Kesini.net

Avoiding Problems In Digital Photography For Newbie (Part 1)

Here is several tips for you that new in photography. Read it wisely, because the tips have connected each other. These tips of photography will guide you to avoid some problems that maybe you’ll find out there, while you on vacation, on job, doing your hobby, or learn more advance tricks of photography.

Canon DSLR Camera

Pros are out shooting every day. And when I say out, if they’re studio photographers they’re actually usually shooting indoors, so in that case, of course I mean they’re out shooting in the studio. Stick with me here, will ya? Anyway, these pros are out shooting every day, while most of the rest of you maybe only get to shoot when your wives let you. I mean, you only get to shoot on certain occasions (like when your wives are out of town), so although you run across digital problems when you’re shooting, since you won’t have to deal with them again until your wives fly to Bali to visit their parents, you just let them slide. The pros don’t because they have to deal with these things every day (meaning their in-laws live in the same town they do), so the way they keep from having migraine headaches the size of the Shuttle’s booster rockets is by figuring out clever ways to deal with them on the spot. So, this post is kind of a shortcut because you’re going to get the benefits of years of other people’s headaches, but you’re going to get to fix them right now, sides tepping one of the real downsides of shooting digital, and that primarily is having to shoot your cousin wedding (see, you should have listened to your wife when she told you not to get that long lens).
Our Sponsor Ads
EasyHits4U.com – Your Free Traffic Exchange – 1:1 Exchange Ratio, 5-Tier Referral Program. FREE Advertising!

Avoid White Balance Problems With Your Camera
White balance problems often happen when you shoot indoors under fluorescent, incandescent, or just “them regular ol’ light bulbs.” Of course, you don’t generally find out about them until you open the photos later on your computer and all the shots have either a yellowish, or greenish, or blueish color cast. By default, your camera is set to Auto White Balance, which works pretty well outdoors, but generally doesn’t work worth a darn indoors. Use three methods to avoid white balance problems when they shoot: (1) they go into the camera and choose a preset white balance setting that matches the lighting they’re shooting in (it’s easier than you think just go to your camera’s white balance section, and choose either Incandescent [for regular indoor lighting] or Fluorescent [for typical office lighting]). You can choose preset white balance settings for outdoor shots as well, and you’ll get more realistic colors there too. (2) Create a custom white balance. Luckily, your camera will do most of the work for you if you just put a neutral gray card (you can find these at any camera store) about 8 to 10 inches in front of your lens, and zoom in/out so the card fills your frame. Then go to your camera’s custom white balance menu and set it up to measure what it sees to create a custom white balance (it’s easier than it sounds just take a peek in your camera’s manual). And, (3) Shoot in RAW format, so you don’t worry about white balance, because you can choose the white balance after the fact, either in Adobe Photoshop’s Camera Raw dialog or in RAW processing software (if you don’t use Photoshop’s RAW processor).

Cold Weather Shooting Means Extra Batteries
Another thing to learned is that digital camera batteries don’t last nearly as long in cold weather. So if you’re going out shooting in the snow, you’d better bring at least one or two backup batteries for your camera or it could turn into a very short shoot.

Tips: Extra Batteries Are a Shoot Saver
I go out of my way to avoid using flash (I’m one of those natural light freaks), so my batteries last a good long time, and I seldom have to change batteries during a shoot. However, I have at least one backup battery for my cameras, and although I don’t use them that often, when I have needed them, they’ve been a shoot saver big time. If there’s a must-have accessory, it’s an extra battery.

Don’t Change Lenses in Dusty Weather
If you’re shooting outdoors, take a tip from the pros and don’t change lenses if you’re in a dusty environment. That’s the last thing you want getting down inside your digital camera, and although you can’t sometimes see the dust swirling around you, your camera’s sensors will see it, and then so will you (when you open the photos on your computer). If you must change lenses, try to go back to your car, or some indoor location, and switch lenses there. Remember, it doesn’t take a whole lotta dust to make your camera really miserable it’s worth the extra effort to either plan carefully for shoots in desert or sandy conditions and go with just one lens, or to keep your car nearby so you can go inside, shut the door, and change the lens without fear of fouling your gear.

