The Unmanual:

Get off auto and take control of your dslr

by Kat Molesworth & Kat Goldin of Blogtacular
1
 Table of Contents

Introduction.........p 4

Chapter 1: The Exposure Triangle and Light

Meter..........p 4-9

Chapter 2: ISO, Aperture and Shutter

Speed.........p 10-16

Chapter 3: Using Your Settings in

Harmony.........p 17-23

Chapter 4: White Balance..........p 24-25

Chapter 5: Focus..........p 26-33

Chapter 6: Lenses..........p 24-37

(c) Blogtacular Events, Ltd. 2014
All photos by Kat Molesworth & Kat Goldin unless
otherwise stated
Glossary..........p 38-40
http://www.blogtacular.com
hello@blogtacular.com

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Photographs are such an important part of blogging and social media
these days. Great visuals tell a story and entice readers to keep coming
back to your blog.

Even the most basic DSLR is a powerful tool for capturing images. Set
in automatic, you leave the computer inside your camera to decide how
your photos will look. In this book were going to help you move your
camera off auto and take full control of the exposure. This means you can
kiss goodbye to the shots where the camera focussed in the wrong place,
dark foregrounds and many more irritating features of not having full
control.

You might be familiar with some of the terms in this book or they might
be completely new. Well walk you through everything you need to know
and not only tell you what these terms mean but how and why to make
each adjustment.

There is no doubt that it takes a lot of practice to get to a place where

manual comes naturally. Take every opportunity to practice and before
long it will be second nature to read your light meter as you adjust your
settings.

This is the book we wish wed had when we took our cameras off auto.
It gives you all of the information your manual cant about shooting on
manual and taking creative control.

Blogtacular is Europes hottest blog conference bringing together

talent from across the blogging world. Were committed to community,
creativity and sharing.

This book is a gift to our community and we hope

you enjoy it.

Kat Goldin & Kat Molesworth

3 photo credit: Xanthe Berkeley

 Chapter 1:
The Exposure Triangle
The Light Meter

4
Chapter 1: The Exposure Triangle
The three settings,ISO,apertureandshutter speed, which form the Exposure Triangle are the three most powerful controls when you are switching to
manual. Master these and you are well on your way to leaving auto behind for good.

The reason these three elements are described

as theexposure triangleis because its the
interaction between them that determines a
well-exposed shot. Exposure is the amount
of light detail that reaches the sensor or film.
ISO Too little and you get an image which is
sensitivity to light underexposed and loses detail to the shadows
in the picture; too much and you get an image
100
low grain
which is overexposed and loses detail to the
highlights.

Stylistically there might be times when

6400
high grain
you want to have part of an image under or
overexposed. When the sky is very bright

3s f22 background/
for example, overexposing the sky will result
in a well-exposed subject in front of it while
slow/no movement blurred motion deep field foreground in focus
underexposing the subject will result in a
silhouette against a well-exposed sky. In the
fast movement pictures below the underexposed picture
1/4000s
motion freeze
f1.4
shallow field
is shadowy and loses detail inside the tin
blurred background whereas the overexposed picture is light, has

Shutter Speed Aperture detail inside the tin but loses detail on the
petals and backdrop. In terms of editing post-
production it is easier to pull the detail out of
an underexposed photo but easier still to have
a well exposed picture in the first place.

5
The Light Meter
Using your cameras light meter to inform you about the likely exposure of a picture is a habit you will need to develop. You will see it on the settings
screen and also within the viewfinder. You should aim to have the moving bar on the central point. To the left, in negative figures, the image will be
underexposed and to the right, in positive figures, the image will be overexposed (Nikons have over on left and under on right just to confuse us). If the
bar is flashing it means youre off the scale and the picture is not going to work.

6
When The Light Meter Lies:
Learning how to read your meter is a key step into manual photography, but there are times when it doesnt tell you the truth. Remember, the camera is a
computer and it uses averaging and calculations to gauge how much light is coming into the lens.

However, it cant tell the difference between less light and a dark subject, or conversely, more light or a light subject. What this means is if you are
photographing a subject in a high contrast situation, the camera will often look at the background and expose for that and not for the subject.

In the photo on the left, the camera meter read the scene in a way
to expose for the pegs but the rest of the scene is very over under
exposed, losing a lot of the detail in the photo and making the
scene shadowy and dark. In the photo on the right, taken at the
same time and the same place, the camera decided to expose for
the blue cup, leaving the rest of the scene over-exposed..

Another prime example of a lying meter is the effect one often

gets when taking photos in snow. Pictures in snow are often very
dark. This is because the camera is reading the white of the snow
as light, and adjusting the exposure accordingly.

How to correct it:

There are a number of ways to correct for a lying meter.

Put your subject in the center of the frame: Most modern cameras use a metering system that places the greatest importance on the element in
the middle of the viewfinder and exposes it correctly. If you are photographing in a high contrast situation, take the reading with the subject in the
middle of the frame and adjust your settings accordingly. Then, without changing your exposure settings, you can recompose the scene as you wish.

