Ask Us How!

[katrinak]

So I thought it might be fun for those of you who aren't in the flickr group to ask about photos you like! So, pick a photo from our flickr pool or from our from our Flickr River (the most interesting of our photos), link us here and we'll let you know how we took it! Love sharing the knowledge!

And know you are always welcome, no mater what camera you have or what your skill level! (notice our icon over there? taken with a point and shoot!!)

[iUma]

Ok, suga.

THIS ONE!!
POTD 072109 - Jubilee on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Happy BD to THE boy!!
Now....HDYDT!?!

PS. I AM in the Flickr group, just negligent!!

[amcmillian]

Wow! this is a great idea Katrina! And very generous of you guys to do this, hope we can make this a permanent segment at DD! Going over to try and pick one, all of them are so good!

[beehive50]

How the heck can I just pick ONE? Holy cow, girls... I am truly in awe! Absolutely stunning... every single photo! (I was in the "river" gallery... I'm sure the "pool" is just as fabulous!)

I will say, tho, that besides the fact that I want to take photos like all of you (which I realize means getting out my camera for more than Shannon's soccer games! LOL)... I think I really, really want to visit Teri A and just walk around her fabulous property and meet all her wonderful animals and just watch her shoot. Sigh...

[Aino]

That is a terrific idea!

[earlofoxford]

Good choice, Patricia! Yes, I want to know how you got the flames so crisp.

[katrinak]

So glad you like this idea! And I'm laughing at your choice Patricia

This is one of my favorite photos to take because, well, you need cake! Chocolate preferably!!



The trick here is to have a wide enough aperture to let enough light in to illuminate your subject without blowing out the other details.

I shot this at an ISO of 800, with an aperture of f/2.0. I shot in Aperture Priority as I was moving at the speed of a 4 year old. I expose for the cake and candles (thus their crisp look), pressing the shutter half way down, recompose and shoot. I shoot several shots one after another just to be sure I get the shot with a good expression. With him directly behind the candles I get a little more light on his face but you can also get a similar effect from the side. The more candles on the cake the smaller aperture you can use (the larger number).

ETA - It definitely helps to have all of the other lights off in the room!

[Amy L]

I bet for my next birthday we could use f16 lol!

This is too awesome Katrina...if anyone is interested, the flickr group is loads of fun and we would love to have you join up!

[Jen D]

Awesome timing... Hannah's birthday party is this Friday... I am going to try this out! Thanks Katrina =)

[Avas Mom]

desde mi ventana on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

how about this one?

thanks!

[Avas Mom]

plus -- why do other people's black and whites look so stunning and mine look so blah -- example: Flickriver: Teri A's most interesting photos

okay... i've had my turn for awhile..teehee

[katrinak]

Ahhh two great shots Carie! Patricia's is a combination of slow shutter speed and a fast moving car, but I'll let her explain it! I think she's away on vacation for a bit.

Teri does get BEAUTIFUL conversions with her black and whites. I know she is a LightRoom user and I'll ask her to share her secrets here I know she does give insight from time to time on her blog too!

[amcmillian]

Katrina, did you AF or MF.

[iUma]

Thanks, Katrina!! Now what was the lens and what was the focal length that you used? Remember that one from the class when I shot Gus at the fountain and Pattie asked about the wide angle lens? I know that the lens setting would effect light in this shot too, right?
AND what did the shutter speed end up being?

Right, I know. I can get this info at the Flickr SITE. Off I go.

MAN THIS IS THE GREATEST IDEA. HOPE YOU ARE NOT PLANNING TOO MUCH FOR THE REST OF YOUR SUMMER!!

ETA: Ah HA!! It's the ever wonderful 50MM 1.4 - tres cool. Now off to get that out of the bag!!

You're a good teacher, lady.

[katrinak]

Originally Posted by amcmillian

Katrina, did you AF or MF.

Auto Focus. There was enough light that the lens was able to lock focus fairly easily.

[katrinak]

Originally Posted by phfphd

Now what was the lens and what was the focal length that you used?

You got it! I used my 50mm f/1.4 but you could easily do the same with the f/1.8.

