Exposure Calculation

Some time back (a few years) I found a website with a terrific exposure calculator on it. BobShotS had this nifty exposure calculator where you could set your lighting conditions and f- stop or shutter speed and get the corresponding measurement for good exposure. It was a really good tool to get new dslr users some starting points for understanding exposure without overwhelming them with the details.

I had made a "cheat sheet" using some of the variables from that calculator and carried it around with me in my bag until I had gathered enough data to create my own and my daughter had asked me about it the other day.

I went looking for BobShotS Exposure Calculator this morning, but sadly it was gone from the internet sometime last year...in fact his whole site disappeared. Bummer. I looked him up on the internet archives and there's a page with the calculator, but with all the files off line it doesn't work anymore. So I set out on a mission to find some others. And there aren't too many out there that were as good as this one. If I could find the guy, I'd consider asking him to sell me his files for it so I could help other beginners.

I did find a few, so I'll link them here (below) for you. There are plenty of printable ones, but I've found that the online ones (though you can't take them with you) seem to give the beginner a better understanding of how exposure works, as opposed to looking at printed charts. I think it's probably because they are interactive and you get to select certain settings that you might be familiar with or use all the time.

Before I list them, today's "tutorial" isn't downloadable, it's simply this article with a few additional instructions and explanations.

These calculators aren't exact, and they aren't really meant to be. They are meant to be a starting point for your own calculations - they give you a place to begin. The only way to really learn is to do some work for yourself.

Everyone has heard of the "sunny 16 rule", but what exactly is "sunny"? A day where the sun is shining right? But sunlight is different under different conditions and in different locations. Early morning sun isn't as strong or bright or even the same colour as bright noon hour sun, nor is late afternoon sun as bright as noon hour sun. Sunlight out on the water (in a boat) is likely to be brighter than sunlight in the middle of the city, or out in an open field. The reasons of course are the reflective qualities of the surroundings. Sunlight in early winter months where there is no snow on the ground will be different than sunlight in the middle of the summer, or sunlight shining on the white snow too. The sun is at different angles - further away in the winter, closer in summer. All these variables make using a single rule for "sunny days" the wrong thing to do.

The right thing to do is take all those settings that you've calculated from online calculators or printed charts and go out on shooting expeditions and collect your own data. Do some seasonal comparisons. Take your "sunny 16" generic settings and go out into a big open field and take a shot using those. Check it in your lcd display. Now change your f-stop up or down and take another. Do that for at least 3 or 4 different stops below the suggested setting and 3 or 4 above. Now go into the city or an area where there are some tall obstructions (like buildings, houses, skycrapers. etc.) and do the same thing. When you get a chance, go do the water one too. You don't have to be on the water in a boat - if you have a lake or beach near you, that will work too.

Do that for all the settings until you have a nice little book of settings.

Yes, it's a lot of work. And will take a lot of time. Chances are though, that after the first few outtings you'll have developed a much better understanding of how exposure calculation works, and not only will you not likely "need" the cheat sheets or calculators anymore, you won't even need to finish the entire exercise. You'll have learned how to judge the light around your for proper exposure.

After all, photography isn't something you learn in a week, or a month or a year. It's a lifetime of learning and adapting, so spending a few months gathering experience like this will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. It establishes an experimental process that you can put to use in a lot of different ways in your photographic career.

Yes, I know, I know - that's what light meters are for right? Sure, but not everybody can afford a light meter and beginners aren't likely to even understand a light meter (and remember, these tutorials are written with the beginning dslr user in mind). And we all know that the camera can meter the available light for exposure but let me ask you this. How many times have you set the camera on auto or "P" (programmed-auto) mode and gotten a bad exposure? Uh huh. Probably enough times to make learning how to shoot with manual exposure settings worthwhile.

There's nothing wrong with using auto modes in a pinch or in continuously changing conditions - when things happen quickly you don't always have the time to reset all the manual settings on your camera. But when you learn how to control the exposure, you open up a wide range of possibilities for yourself.

The other thing to keep in mind is your own shooting habits and abilities. Just because someone says you should be able to get a sharp shot using an exposure of 1/60 doesn't mean you are going to be able to. Especially if you aren't carrying around a tripod. You need to know the settings that work best for your own physical abilties. Of course, the advent of lenses and cameras with image stabilizers gives you a lot more leeway, but even with those, knowing where you limites lie can stand you in good stead.

Oh, I guess you are all wondering where the calculators are, right? Okay. First up is an exposure calculator from Calculators.org. Out of the ones I found, this one is the closest in functionality to the one that was on BobShotS Photography. The second similar one has been provided free online by DesignMentor Training. If you happen to be a student of theirs, you can even download it.






