Program Mode

Is your DSLR stuck in Auto Mode? Would you like to be able to get more out or your camera? We all know that command dial on the top of our cameras ... most of them have all those great automatic modes like landscape, portrait, sports, and so on. But what are those modes that are just letters? Things like P, S, A, and M or maybe P, Tv, Av, and M ... These are the advanced modes of Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual. This is part one of a four part post dealing with the advanced shooting modes on DSLR cameras and the modes that exist on some advanced compact cameras. This particular post will deal with the Program Mode and in other posts to come will deal with the other modes. So lets get started!

Program Mode - If you have only used Auto Mode on your camera, Program Mode is a good place to start. On most cameras Program Mode is selected by moving the Mode or Command Dial to the (P) setting. A lot like Auto Mode, Program Mode still selects the appropriate aperture and shutter speed, so you have no worries about not having a correctly exposed picture. So why use this setting? Well, when using Program Mode, your camera will now unlock some settings that you previously had no control over. These settings vary depending on the camera make and model you own. Some of these settings may be the ability to change the ISO (discussed in a previous blog entry), to change the white balance (which will be discussed in a later blog entry), be able to shoot continuous and self timer modes (the ability to shoot fast bursts of pictures and to be able to push the shutter release button and run to get in the picture), and be able to use exposure compensation (this allows you to adjust the exposure up and down to achieve the proper exposure).

The main advantage to using Program Mode is that it is great for easily getting a great photograph without having to think too hard about settings. But you will now gain some control over advanced settings in your camera. So now go out and give it a try and be sure to check in next week to find out about Aperture Priority Mode.

What Is ISO And How Does It Affect My Pictures

The International Organization for Standardization or "ISO" defines both an arithmetic scale and logarithmic scale for measuring color-negative film speed. Although, in digital camera systems there is an arbitrary relationship between exposure and sensor data values which can be achieved by setting the signal gain of the sensor. So what does that mean for you? Well, ISO is the measurement of the speed of film or how sensitive it is to light. A low ISO film is not very sensitive to light and the higher the ISO rating the more sensitive to light the film is but there is a trade off. The higher you go with the ISO rating the larger the film grain which means that more grain will be seen in the final product. When using a film camera, it is typical to shoot with a low ISO film (ISO 100 or ISO 200) for photography in normal daylight or for portraiture in a properly lit studio (due to the lack of visible grain in the finished product). ISO 400 film is typically used in lower light situations, such as, well lit indoor pictures. ISO 800 and ISO 1600 films are available for photography in very low light situations.

"Here's the secret that governs film speed: Doubling the ISO number of the film doubles its sensitivity to light. So ISO 200 film needs half the light to take the same picture as ISO 100 film. ISO 400 film needs a quarter of the light that ISO 100 needs. In other words, you could capture a low-light scene with a shutter speed of 1/15 second with ISO 100 film, or 1/60 second with ISO 400. That's an incredibly powerful capability that means the difference between getting a blurry mess and a sharp photo." ~ Dave Johnson

Who cares, right? ... I mean we are dealing with a digital camera world. You can't put film in a DSLR! No, but we are able to adjust the ISO of our digital cameras. Which means that by controlling the ISO adjustment on our digital camera we are mimicking loading different speed film into our cameras.


My digital camera shoots at ISO 3200 so I will just set it to that and shoot away. Well, that statement is not necessarily right. There is a down side to shooting at high ISO settings on a digital camera. The big one is that the higher you go with the ISO setting the more "noise" will be visible on the picture. You should always shoot at the lowest possible ISO setting at all times. In most normal conditions, stick with the cameras lowest ISO setting, since that will provide you with a picture with the least amount of digital noise. But when you notice the camera recommending a very low shutter speed (less than about 1/30 of a second for handheld shots) it is time to raise the ISO. Just remember that when you are done shooting at the higher ISO speed to lower it back down so your camera is ready for the next time you use it. To reiterate, do not be afraid to use a higher ISO setting just remember that the higher you go the more noise you are going to see on the picture.

Shooting Photographs With Feeling

One of the most important keys to shooting great photographs is to shoot with feeling. By feeling I mean think about the subject of your picture and think about what you want to portray. What you are trying to accomplish is to give your audience the same feeling you had while taking the photo. If the picture is of a person you also want to try to show what the person was feeling. Here is an article written by Rick Sammon to help explain what I am trying to convey.

"I used to teach piano, specializing in jazz improvisation. (Many photographers, including Ansel Adams and Gordon Parks, were/are musicians. Many musicians, including Graham Nash, are also avid photographers.)  I’d like to share with my fellow photographers some of the conversations I had with my first-time piano students – which actually have something in common with my photo workshops students. Here we go!

Student: "Rick, do you think I should use a blues scale for my solo . . . or do you think maybe playing in fourths [very open sound] would be better?"

Rick Sammon: "It does not matter what notes you play, it matters how you play them."

