirement for our photographs to be achieved through use of the camera in all manual settings, to help us a achieve this successful a practical session in how the different manual elements of the camera was held.

Whilst I don't consider myself a complete novice on the terms used - I would hold my hand up and say I am lazy about using the manual settings - and often find myself confused about how they impact on each other when using them and the output doesn't match my expectations.  So this session was a very useful confirmation on the basic operation.

To demonstrate that I have correctly understood the purpose of the session this blog outlines the three main camera settings that require consideration and how they work together.  I have used images of my camera to demonstrate this and some images that I took recently using the manual settings - with comments on the choice of settings and whether they could, or should have, been adjusted to achieve a better result.

The Camera Settings:

The three main camera settings under review are ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture (or f/stop).

Producing a stunning image is largely down to getting the right combination of the above elements - as well as the overall composition of the image.  Getting it wrong can result in images that are flat and lack detail or are poor quality.

ISO:

Before digital ISO would have referred to the type of film you would purchase to load into your camera and refers to the sensitivity of the film.  The lower the number the more sensitivity of the film and the finer the grain on the pictures.

In todays digital world ISO refers to the sensitivity of the image sensor but it is the same principle.  The lower the ISO the finer the image, the higher the ISO the more noise will appear in your image producing a grainy look to the final picture.

Higher ISO's are generally used in two scenarios - low light conditions, or where you want to freeze action (the higher the ISO the higher the shutter speed) such as in sport.

Steve's top tip in the practical session was always to check your ISO first - before you do anything else with your camera.

This can be done in two ways on the Nikon D70 -using the main menu button on the back and choosing the ISO setting as demonstrated here, or by pressing the ISO button on tool bar at the back of the camera.  This will display the current ISO setting in the window - by scrolling the main command button on the back of the camera you can alter the setting prior to taking a picture.

Shutter Speed:

Shutter speed refers to the amount of time that the shutter remains open during a shot - and is measured in seconds, or fractions of a second.  The bigger the denominator the faster the speed. Slow shutter speeds - particularly anything below 1/60th can result in 'camera shake' producing blurred images - to compensate for this you would use some form of stabilisation - such as a tripod.

Deciding on the shutter speed will be in part down to the type of photograph you are taking and if anything in the picture is moving that you want to 'freeze'. For example to freeze sports action you would choose a high speed.  Alternatively you may want to blur the motion - whilst keeping static elements (such as a person) crisp as in the image of the biker below.

To alter the shutter speed on the Nikon d70 in manual you would rotate the main command button on the back of the camera body. The selected shutter speed will remain displayed in the control panel as shown above.

Other aspects to consider when choosing a shutter speed is the focal length of your lens. Similar to the issue above when using a very low shutter speed and the potential for camera shake - a longer focal length can have a bearing on your shutter speed - for example if you are using a focal length of 50mm - 1/60th of a second will generally be fine, but with a focal length of 200mm due to the weight of the lens then a faster shutter speed of around 1/250th will be required to produce a crisp image.

Aperture or f/stop

The final setting in the key triangle is Aperture (also known as f/stop) and this refers to the size that the lens opens when taking a shot.  The larger the hole the more light, the smaller the hole less light.

Aperture is measured in f numbers - for example f2.8, f4, f16 - the smaller the f number the larger the aperture (more light) - the higher the f number the smaller the aperture (less light).

When choosing your aperture you need to do so in conjunction with your shutter speed - as changing one will impact on the other.  For example if you increase your shutter speed to freeze action - then you need to alter your aperture to increase the amount of light coming in to compensate.

Another impact of aperture on your shots is the depth of field (DOF) - or how much of your picture will be in focus.  The smaller the aperture - the smaller the DOF, the larger the aperture the greater (DOF).  As shown in these two images of the same flower - the first flower on the right has been taken at f22 providing a large DOF - keeping the flower in focus but also showing the leaves and fence in the background.

The second picture of the same flower has been taken at f2.8 producing a clear crisp image but blurring out the background detail.  The depth of field that you require is personal to the image that you are trying to create - for example in the type of portrait photography that I want to produce for my first theme a small depth of field would be appropriate to focus on the person's face, whilst in my second theme of street photography - a wider depth of field may be appropriate to retain the detail of the setting and surrounding of the person/s within the image.

The aperture on my Nikon D70 in manual mode can be altered by turning the sub-menu button on the front of the camera body.  The aperture chosen remains visible in the control panel on the far top right corner.

My next blog on this theme will look at some of my own photo's and critic them in relation to the settings used and my renewed understanding of the exposure triangle.