This next one is not so much an exposure calculator as it is a visual representation of how f-stop and shutter speed work together and affect exposure. It's known as the "sim-cam" and it's been around a while. It's pretty limited in options, but immediately seeing the result on a picture of the differences in settings can be very helpful to beginners. It's been provided by Photonhead.


But before you all go running off to make your own cheat sheets. there's just a couple of other things. There's one fellow on the net who has a downloadable program for exposure calculations - Jon Sachs very kindly has this free download for you, along with a few others you might find of interest.

Then there's an astrological exposure calculator available here at Covington Innovations.

Photoshop Quick Tip#5 - Funky Text

Funky up your website headers or greeting card text with these simple layer style techniques for text using photoshop. No special filters are required, just a willingness to have fun and experiment with different texts and layer styles. This simple tutorial has more images showing layer style settings than written instructions, making it easy for almost anyone to follow.

Instructions for the first two samples include the colour codes so you can reproduce them easily, and all the samples use the name of the font as the sample text. If you want to obtain the fonts, there's a list of free resources at the end of the tutorial, including the sites where these fonts can be found. It also includes a site link for free contours to give you some other contour options in your layer styles. And, of course if you are handy with a mouse or happen to have a tablet, writing your own text and applying the layer styles can give you a one-of-a-kind text.

Fun, simple and incredibly useful for anyone creating website headers, greeting cards, posters and other images using text.

The password to unlock the tutorial is getthisfromgracey , and you can download the full pdf from this link

Shooting On White Using Natural Light

Today's little tutorial will get you started shooting isolated objects on a white background using nothing more than natural light coming in a window and a sheet of white posterboard. The trick with this is to shoot using a high ISO and fairly exact camera settings. Adjustments in photoshop later on can cause excessive noise, so you need to experiment a little with your lighting and your settings. And one little tip - make sure your windows are clean, inside and out, and remove the screen if you can. Spots on the window can sometimes result in shadow spots on your background.

Other important factors for shooting objects on white in natural light are a camera whose sensor produces little noise - this may not work for most point and shoot cameras because they tend to generate more noise than dslr's. That doesn't mean it won't work, just that you might have more noise issues and that you'll really have to spend some time finding the optimal settings for your camera - and, you'll need to find your optimal shooting times. If your camera is a "point and shoot" type, it will need to have manual control settings in order for you to use this method, and it should be able to shoot in raw. It's possible to do this in .jpg, but you'll have to ensure your photo requires no adjustments to the lighting later.

My optimal shooting times are early afternoon. The light coming in my window is more evenly distributed, softer and brighter than any other time of day.

If you are a beginner at this type of photography, I think you'll find this exercise useful in learning how to make appropriate adjustments for different lighting.

The full tutorial along with sample images and their settings can be downloaded HERE.

As always, the pdf REQUIRES A PASSWORD TO OPEN. The password is notheft.

Photographer & Artist Resources - Sell Prints, Get Prints

Here's YARL (yet another resource list)! Most of the sites on this list offer free galleries for photographers and artists, many also offer pro galleries so there is something on this list for the beginner to the professional.

Some, I use myself; some are popular and their names are well known, while others are new or not so well known, particularly among beginners or non-professionals. None are "stock" or "microstock" sites because those are a whole 'nother ballgame that I don't want to get into right now.

Basically the list is meant to help beginners find places to buy and sell prints of their work, whether it's just to friends or family members, or whether they want to sell art prints on a wider scale. Professionals who work in stock/microstock looking for a secondary outlet for some of their work will find some of these sites rather interesting too.

So, without more chatter, here's the list (not a definitive list by any means, but certainly enough to get you started).

Art Rising - art community and sales galleries.



A Singlular Creation - art community and display galleries.

Deviant - an artist community, online shops and galleries.

I started a small gallery at Deviant Art, but by the time I started this gallery I had already spread my work across a number of other galleries, and so far, haven't really bothered to complete this one. If you want to see a sample free gallery, you can visit mine.

My Deviant Art Gallery

Finerworks - sales gallery and online resource for canvas prints.

I have a small gallery here as well, mostly images of local interest. I plan to fill this gallery with only images related to our local area. They offer something in the way of an artist's/photographer's "page" (which they call a website, however, it's not), which you can see a sample of here. My FinerWorks page

Here's one pretty much everybody is aware of - there are millions of user's worldwide. While you can't order prints from flickr, they have onsite partner resources, like Blurb (excellent photo and art books if you use their highest quality paper and hard covers) and other print partners.

Doesn't everyone have a flickr account? My 1st Flickr Account and, My 2nd Flickr Account

Fotki - photography community, photo sharing and galleries.

Greeting Card Universe - while GCU isn't exactly a photo site, or a print site, it's worth mentioning for those who'd love to use their photography or art, or even their children's art to buy and/or sell greeting cards. I use these cards - for my own purchases, and to resell in local shops, and to sell them from GCU worldwide. The card quality is excellent, and I've had good results from them. Prices are reasonable, and become even more reasonable if you order in quantity. You get a discount when purchasing your own work as cards, and you get paid a commission for cards that sell from your shop. I haven't updated my shop in a while, but I still sell cards from here fairly regularly. See a sample of the card shop below.