Protect Your Gear Tip
You can buy protective gear for your camera for shooting in harsh or rainy weather conditions. But, if you find yourself in that kind of situation without that protection, you can take a clear plastic shower cap from the hotel you’re staying at, and use it to cover your camera and lens. It balls up right in your pocket, and it does a better job than you’d think.

Apply for Permits to Shoot with Your Tripod
Many indoor locations (including museums, aquariums, public buildings, etc.) don’t allow you to shoot on a tripod, even though these locations generally have very low “museum-like” lighting. However, in some cases you can apply for a free permit to shoot on a tripod just have to ask in advance. They would let you come in before or after hours to shoot when nobody’s there (alleviating their fear that someone might trip on your tripod and sue them). Sometimes government buildings or museums will let you apply for a permit so you can shoot during their regular open hours, but often they’ll have you come before or after hours. So, usually it’s just you and a security guard shooting at six o’clock in the morning or seven o’clock at night, but at least you’ve got a stable shooting platform, You’ll getting sharp shots because you’re on a tripod, and you don’t have to worry about anyone tripping over your tripod, shooting their flash while you trying to shoot, or rushing you to get out of the way.

Be Careful What You Shoot
People can sometimes get freaky when they see someone shooting photos outside their building (which is common in downtown areas), and they’re particularly touchy outside state and federal buildings.Don’t get caught by security guards just because you didn’t realize the building you was shooting was a federal building (it just looked like a fascinating old building to you), and the guards wanted to confiscate your camera’s memory card. Luckily, if the guards to let you just delete the photos from your card right in front of them, but if you hadn’t, the police would have been involved within minutes (it was a federal building, after all). However, building security for corporations can be very aggressive as well, so just take a little care when shooting in downtown areas and be prepared to delete shots off your card if necessary. Also, as a general rule, in other countries, you’re taking your chances any time you shoot government buildings, airports, military bases, terrorist training camps, nuclear missile silos, military sub bases, etc.

A Tip for Shooting on an Incline
You find yourself shooting on an incline with your tripod, here’s a tip that can save your camera from instant death. Let’s say you’re shooting on a rock or on the side of a hill. Your tripod has three legsplace only one facing you. That way, if the camera starts to tip back, the single leg acts like an anchor and keeps it from falling. If the two-legged side is on the ground, with a single leg on the rock or hillside, your camera will topple right over.

Tip for More Stable Shooting on a Tripod
When you’re shooting on a tripod, depending on the terrain, you don’t always wind up extending your tripod’s legs all the way sometimes you just extend one set of legs and not both. If that’s the case, the pros extend the top ones (the legs nearest the camera) first, because they’re thicker and provide more stability and balance than the thinner lower legs.

The Other Reason Why Use a Lens Hood
The lens hood that comes with most good-quality lenses these days is designed to reduce or eliminate the lens flare that can creep into your lens when shooting outdoors in daylight, but pros keep a lens hood on even indoors (basically they keep it on all the time) for another reason it protects the lens. Think about it the glass end of your lens is pretty much flush to the end of the lens barrel, and if it comes in contact with anything that’s not really, really soft, it can get scratched, cracked, or just fingerprinted or dirty. However, when you put a lens hood on the end, it puts a buffer between the glass and the scary world around it. It can save your lens if you drop it or knock it into someone or something.

Keeping Your Lens Out of Trouble
If you’re going to be using good-quality lenses with your digital camera, then I highly recommend buying a UV filter for each lens. Although the UV part doesn’t do all that much (it filters out UV rays to some extent, which makes your photos look better to some small extent), the real reason to use one is to protect your lens (specifically, the glass on your lens, which can get scratched easily or break if you drop it). Although this “buy a UV filter/don’t buy one” controversy is heavily debated on the Web, I can tell you from personal experience it saved one of my lenses from certain death. I was out on location, and while changing lenses I somehow lost my grip and my lens crashed to the ground, glass first. My filter was severely damaged, but once I unscrewed it and took a look at my lens, it was totally unscathed. The filter took all the damage, and it’s much cheaper to buy a new filter than it is to replace an expensive lens. So, while a UV filter might not do all that much for your photos, it does a lot for your peace of mind.

……

(Continue to part 2)