12 rules for photography worth memorizing

a while back i came across this article – dont remember where, but i thought it was very useful and knowledgeble.  thanks jason!

Memorize This!

By Jason Schneider

November 2004

12 essential facts, formulas, and photographic rules

What happens when your systems go belly-up, when all of that cutting-edge technology dies and you must rely on (gasp!) your own knowledge? It pays to have these basics in your head. They can get you out of a jam and help you get good shots when nothing else will.

1. Sunny 16 rule The basic exposure for an average scene taken on a bright, sunny day is f/16 at a shutter speed equivalent to one over the ISO setting—that is, f/16 at 1/100 sec at ISO 100. From this you can interpolate, and try f/22 at the beach, f/11 on a cloudy-bright day, etc.

2. Moony 11, 8, and 5.6 rules There are many different rules that work well when shooting the moon. One favorite for a proper exposure of a full moon is f/11 at one over the ISO setting. For pictures of a half moon, use the same shutter speed at f/8, and for a quarter moon, use the same shutter speed at f/5.6.

3. Camera shake rule The slowest shutter speed at which you can safely handhold a camera is one over the focal length of the lens in use. As shutter speeds get slower, camera shake is likely to result in an increasing loss of sharpness. So, if you’re using a 50mm lens, shoot at 1/60 sec or faster. Not enough light? Use a flash, tripod, or brace your camera against a solid object.

gallery life is over

i walk down the hall of gallery 6 looking at my peers work.  photography. jewelry making. weaving.  i’m thinking how i miss it already.

a few weeks ago i decided to leave the Lorton Arts Foundation Workhouse Photographic Society.  sunday, march 8th was my last day.

i wanted to really mull it over before i decided to write about it.

so why have i left?  some of it was just lack of time.  some of it were for other reasons.

i learned quite a few lessons now having gotten to participate in something like this.  here’s a list of things i was able to immediately think of:

1. be ready to commit.  when i say commit – i mean you have to invest time, money, and patience.

• time to go take fabulous photos that dont suck. time to build your frames or to go buy your frames.  time to print or order your photos.  time to assemble your photos and frames.  time to go and hang your photos.  time to sit and play studio manager.  time to make all these commitments while maintaining normal life of regular chores; a FT job, running errands, doing laundry, attending to family obligations, and anything and everything else that tests your sanity.
• spend money on prints, inks, frames, gas to and from the facility, rent, money for benches that the foundation should have bought but made you pay for since they kinda wasted the money elsewhere.
• patience for not losing it when you accidentally drop your frame on the ground when hanging.  patience for not tossing the frame out the window because you keep making stupid mistakes like forgetting to sign your mat or photo after you just cranked down the last screw.  patience for not getting super angry when you carefully pull the photo out, managed to sign it, put it back together and noticed a huge spec of lint stuck in the middle of the photo.  patience for some of your peers as you may not agree with some of their viewpoints.

2. if you have a FT job, it kinda sucks.

this shindig is a co-op, so there was 15 of us to start.  

flip vs canon

 

Flip vs. Canon

 

doesn’t look like I’ll be getting a Flip Video Camera…

see what marisa taylor has to say here.

photography – my take

before anyone reads any further, i just want to say that the following info provided isn’t technically, well – technical.  it’s my broke down layman’s interpretation of what i’ve learned from photography. 

some might read this and be like – “thats wrong!”  or something across those lines.   well to those that think they might gripe about it, don’t read it.  like i said, this is my interpretation of photography – not the officious pro specs and rules… 

a common question i get asked is how did i learn how to take pictures?  how did i learn photography?  how did i learn how to use that big black camera i got?

i didnt take any classes, couldn’t really afford it.  so i had to research the freebies.  we’ll start with the interwebs.  you’ll be amazed at how much information there is about photography on the net.  there’s tons of people out there willing to help you understand all the basics.

i took notes when i was trying to understand everything.  i’ve compiled information from random sources off the interweb, and as much as i’d like to give credit to those places – i can’t really remember where i got them all from.  but since they were free in the first place, i’ve put it here for others to try learning from too.

not my picture, just a borrowed shot to illustrate

we’ll start with what you typically see on the camera dial and go over the standard little picture/icons.  this isn’t anything official, this is just my own experience and opinions expressed here.

AUTO mode sucks -  this means you’re letting the camera think for you.  some folks need and want that. the problem is cameras are easily fooled by silly things like exposure and white balance and stuff like that. so colors might be wrong, or something comes out too dark or too bright, etc…  it’s always best to use AUTO as a last and final option imo.  

face icon – meant for portrait photographs

running man - high speed sports images; will adjust shutter speed to freeze action

mountain - i never used this option, but my logical guess is that its meant for landscapes and stuff

sunset - pictures at dusk; camera will probably adjust to higher ISO and maybe incorporate flash

person w/star - night shots; most likely meant to snap shots of people in dark settings – not to capture the stars at night, etc.

camera on tripod - video footage

 

MANUAL mode  - also known as PSAM, MSAP, MAPS or whatever combination there is. 

program mode - depending on the camera, program mode typically allows you to control a few things about your pics: ISO value, WB (white balance), & the flash.  the camera will still do a majority of the thinking for you.  even though this is still allows the camera to do some thinking for you – this is still the right step to getting away from full auto mode.

shutter priority - you get to control more stuff for your pics: ISO value, WB (white balance), flash, and SHUTTER SPEED.  the camera will adjust aperture for you.

aperture priority - you get to control: ISO value, WB (white balance), flash, and the APERTURE.  the camera will adjust shutter speed for you.

manual - you get the whole sha-bang.    you control it all; ISO, WB, flash, aperture, shutter speed, etc.

