Coming Soon!!

Okay, by popular demand, I'm going to get back to posting on this site. Our next assignment will be up sometime next week, possibly even Monday! It will be dealing with your exposure settings. It's the toughest one I've had to figure out yet.

See you all next week!

Have you tried PhotoBin?

Hi, all. I know you're waiting for a new assignment, and there will be one shortly. In the meantime, I wanted to share this site with you: PhotoBin. It's a great site for ordering photo cards, photo books, calendars, and other photo creations. They make all sorts of photo gifts too, but there's something even more cool.

 At PhotoBin, you can get your old pictures, slides, and negatives scanned onto CDs or DVDs.

 Even cooler yet? Get your old videotapes turned into DVDs! I've got a ton of tapes I took when the kids were little and no way to watch them anymore. I plan to send some of them off to PhotoBin and see how they turn out. How great to be able to see those videos again. 


For VHS to DVD conversion, you should check out PhotoBin!
 

For more information, click here:

 Photobin video to dvd services 

 Photobin photo scanning




  This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.
 I always give my honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.

Don't Lose Your Focus: Assignment 4

Today's lesson is about learning how our cameras focus. Today's digital cameras all have auto-focus. Just like auto-correct on your phone (grrrr), it's not always perfect, but today we're just going to figure out what kind of auto-focus each of us is dealing with.

Many point-and-shoots have a single auto-focus point. If you've got a square right in the middle of your viewfinder, you've probably got one auto-focus point. My Canon has 9 auto-focus points, and this is what I see in my viewfinder:

The Princess on her first birthday.

Your camera may have a different number of focus points, but they generally work the same. When we begin to talk about composition, we'll learn that we don't usually want our subject to be located right in the middle of our picture. And of course, sometimes you'll have more than one subject in a picture. That's when we need to be able to use our focus points.

Here's what we do:

• Look at your subject through the viewfinder
• Press the shutter button halfway 
• Notice which of your focus points turns red. This is the part of your picture will be most in focus. How much else is in focus depends on several other things we won't go into today.
• If you're focusing on the part of your subject you intended to focus on, push the shutter button fully to take the picture.

Now, you should be able to choose which of those spots is the focus point for any picture you're composing. You can find this information in your owner's manual, or do like I did, and buy a full-color, easy-to-read-and-understand book:

Available at Amazon

 So, here's your assignment. I haven't had time to actually do it yet, so I'll get my pictures up in a couple days. It's the last two weeks of school, y'all. Things are getting crazy around here.

Pick a subject for a series of pictures. Keeping your camera in the same spot, take the same shot multiple times, using each of your focus points one time. I'll end up with nine shots. You'll have more or less depending on your camera. Notice on the finished pictures where the area of focus is. Then post all of the pictures, and come back here and leave a link in the comment section. Remember, if you don't have a blog to post them on, use Flickr or a similar photo sharing site.

Here are my shots. I used a tripod and kept everything the same except the focus point. I started with automatic and let the camera choose the focus points. Then I chose center focus. From there I selected the top focus point and worked my way around clockwise. Let's see what difference the focus point makes.

 Pay attention to the picture of the train on the toy top.

Camera chose the focus

Center Focus

Top middle focus. Look at the elephant's head.

Top Right Focus.

Far right

Lower Right: The shoes are finally in focus!

Bottom Center

Bottom Left

Far Left: Dumbo's nose is more in focus, the edge of the top is less in focus than the shot above.

Upper Left

Now go have fun with that camera.

How to Change Your Camera's Lens: Assignment 3

Canon EOS Rebel T3: A Great Little Entry-level DSLR

Just like you, I'm a (very) beginning "photographer" just learning to use my Canon Rebel T3. I'm only comfortable referring to myself as a "photographer" because I looked it up in the dictionary: a person who takes photographs. I do that!

Anyway,  I've purchased several books on photography, and I'm working my way through them and sharing what I've learned. Be sure to take a look at my previous "photography lessons," also known as the blind leading the blind.

Source: HikingArtist.com



 Today's lesson is about changing lenses. After all, you bought that fancy DSLR with the interchangeable lenses for a reason other than looking cool, right? So you can't just leave that kit lens on forever; at some point you're going to want something different, maybe even something better. You're going to have to change that lens....

....and expose the mysterious and fragile innards of your expensive camera to the dangers lurking in the environment!

Seems like maybe we want to do that right.