Student: “Uh . . . that really helps me, Rick. Okay, do you think my solo would sound better on a Hammond B-3 organ or a Fender Rhodes electric piano or a Yamaha grand?"

Rick Sammon: "Personally, I like the organ . . . and the piano . . . and the synthesizer . . . and the grand piano.  But have you ever considered the accordion? Billy Joel uses it, and so does Toots Thielemans."

Getting a bit agitated at this point, the student says, "Fine, you are a big $#%! help. I'm not taking lessons from someone who can't teach me anything. I'm out of here."  Smiling, hoping that I can keep the student, who I really want to help because I truly enjoy teaching, I say, "Before you go, I'd like to give you some free advice, if I may."

Student: "What's that, maestro?" 

Rick Sammon: "Don't think so technical, although technique is important. When you play, play with feeling. Play with passion. Above all . . . play for yourself."

Reactions to my comments varied, from a big smile to eyes filling up with tears.

In case you were wondering, I did keep all my students. (I've had participants on my photo workshops get emotional in portfolio reviews on more than on occasion. That's very understandable. I know how important photography is to each and every person.)"  ~ Rick Sammon

As you can see from the article above ... photography, much like music, is about feeling and passion. So go have fun shooting pictures and just remember to shoot them with feeling.

The Difference Between A Full Frame Sensor And An APS-C "Crop" Sensor DSLR Camera

What exactly is a crop sensor camera? Well, a full frame 35mm camera (film or digital) takes a picture that is around 36mm x 24mm in size. When digital sensors were first introduced it was not possible to make a digital sensor that large in any quantity. The ones that could be made were so expensive that no one would have been able to afford a camera that used one. Camera makers decided to make a smaller sensor that was around 15mm x 22.5mm which just happened to be close to the image size of the (short-lived) APS film format. The reason that we call them "crop" is because if you take a full frame image and crop the center 15mm x 22.5mm out of it you get an imager the size or the "crop" sensor.

So what does all of this technical mumbo-jumbo mean for the average photographer? Not a whole lot! For the average user a "crop" sensor camera will provide you with just as high quality pictures as a full format camera, just put your kit lens on it and enjoy shooting pictures. For people that want to learn more read on. Other than the obvious difference in image size the only other difference between the two sensors is the angle of view. Because the APS-C sensor is smaller is has a smaller angle of view than the full frame sensor has. This smaller angle of view creates a something called a "digital multiplier". The digital multiplier is 1.6x for Canon EOS DSLR cameras and 1.5x for Nikon, Pentax, and Sony DSLR cameras. This digital multiplier can work in you favor or it can work against you if you don't understand it. So all this to tell you that if you need a wide angle lens of around 16mm on a full frame camera you will need around a 10mm lens on an APS-C sensor camera to achieve that same wide angle. However, if you need a zoom of around 450mm you only need to buy a 300mm lens for the APS-C sensor camera. So to put it simply...

For Canon EOS cameras:

• APS-C sensor focal length to equal field of view of full frame focal length you multiply by 1.6
• Full frame focal length to equal field of view for APS-C sensor you divide by 1.6
  

For Nikon, Pentax, and Sony cameras:

• APS-C sensor focal length to equal field of view of full frame focal length you multiply by 1.5
  
• Full frame focal length to equal field of view for APS-C sensor you divide by 1.5

Also note that the aperture stays constant because there is no digital multiplier for lens speed. To find out more information on this topic including more technical data than you can throw a stick at please visit www.bobatkins.com.

Your Most Important Piece Of Equipment... And It Isn't In Your Camera Bag!

Here is a short story to start off this post. This story is from Adorama.com

"One of the most successful photographers of the 20th century, Henri Cartier-Bresson, had a single camera--a Leica rangefinder--and a 50mm lens. He didn't even have a light meter. He shot black-and-white film, hand-holding for every frame. He stopped every 36 exposures to rewind and reload. He had to wait until that night or the next day, or perhaps longer, to process the negatives, make contact sheets and study them with a Magnifying loupe to see the results. And with that simple set-up, he built a body of work that would influence generations of photographers and help to define photojournalism."  ~ Mason Resnick

With that being said... Nowadays, cameras offer many, many sophisticated options. Artificial intelligence-based metering, auto exposure and autofocus, super long zoom lenses, and super fast burst rates just to name a few. But with all these technical innovations we still forget to use the most important piece of equipment, our brains. The camera companies have yet to create a camera that can compose a shot, or see how colors, light, and shape interact, but unfortunately we still seem to rely on the camera, itself, to create a great shot. Unfortunately, the camera is only capable of making a correct exposure. So it is still up to our brains to modify the exposure to fit the mood of the picture, or to find the proper placement of the camera to produce the proper shot, or to decide what to leave in or remove from the frame.

So as you can see, just like Henri Cartier-Bresson, we need to use our brains to create the next great shot. So it doesn't matter if you are using the latest top-of-the-line DSLR, a compact, or a film camera don't forget to use your most important piece of equipment ... your brain.