My Card Shop on GCU

ImageKind - this site has recently been taken over by "CafePress" - at this point I haven't decided if that's a good thing or not. ImageKind provides free gallery space to display and sell your work as prints, framed or unframed. The available selections for framing and matting choices are what make this a good place for ordering your own, or selling online. Prints are available in a wide variety of paper types, including canvas, with options for archival quality mounting and UV protected glass, among other things. There is a small community here, which I don't find all that active, but it's growing.

ImageKind recently has upgraded the free galleries - at one time you could only have one gallery with a limit of 24 images for a free gallery (this is why I have four separate galleries on IK), but you can now have multiple galleries in one account.

My ImageKind Galleries

KiQlo - prints and photo sharing community. I haven't heard of this one, but it tweaked my interest enough to include in the list.

PBase - another community and photo site that many people are familiar with.

Photobox Pro Galleries - photo galleries - I haven't used this or looked to far into it, but it looks like it might be pretty interesting.

Photo.net - another community for photographers and galleries that has been around a while, and has a fairly high popularity. I don't use it, though I did have (may still be there) an account there at one time.

PhotoReflect - galleries and prints

PicProofs - online prints from your photos and events.

Redbubble - art and photography community, internal sales galleries and storefront galleries (all free). This is a very active community with groups, forums and journals. Apart from the photography and art centers, there is also facilities at redbubble for writers and poets.

A sample of the "internal" or profile gallery presentation on redbubble is here.

The shopfront gallery can be seen here.

You can sell prints, calendars, card and posters from either or both galleries.

Shutterpoint - photography community, galleries and stock sales (minimal). I tried this place sometime back, but it's really not to my liking and I found I had better sales at many other places, however, this site has been going for quite some time with a lot of users, so it's worth looking at for some of you.

Smugmug - a hugely popular photography community for print sales, galleries and photo sharing. This has long been popular among both amateur and professional photographers and offers pro-accounts as well as free.

The Untapped Source - excellent site for art photography and digital artworks. Prints and canvas sales, and gallery.

Sample gallery here.

Webshots - another hugely popular photography site providing both free and pro accounts. This place has been around for a long time.

Zenfolio - online photogalleries, portfolios and community.

Zoto - online photo albums and photo sharing site.

I'd say that's enough of a list to get anyone started, although there are many other options I haven't included - shop sites such as Zazzle, CafePress, Etsy and other similar ones. Perhaps we'll do that another time.

Before I leave you today, I want to share an article that many photographer's in the United States will find of interest. The article, written by USA Today's Andrew Kantor is about the rights of photographers - what you can and can't photograph, and what you can sell out of those photos. While I read this sort of stuff on a regular basis, some of you (especially those who don't sell their work for stock) may not know some of this. It's not terribly long, but it is very enlightening. It's worth a read...probably even worth bookmarking.

CyberSpeak by Andrew Kantor - Misinformation About Photography Rights

Hand Colouring Your Photos in Photoshop

Here's a simple tutorial that will result in a photo like those old hand-tinted photos. The process is simple, and can take a little time, or a lot of time, depending on what type of photo you are planning to colour.

This works on old landscape, still life, or portrait images. Essentially, any old black and white photo you want to tint.

If you like to colour, you'll enjoy this. The tutorial is short - the text amounts to less than a page (but the included photos stretch it to 3 pages). While the tutorial is short, completing the work on your image is likely to take you a fair bit longer than reading the tutorial, depending on complexity.

You can choose to colour only parts of an image (selective colouring), or colour all of it. The image used in my tutorial took me about 20 minutes to complete since it's a portrait with little in the way to colour. The effects, I think, are rather spendid though.

Download the complete tutorial in it's .pdf file HERE.

THE PASSWORD TO OPEN THE TUTORIAL IS notheft

Looking After Your Investment

Investment? What Investment?

Well, for most of us involved in some form of photography our cameras and accessories and processing equipment are an investment. Costs for a digital dslr camera (body only) can be pretty expensive, but the biggest expense can be laid out on lenses. Then there are such accessories as digital storage cards, off-camera flash guns, lens filters, lighting, backdrops/backgrounds, even the cost of proper and safe storage containers for the equipment should be considered. Even a really good camera backpack can run you from $100 to over $350.

And given the photography of today, there's the extended equipment you might want (or need) to process the images: a good computer and monitor ($1,000+ for basics), and software (how much you spend on that, if anything, will depend on your needs) and a printer (semi pro quality from $400 and up), replacement inks, and good quality print paper.