 

a visit to Kate Baker Designs

while doing my time at the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center (Studio 6) – i have the pleasure of sharing the space with other fine artists.  we have Miss Kate Baker who has her shop set up next to ours at the end of the hallway.

being that i had domo keeping me company, we decided to go visit miss Kate.  

miss Kate has a very nice studio, it’s real purty.  nice green walls and spiffy furniture – makes you real comfortable to come in and start chatting.

miss Kate was working on one of her jobs when i mozied over and got to talking.  (domo just hung out and tried to stay out of the way as she was working her craft)  she works with fine metals like gold and silver and does a great job making jewelry.  i showed her my silver ring i got as a gift a couple years ago and she said she could make it shine again…

i have to say, wow.  i hadn’t seen this ring shine like this since i first got it.  she did a SUPER job!  so now you guys know that when you come to Studio 6 at the Lorton Arts Workhouse, be sure to go down and visit Miss Kate!

domo gets nosey and peeks in on miss Kate

come visit miss Kate by appointment

domo watches miss Kate working hard

being a super jeweler means you play with neato toys

miss Kate working on my ring

miss Kate working on my ring

miss Kate polishes my ring up to make it nice and shiny

domo playing around with miss Kate’s nifty glasses

miss Kate steaming my ring for that extra bit of super shinyness

tada! shiny ring again. thanks miss Kate!

a poll – which version looks better?

 

 

a pier for me - color

 

 

a pier for me - b & w

 

 

in need of opinions since i cant decide, so i decided to ask you cool kids for some opinions…

one subject? thats dumb imo.

over the years as i’ve gotten into the photography thing, i’ve been told by numerous people to single out one section of photography and focus on that subject alone.

the problem that i seem to have is that i’m fascinated by all scopes of photography and i’m interested in trying everything. if i focused specifically on modeling, then i would have never made time to learn macro photography.

i love macro work. it’s challenging and can prove difficult. but when you get it just right – you get the rewarding satisfaction of a photo you can be proud of. i think that’s what i love most about photography. trying to get that perfect image – even if it has flaws. i don’t really care about what it is i’m photographing. whether its food, a model, candids, skateboarding, cars, a flower, or my cat – getting a great photo in any situation is the challenge i enjoy. the diversity of different environments. available lighting conditions, accommodating to the current environment.

i think it would be silly to be GREAT at taking photos of a single subject/category only but have no skills in other aspects. the diversity is what improves us overall – at least i think so. each scenario provides another experience for us to learn from.

i’m a fan of natural lighting, i’ll be the first to admit that my studio lighting skills suck. but i purchased lights and i’m forcing myself to learn to use them. that way i’m not restricting my experience to just available light. everything has its place and uses. it seems a waste to not try to learn all the aspects of it.

i guess what i’m trying to sum up is i think focusing on a single theme is too limiting. why set a limit when everything at one point or another ties together? different situations call for different settings and inevitably lead to gaining more experience. the more experience you gain, the better understanding you have and can implement in the future.

art gallery stuff (pt 4) – extra stuff you might not know about

still under construction.  the official opening was last week, but as part of the photography group – this section isn’t scheduled to be completed for about another 3 weeks.

i decided to notate a few things that i was caught off guard with in joining this facility.

* more money - this was my biggest thing that put me on the fence about joining. on top of the 30% rake the gallery takes, they also require monthly dues of $120 a month.  keep this in mind when pricing your work.  there’s no guarantees that you’ll sell even one piece a month..
* contracts - i received an email from the gallery requiring i sign a contract for 3 years.  that was then changed to 1 year with a optional 2 year renewal. so this means i have to fork out this monthly due for a minimum of 1 year = $1440 per year.  not exactly cheap for the starving artist.
* hours dedicated - this part i was not surprised about since it was explained to me in advance.  i had joined a co-op meaning that i will have to sacrafice some hours at the gallery.  this is fine, i enjoy being in the environment and being surrounded by people that enjoy the same interests.

at first i was turned off by the whole “money and contracts” aspect.

the photobomber.

so i haven’t written in a while. i’ve been busy… moving and stuff. but i wanted to make note about the photobomber before i forget. photobomber? whats that?

well everyone has at least one image in their stockpile that was ‘ruined’ because some stranger in the background did something dumb as shit when the camera went off. the phenomenon has a name – photobombing. and more often than not, the end results are funny as hell.

here’s a few examples to illustrate photobombers at work.

photographing lightning

photographing lightning has been on my “to do” list for a long time. i’ve briefly read about it and the technique used to do it.

standing out in the middle of a t-storm with a big heap of metal isn’t ideal, but who said photography isn’t risky?

obviously we’re lookin for a storm with lots of lightning flashes. a storm that you can still see that just passed over is best. that’s how i got this one.

of course this wasn’t ideal settings for me.  i’m in the parking lot at my old house and saw the sky going crazy with lightning.  being in a hurry, i got cars and lamp posts and a bunch of other garbage in my photo.  i grabbed a paint bucket and propped up my camera real quick.  so yea - this isn’t beautiful or anything, but it’s still a cool capture.

how to do it?