So, what are the things to remember? From my reading it seems to go like this:

• Work fast.
• Have everything prepared and ready to go before you start.
• Work in the cleanest place you can find. The wet lawn is not it.
• If you're outside, shield your camera from the wind which could blow dust and kryptonite and other stuff up in there.
• Very important thing that I may or may not have forgotten at some point or several points when changing lenses: TURN THE CAMERA OFF!!
• Keep the camera pointed down so as to keep the aforementioned dust and/or kryptonite from falling into the mysterious and fragile innards.
• Keep the lens caps on both lenses.
• Familiarize yourself with the red dot or white square on your camera and on the lens. They need to line up when you put the new lens on.
• At this point, I would hold my breath because this is where it gets really scary, but that's just me. You may choose to continue letting oxygen reach your brain which, now that I think about it, is probably a good option too.
• Remove the old lens and set it down gently.
• Remove the rear cover from the new lens, line up the marks and twist the lens into place.
• Place the rear cover on the old lens.
• Breathe again.

Whew! I'm glad that's over. Until we have to do it again.

Now, eventually it's likely that you'll get some dust on your sensor. Bad bad bad! Next time, we'll discuss how to clean the sensor when it happens.

So how are we all doing with the "photography" practice? Are we all comfortable changing our lenses? Will some of you who actually know what you're doing validate this post by telling me I got it right? Can someone tell me how all this kryptonite got here in the first place?

Leave some comments so I know you were here! Otherwise I feel lonely and inadequate and have to eat chocolate. Ok. I'm going to eat chocolate anyway, but...you know.

Other posts in this series:

Amateur Photography Blogging
Getting to Know Your Camera
Focal Length



This post contains affiliate links. As always, I would never steer you toward products I didn't trust.

Focal Length: Assignment 2

Welcome back to Camera Crazy where we are learning together to become amateur photographers. We're starting at the very beginning and working on new assignments each week. Last Monday we got to know our cameras.  We selected the image size and quality we want to work with. This week we're going to learn a little about our lenses and how focal length affects our results.

 Focal length is the distance from the optical center of the lens to the camera sensor. This distance is measured in millimeters, so that's what those lens lengths mean. You know, it's a 50mm lens or a 28-105mm zoom lens. So focal length literally refers to the length of the lens. A long lens has a higher number (focal length) than a short lens. The smaller the focal length, the wider the angle, so a lens with a focal length of 35 or less is considered a wide angle lens.

So what's the point of knowing that when I'm taking pictures? Using the wrong focal length can give me distorted pictures with curved lines that are supposed to be straight and big noses on small-nosed people.

Today's exercise is to take a picture of the same thing several different times. Start with the smallest focal length on your zoom lens. Stand where the object fills your viewfinder and take the picture. Change the focal length and move so that the object fills your viewfinder again. Do this from several spots. When you look at the pictures, notice the curvature of the lines. Look for any distortion.

I chose to use the kit lens that came with my camera, a Canon T3. The lens is an 18-55mm zoom lens. I started at 18mm.

Notice how much of the front of the car is taken up by the grill. This is the "big nose" effect. Do this to a person, and their nose looks enormous.

I backed up and changed the focal length to 24mm. The grill seems smaller, less rounded.

I moved back and changed the focal length to 34mm. The front end definitely looks less bulbous.

I moved back one last time and used my longest focal length, 55mm.

The moral of the story is that we don't want to use a wide-angled lens (shorter focal length) while standing too close to an object or a person. To make this even clearer, I made my Hillbilly smile for a couple shots.

18mm

55mm

See what I mean?

In the future, as we're taking pictures, we need to be aware of which focal length will give us the picture we want. I definitely want my Hillbilly to look like the lower picture. I'll save the shorter lenses for more distant subjects.



Your job is to do this week's assignment, then post a link in the comments to share your work. You can post your pictures in a blog, or just upload your pictures to Flickr. Remember to link directly to your pictures, not your home page. If you're not sure how to find the URL for your picture, here are the directions from Flickr. I expect that whatever site you prefer will have similar directions.

Get to Know Your Camera--Assignment 1

Here we are everyone! We're ready to start this adventure and become un-horrible photographers together. I'm excited and I hope you are too.

Our first assignment is to get to know our camera. Remember that you can participate no matter what type of camera you have, but in order to get the most out of the camera we own, we need to know what it can and cannot do.

I'm using a Canon EOS Rebel T3.

Now you can just dig out the manual that came with your camera. That's a good place to start. I found the tiny black and white print in mine pretty unhelpful, so I bought this:

Full color with extended explanations and BIG pictures

 There are guide books such as this for many different camera models. You may want to get one for yours. You can find Canon Manuals, Nikon, Sony, and others at Amazon.

With manual in hand, let's get started.

The first exercise helps you set your quality and  image size .

Quality:  DSLR cameras give you the option of shooting in different formats: RAW or JPEG or both. There are several things to consider when choosing  your format. Eventually you'll need to have your picture in JPEG, so it would seem to make sense to just shoot them that way in the first place. If you shoot in RAW, you will have to use software to convert the pictures before uploading them to Facebook or your favorite photo sharing site such as Flickr. Also, JPEG files take up less room on your camera's memory card.