The cost of "doing business", right? But even if you aren't "doing business" you are still likely to invest in some of these things to a lesser degree.

Consider these things an investment and treat them appropriately.

Camera & Lenses

• treat with care - don't drop, throw or toss
• unless, it's a waterproof model, or you have purchased waterproof housing don't put it in water and try to keep it relatively dry while shooting in the rain (clear plastic bags can help)
  
• clean regularly - from the body to the sensor when necessary (careful with the sensor)
• keep the lcd monitor clean and protected - it's expensive to replace
• don't forget to clean the viewfinder
• don't leave in a hot car in direct sunlight (I almost never leave my camera equipment alone in the car unless I am within sight of the car - not just because of heat and sun, but theft, hence the use of a backpack so it's always with me)
• avoid exposure to extreme temperature changes. Shooting outdoors in below freezing temperatures and bringing your camera immediately into a warm environment can cause condensation and moisture damage. Transition your cameras from the direct outdoors to it's storage bag, then to a car (not directly near a heat vent - the trunk is better), and then to the indoors. Remove he camera from it's back, remove the lens, open the battery compartment (remove battery) and the storage card compartment (remove card) and place it in the coolest spot in the house (no, don't use the fridge) and allow it to acclimatize for a few hours. This is for very extrement temperature changes.
• don't walk with your camera hanging from it's neck strap if you've got a long lens on it. Longer lenses (200mm and up) or even heavy smaller lenses put weight on the connecting rings from lens to camera. No matter how secure this seems when locked into place, you run the risk of damaging the connections. Always support the longer lenses when you are carrying your camera. It would be quite a shock someday to have your lens pull away from the camera and land on the ground...particularly if cost upwards of $1,000 for it.
• use proper cleaning cloths to clean your lenses. Don't wipe it on a towel, sweater sleeve, kleenex or whatever is handy. Buy a lens-cloth in a small bag with a little carabiner on it (they run about $4 or $5 ea.) and clip it to the camera strap. You've always got a handy cleaner with you. (I have one on each of my cameras).
• when cleaning your lenses don't use liquids not approved for such. Lenses have a coating that can be damaged by improper cleaning.
• If a spot can't be removed from the lens with a gentle wipe of the lens-cloth, DON'T scrub at it, and don't scratch at it with a fingernail. This can also damage the coating. Buy an appropriate and approved cleaner.
• Never store your lenses without their lens cap and end caps.
  
• store lenses in a secure environment. A hard-sided lens case with interior padding is ideal. Some lenses come with soft lens cases, some come with nothing. When you can afford it, buy the safest lens storage containers you can, because the lenses will be your most expensive investment.
  
• insure your camera & equipment for replacement value - be sure your policy covers accident, theft, fire, loss. That may mean adding a rider to your insurance policy and a little extra cost per year...it's worth doing.
• buy an extended warranty on your camera at the time of purchase.

If you aren't up to cleaning the sensor (dslr models), then take it in to a trusted shop and have it done. Generally, you'll know when it's required. When you've got spot(s) on your images that aren't from something on the lens, and that are always in the same place, you may need to clean the sensor. For some really good information on cleaning the dslr sensor, visit this site Cleaning Digital Cameras. To date, I have been fairly lucky and have been able to clean my sensor only with a small handheld blower.

If you use your camera equipment and accessories, and office equipment to earn part of your income (or all of it), then taking precautions and following the manufacturers directions on use and storage is a no brainer. The majority of people will follow common sense, but with familiarity, sometimes comes neglect. As we become more comfortable with our equipment we often will overlook some of those common sense "do's and don'ts". It's hard to avoid and we all do it, yet all it can take is one small mis-step to cause a disastrous result, and to remind us that caring properly for those investments keeps us shooting.

Slideshows to Go!

Get yourself a free website slideshow, without having to download or pay for software.
You’ve seen them before on lots of blogs…cute, fun, and sometimes musical, the slideshow can let you show a bunch of images without taking up a lot of space in your blog post, or on your website.

How to do it free? With a free-online slideshow site. Remember a ways back when I posted links to all those sites where you could edit your images for free online? Well, this is similar, but this listing is about making slideshows.

This list is probably going to contain a number links to sites that you already know about, because they are pretty popular right now, but I tried to find some that not everyone might be aware of, and there is a couple of sites in beta too.
For the most part, the list is in alphabetical order, without much in the way of recommendations. I’ve only used a couple of them because I usually create my own, but I’ve been known to use these freebies on some of my blog sites.


This next one, “Deep Zoom” is really more of a demo offering by Microsoft. It’s only planning to be online until the end of December, after that, it’s possible that it will be a paid offering.

This offering from imageloop has some slightly different presentations than some of others, making it an interesting addition.

And last, but definitely not least!

That’s a fair sized list, but keep in mind that places like photobucket, imagecave and even picasa provide slideshows and storage space too.