Given my shutter speed of 1/800 I could have easily bumped my ISO down a bit and used a slower shutter speed.

[oldvwblues]

Oh I love this thread!!!!!! Maybe I can learn something besides point, shoot and sometimes get lucky! LOL!

[readstoomuch]

I love your birthday cake photos too Katrina . . . I'll try this when I have our eldest son and his family over this weekend for his birthday "party"!

[anke]

oh thanks for that info Katrina, that will really come in handy! I just love the examples so far!

[THAT-GIRL]

This is REALLY fun thread... may I ask about this one... the "f" number and was there crop involved or that is the whole picture... amazing shot !!!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 on Flickr - Photo Sharing! ... wait a second and that one is WOWZY !!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/34223392@N08/3436426789

[donitab]

Great idea Katrina - I'm going to check one out for you!

[katrinak]

Luann and Teri will post here soon about their photos. One thing I think you'll see in common with both of them is really good light!

[patriciaz]

What a great Idea Katrina!!
This is how I took mine:
1. Slow sutter speed, in this case 1/15
2. wide angle lens, I don't think this is really relevant, but I used a 10-20, I think any lense that let you have enought of the background will be fine.
3. you need and interesting backgroud, even if is going to get blurry it's always nice to guess what is behind.
4. Movement: you have to be in a moving surface or either move your camera, in my photo I was obviously in the car going very fast.
5. Focus: I set my focus in the mirror, this is actually a very easy photo to take, just try to be as steady as possible, so the focused part is really sharp.
Here is another example of a slow shutter speed photo Photo
For this one, at the fair, I set my focus on my son and followed the movement of the teacup, once again, with a slow shutter speed

[Avas Mom]

Originally Posted by patriciaz

What a great Idea Katrina!!
This is how I took mine:
1. Slow sutter speed, in this case 1/15
2. wide angle lens, I don't think this is really relevant, but I used a 10-20, I think any lense that let you have enought of the background will be fine.
3. you need and interesting backgroud, even if is going to get blurry it's always nice to guess what is behind.
4. Movement: you have to be in a moving surface or either move your camera, in my photo I was obviously in the car going very fast.
5. Focus: I set my focus in the mirror, this is actually a very easy photo to take, just try to be as steady as possible, so the focused part is really sharp.
Here is another example of a slow shutter speed photo Photo
For this one, at the fair, I set my focus on my son and followed the movement of the teacup, once again, with a slow shutter speed

-- Thanks Patricia -- I will have to practice this -- seems like if i was taking that tea cup picture everything would have been blurry. I sound like you are following movement of the tea cup -- but focused on your son.. just seems that my lense is slow to focus.
On my canon camera I have some different option for autofocus --are you using AI focus or AI servo? From reading my owners manual I would assume AI servo would be the way to go?

Thanks

[katrinak]

Carie, I would go with AI Servo so your lens follows the motion in order to blur the rest of the image.

[amcmillian]

Wow! Thanks Katrina and Patricia and the Flickr Group...so kind and generous of you to share this information with us. This coupled with the suggested web sites and books you all have suggested and my class at my local community college I started last night, is giving me a good start and the confidence to take more photos and stay away from the auto mode.

By the way, Scott Kelby's books are on the instructors list of suggested reading.

[Teri A]

This is a fun thread Katrina. My photo of my boy's new toy was taken in front of a north facing french door with some nice winter afternoon light coming in. I was down on my tummy on the floor. Settings were 1/80 sec. at f/2.8, ISO 200 with my 50 mm f/1.4 lens. I focused on the toy and the wide aperture gave me the really shallow depth of field I wanted. I process all my photos in Lightroom. Before I convert a shot to mono tones, I do my white balance, exposure, and black adjustments, I also bump up the contrast. I find that if I have the photo adjusted for the basics before I convert it, I am happier with the results. I also have found that I can get some really pleasing results if I apply different presets to the photo before I convert it to black and white/mono. For this photo I applied a warming preset after I converted to black and white. That is what gives it those nice brown tones. I hope this all makes sense

[katrinak]

Thanks Teri! great explanation