So why would you want to shoot in RAW? Mainly because shooting in RAW gives you more flexibility in processing your photos in your editing software, such as Photoshop Elements. I like to shoot in RAW because I still can't trust myself to get my white balance and my exposure right. These are really easy to correct in the Photoshop software when using the RAW format.

Image size: "Image size" actually determines the amount of detail in the picture. The more detail  in the picture, the larger you can blow it up and still have a clear picture. Which image size you choose depends on the use you intend for the photo. Using a smaller image size gives you room for more pictures on your memory card, but limits the ways you can use the photos. Here are the things to consider when setting your image size:

• What will you be doing with the pictures after you take them?
• Do you have enough memory on your memory card(s)?

If you're going to print your pictures you probably want  to use the highest quality. The higher quality you use, the larger you can make your prints and still have clear, sharp pictures. If you are going to view the pictures on your computer or share them on the web, you can go with a lower quality.

You can change your settings at any time, shooting some in RAW and some in JPG, some large and some small, if you want, even on the same day on the same memory card.

Okay, if you're still with me, here's your assignment for this week!

1. Study your manual and figure out how to  adjust your size and quality settings.
2. Leave a comment telling us what camera you're using and which settings you think you will use the most.
3. Leave a link to a picture or pictures that show why you think you need to improve as a photographer. Be sure to leave the URL to the actual picture, not just the account it's on. You might save your pictures to Flickr or Photobucket, etc. If you're not sure how to find the URL for your picture, here are the directions from Flickr. I expect that whatever site you prefer will have similar directions.

 My decision is to shoot large files in RAW format. I also carry extra memory cards. This gives me the ultimate in flexibility in processing and using my files.

And here are my pictures:

Cute but blurry

Can you say, "Overexposed"?

So those are mine. Now show us yours! Link up and let the world see your worst.

Let's Get Started.

Welcome to my new photography blog, Camera Crazy (notice that it's a .net, not a .com).  I had been writing photography posts on my original blog, Commonplace Crazy, when I realized, my little photography habit really deserved a blog of its own. So here we are, and I'm so glad you're here with me.

Who is this blog for?

This blog is for folks like me. I've got a pretty nice camera, and I like taking pictures in order to drive my family crazy, but I know there's a lot to learn. I don't want to be a professional photographer; I just don't want to keep my nice camera stuck on auto forever. I want to learn to take pictures that aren't just snapshots. I want to be able to use photography as a creative outlet.

I also don't want to spend a fortune on classes, whether on-line or in the real world. So I'm studying several different books and free websites, and putting the ideas together in my head so it all makes sense. Sometimes I need information from one source to help me understand information I got from another source.

source

So if you're like me, this blog is for you. I'd like to claim that all this work is for you because you're just that special. Well, you are that special, but truthfully, I'm looking forward to a lot of feedback from all of you. Boy, I hope there is an "all of you."

It doesn't matter if you've got a DSLR or a point-and-shoot. A lot of the lessons require you to have a camera capable of getting out of auto. If your point-and-shoot doesn't do that, you can still try some of the exercises in light and composition. Just keep checking back.

This is what I shoot with.

What Will We Do?

I'm not an expert; I'm a learner just like you. My goal is for all of us to work together and inspire and encourage each other

Each Monday, I will post a new assignment. We will all work on that assignment and then share our work and our ideas. Rather than doing a formal link up (for now at least), let's just share our links in the comments. If you find information from another source that relates to a particular assignment, that goes in the comments too. I'm actually going to be working ahead so that you can see my work in the lesson itself. You're welcome.

If you've just found my blog and we've already done a bunch of lessons, just start here at the beginning and take your time. Go ahead and share your link in the comments. Those of us who are ahead of you will still enjoy seeing your take on the assignment, and we can still all learn from one another.

Anything Else?

In my spare time, I'm going to include some product reviews. Those will be products for us, not for those fancy schmancy big-time photographers. Things that will help us little beginners to improve without having to get a bachelor's degree in Applied Technology. Things that won't cost us an arm and a leg since no one is actually paying us to take pictures.

Also, I plan on sharing some of the projects I plan on doing with the pictures I'm making. I've got a book for that too! My kids say I've got a book for everything. 

Of course, I'm open to guest posts. Just let me know if you've got something to share with our friends.

So What Do You Think?



I think we can pull this thing off, how about you? I'm counting on my Commonplace Crazy friends to get started in this with me, so that I'm not the only one posting pictures and sharing ideas. You'll do that for me, won't you? After all we've been through together?

Leave a comment and let me know you're with me!


This is a Wordy Wednesday post: