Step Away from the Automatic Settings on Your Camera

I want to discuss further, a teeny bit more about photographing my projects for my blog.  It seems it is always ever-changing...

This time I want to talk about my camera and stepping away from the Automatic modes and working in the Manual modes, well one mode in particular… the AV mode. 

I recently took a couple of classes on how to use my digital camera.  I wanted to take all 10 classes, but they filled up too quickly.  ;)  So now I have to wait until Fall when the next classes will be offered.

But in the mean time, I will share with you what I learned in those two little classes…

First let me back up just a little to tell you what camera and lenses I use.

I have a Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18.0MP DSLR camera with 18-55mm IS lens.  I've had it for at least a couple of years now, but never took it off the Automatic modes.  

This is the 18-55mm IS lens (IS means image stabilizer) that comes with the Canon EOS Rebel T2i:

Just days before the class began, my hubby picked up a Canon 50mm lens, aka nifty fifty, for me while he was away on a trip.  I am so loving my 50mm!  I would highly recommend this lens.  It isn't very expensive (important... hello!!!), and it is a terrific lens.  Especially for my needs.

And on a side note, I've been thinking about ordering a Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS zoom lens with our Aeroplan miles.  

Now, back to what I want to share with you…

In just those two little camera classes, I learned to step away from the automatic settings and to actually use the manual ones.  I’m not going to kid myself or pretend that I know everything, because that would be a huge overstatement.  I know  that I know very little about this subject, but I do have a thirst to learn more, and as usual, a drive to share what knowledge I have, little as it is. 

What I learned was a very basic overview, but it was enough to give me a little confidence in turning those dials and pressing those buttons that were literally Greek to me before.  I was always scared to change a setting on my camera  thinking that I wouldn’t know how to get it back to “normal”.  Ha!  I see now that it wouldn’t have mattered.  I was only using the automatic modes before, so the camera did all the calculations with the settings anyways.  ;)

Grab your camera, and let's get started!  (Use the above two photos for a visual aid.)

·         Let’s start with which manual mode I am using.  I have my camera set to AV mode.  It seems to be the most user-friendly for me, with my minimal knowledge.  (I used to take my project photos with the automatic settings, usually set on Macro.)

The Manual Modes are A-DEP through to CA.

The Automatic Modes are all the ones below CA.

·         Next, let’s discuss White Balance.  On my camera, there is a button on the back side with a WB on it (top of the "circle" with the up arrow on it).  Locate it on your camera and press it.  You can adjust the white balance depending upon what your needs are.  So if you are outside, you can change the setting for bright sun, cloudy, shade,  or if you are inside under fluorescent lighting, ect, which is what I have my camera set to for taking my craft photos, you can choose that setting.  Wow, that alone made a huge difference in the photos I was/am taking.  They aren’t so dark anymore!  (There are some other settings in there, too, I just didn’t list them all.)  Snap a couple of pictures with different settings and see the difference.  Another good one to try is the AWB, which is automatic white balance.  You could try that one to see if you prefer to use it.  

·         Next, let’s discuss the F-stop.  This is how wide your lens opens, which also controls the amount of time the lens stays open when you take a photo.  The longer the lens is open, the more light is allowed to come into your photo.  If it’s open for too little time, your photo will be dark.  If it’s open too long, your photo may be a white-out, and the longer the lens is open, it will likely be blurry unless you use a tripod.  I also take my photos in AV mode because it has the option of stabilization, so your photos are less likely to be blurry.  (Some of the other modes likely have that option, too, but I haven’t learned enough about it yet.)  Keep in mind that different lenses have different amounts of sizes the lenses can open.  To adjust your F-stop, just turn the main dial – on my camera it is located just behind the shutter button (the one you push to take a photo), and it has deep grooves in it.  Try out your lens by taking a photo with the lowest number set on the F-stop, and then take a photo with it set at the highest number.  You will see the difference.  Now, just adjust it to what your needs are.  I have my camera set at f3.5 right now for taking photos of my projects in my craft room.   

·         Okay, so you may have heard of ISO before.  The ISO is the camera’s sensitivity to light.  The most important thing to know is that the higher the ISO number, the more grainy the photo you will take.  So it’s best to try to keep your ISO at or below 1200 if possible.  I currently have mine set at 400 for my craft room.  I find I almost don’t need any other special lighting with these settings.  On my camera, the ISO button is located just behind the main dial we used to adjust the F-stop. 

·         With the AV mode, you can also adjust the exposure compensation.  My camera has a AV button with a + (in black) and - (in white) on it.  It is located near my viewing screen on the back of my camera.   You will want to play with this a little too.  It can be used for bright outdoor images (like pictures in the snow), with an exposure setting of +1 or more.  And for darker photos/subjects (like a black horse), with an exposure setting of -1, for an example.  I currently have my camera set to the dot (.) just past the +1, for my craft room.  So if your photo looks a little washed out, you can adjust it to pull some color back into your photo.

Well, those are very much just the basics.  But it is a good start.  The more you play with your camera, the less scary it will become.  J

For a quick overview, this is what my settings are currently set at for my craft room (keep in mind, that I have a bunch of overhead pot lights for lighting in that room), and your needs may be very different than mine (I've written these down and keep them at my photo-taking spot in my craft room):

                Manual Mode:  AV

                WB:  Fluorescent (or AWB)

                F-stop:  f3.5

                ISO:  400

                Exp. Comp:  1+.

Of course, you will need to adjust all these settings for all of your other photography needs, as these ones I have discussed are more specifically for taking indoor photos of my projects for my blog.  

I am starting to get a little more comfortable taking photos manually now.  Playing with all of my camera's buttons and dials, snapping photos indoors, and outside, with differing lighting, even action shots.  If you have difficulty for the first little bit, you can always use your Automatic modes if you can't get your settings right, right?  J

Let me know by leaving a comment if you found this post helpful.

*** If you have a different camera, please refer to your user manual to figure out its differences.

*** All above camera and lens photos were found online:  here, here, here, and here. 

Tips on Taking "Good" Blog Photos... it's all in the edit!

Let's discuss the topic of taking a "good"  blog photo... shall we?

This is a topic that continually comes up.

I thought I should re-visit how I take my photos, and how I edit them for my blog, as I've changed some of the things I do since the last time I posted on this topic.

Since the last time I posted info on how I do it, I have since switched up my home-made light box to just a couple of very inexpensive sheets of white poster board.

(another idea would be to use a white science-fair type of display board)

And instead of diffusing the light through white tissue on my old home-made light box, I now just have my two lights shining more directly onto my project.

Edited to add:  Here's a helpful link I found through Pinterest on how to make a fold up light box from 3 sheets of white foam board.

Here's a couple of unedited (but resized) photos of what my set-up currently looks like, and note that it holds a two-page 12x12 layout:

Now you can clearly see that the photo needs to be edited.  

I have also changed my editing ways over the last little while.  I used to use Photobucket, but changed to Picnik, which recently closed.  So now I use PicMonkey.com and love it.  It's free... and very easy to use, which is super important to me.

I also should note that I take several photos, then just pick the best, and delete the rest. ;)

Below is an unedited photo of a card I created recently (well not completely unedited, as I've resized it - I'll explain later why I resize all of my photos that I put on my blog).  

I will show you step-by-step how I will edit this photo with PicMonkey.  

(Please keep in mind that I don't really know anything about photo editing or even taking photos... this is just me sharing with you how I do it, with my very lack of knowledge.  I don't claim to know it all... or even the best way how to do this...  lol)

(Also note that every photo seems to have different "needs".  Sometimes you just really need to play with the editing to get it to look good.)

So this is the unedited photo I will use for the editing part of the tutorial, taken the same way as the two page layout shown above.

Not so great, right?

Okay, so I then upload it to PicMonkey for editing.

Under Basic Edits, I will Crop it.

Then I will Rotate it slightly.

(I couldn't capture an image of the grid that pops up while you are rotating your photo, so I don't have a picture of that.)

Next I will adjust the Exposure.

I adjusted the Brightness and Highlights until it was really very washed out, but then pulled some color back in with the Shadows.

Now, I can clearly see that the yellow is not very true to the color of the actual card.

So I'm going to adjust the Colors slightly to warm up that yellow a bit.

Next, I will Sharpen the image:

(you will notice the sharpness better when working in the program, than what's showing in this photo)

Now I would suggest that you Resize your photo, if you are wanting to put it on your blog.

I learned the hard way that Blogger has a maximum allowable upload space, and once that space is used up, you have to then buy more space.  I don't like to have to pay anything for a "free" blog.  ;)

So I am sharing what I learned with you.

I learned that you can upload photos up to 800 pixels, which will not use up any of your allowable storage space with Blogger.

So I now resize all of my photos for my blog to a maximum of 800 pixels.

(this photo of the card below, for example, has been resized to 800 x 682)

Now, the last thing I like to do to my photos is add Text.

Click on the P, which likely stands for PicMonkey, but it is actually the Text tab.

Now you can type in whatever text you would like.

(This is where I add my name and my blog address to my photos.)

You can choose your preferred text color, font, size, ect.

Then just click on Save at the bottom to save the edited photo to your computer.

Now you can upload your edited photo onto your blog...

What do you think?

I likely looks timely and maybe even a little overwhelming...

but it really doesn't take all that long and it is pretty easy.

And look at the huge difference between the photo I started with and the ending photo.

Wow!

Need I say more???

heehee

So, I now expect to see even prettier pictures of all your gorgeous projects, all over blogland... ha!  ;)

Happy creating!  :)

Psst... hey, don't be shy... let me know if you found this helpful...  :)

How do I photograph my projects, you ask???

Quite often I have people emailing me asking how I take good ((cough)) pictures of my projects.  I always have to laugh at that because I am soooo far away from being a good photographer by any means.  I also don't have any type of photo-editing software on my laptop.  And I'm quite critical of my picture-taking, or lack of skills thereof.

So here's what I do to try to make my pictures look okay:

1)  I start with my really ugly homemade (extremely inexpensive) photo light box.  Here's some great instructions for you to create one of your own, which are very similar to how I made mine. 

I have 2 lights set up on either side of my box, nearest the front with the lights shining in from the top.  One light is an Ott light, and the other is actually a very similar one that I found at Walmart in the craft/sewing dept.  Just know that you need lights that give natural light, not the yellowed tones of standard bulbs.
(Note:  I don't use this set up for my layouts, as they won't fit.  I only use it for smaller projects...)

Here's an unedited before picture of my card, taken on a day that is gray and dreary, making my photo really fairly dark, even with some diffused lighting...

2)  Now I have to edit my picture.  This is where free is good.  I upload my photos to Photobucket.  Then one at a time I EDIT them.

3)  Once in EDIT, I first CROP, then adjust the CONTRAST and BRIGHTNESS to reach the desired lighting I didn't manage to capture in my extremely limited photography skills.  (I so need a class...  lol)

4)  Then before I save my edited picture, I add my name and blog address in a TEXT box.  Then SAVE it over the original.

5)  After it is saved, I right-click on my edited picture and save a copy to my laptop to upload here on my blog.

It sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it?  But it's worth it and after you do it a few times, you get used to it and it doesn't seem so bad.  Except on those days that Photobucket is being extremely annoying, which does happen from time-to-time.  Ugh!

So now here's the same photo after I've edited it. 

I hope I've answered your questions, and maybe even for those of you who didn't want to ask.  :)