Chimp It: Looking back at the photos youve taken on the LCD screen is called chimping. It can be an invaluable way of gauging how your camera
is exposing for the scene. Take a few pictures and see how your exposure is working and make adjustments from there. Also, check your manual to
see if it offers exposure preview before you take your image so you can make adjustments there and then.

7
 Metering Modes: You can also change the way your camera reads the light in the scene by changing its metering mode. Each mode looks at the
scene differently, taking varying percentages of the scene to base the meter reading on. Check your camera manual to see how you change the mode
to spot metering and see if it helps in those high contrast situations.

Clipping and Blow Outs:

Every photographer has done ittaken a photograph, only to download it to find the image low in contrast with
many white areas where it has been over exposed. This is known as clipping or blow outs. This happens
when so much light is being let into the camera that the sensor can no longer capture all of the data in the
image. This often happens to whites and reds in bright photos or blacks in darker photos.

How to correct it:

Keep a close eye on those details in high contrast situations. As above, you may need to override what the
meter is telling you to do by slightly under and over exposing the image.

petals blown out

The Exposure Triangle in Practice

Getting all three elements of the exposure triangle working together is the backbone of shooting in manual. They all work together and when in balance
will create a well exposed picture. If you were shooting in aperture priority or shutter priority mode (take a look in your manual) then the camera would
control the other two elements for you but in manual you need to keep all three in mind.

Choose which element is most important in the scene (motion capture, depth of field or grain) for this example well use motion capture, so shutter
speed.
Firstly: decide on the speed you need to capture motion.
Then half depress the shutter to meter and focus your scene.
Once you have done this adjust the aperture and ISO until the exposure meter is at zero or just a third either side.
To create a sharp image start with your ISO at 100 and adjust the other settings before bumping up the ISO to increase light sensitivity.
You can apply this principle to each element using the other two to bring the exposure to the right point to create the photo you want.

Take time to cement this knowledge and you will have manual licked in no time.

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Flex Your Muscles:
In this mini assignment were getting you to shoot on auto (or your
favourite auto-setting) one last time. This is about getting used to
reading the data the camera is giving you.

1. Look through the viewfinder and find the light meter. Get used to
looking at this before you capture every shot. While the camera is in
control it should stay in the middle for well-lit conditions. Try it in the
dark or towards a light (while being careful of your eyes) how does it
react?

2. Turn on your photo data (it should be the info button). When your
camera shows you a preview of your shots on the LCD screen you want
the shot data alongside this. Start looking at the settings your camera
is using for your shots when you review them. They will look like this:
shutter speed 1/80, aperture f/4.5 and ISO 400.

This might not seem very exciting (after all were not even in manual
yet) but we want you to form some good habits from the word go. So
grab your camera and take pictures of whatever catches your eye, in
different lights and with the light coming from different directions.
Then start to explore how your camera is reacting to these differences.

In this chapter, we have been looking at the basics of exposure from getting used to looking at your light meter to seeing how the camera take pictures
differently depending on which settings you use. Were going to look through each element of the triangle in turn, what it does and how it affects your
pictures. They are all linked so changing one element will necessitate the adjustment of the others to create a well-exposed shot. Depending on the
situation youll chose which setting is most important. For example: shutter speed when taking pictures with movement or aperture when aiming for a
blurred background.

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 Chapter 2:
ISO
Aperture
Shutter Speed
 ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed

We have looked at the premise of the exposure triangle and how to read
the light meter now its time to get stuck into the big topics of this course.

Namely: aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

These three settings in balance will give you the perfect exposure. That
said; its not enough to get your light meter sitting perfectly in the centre
as despite having enough light to create the photo you might find that too
much or too little of one setting could ruin the shot.

Were going to look through each element of the triangle in turn, what it
does and how it affects your pictures. They are all linked so changing one
element will necessitate the adjustment of the others to create a well ex-
posed shot. Depending on the situation youll chose which setting is most
important. For example: shutter speed when taking pictures with move-
ment or aperture when aiming for a blurred background.
ISO
ISO is your cameras sensitivity to light. The more sensitive, the faster it records light and therefore the less time it needs to be exposed to the light. In
film terms, a slow film with ISO of 100 would have been used in well-lit or outdoor conditions whereas a fast film with ISO of 400 or 800 would have been
used in indoor or high-speed conditions. ISO on digital cameras ranges from 50 6400 most DSLRs will have a range of 100 3200. Think of ISO as hav-
ing a team of light bees. These bees go out and fetch light for your camera. In bright conditions you need fewer bees to collect light so the ISO number
noise will be low but in low light you need more bees and more bees make more noise.

ISO comes with the pay off that is grain or noise in your pictures. This noise will interfere with fine detail so keeping the ISO as low as possible is a good
rule of thumb to follow. The picture below was taken of the same subject using two different ISO speeds (aperture f2.5 in both, shutter speed 1/1250 on
the left and 1/40 on the right). The lines arent as crisp at higher ISO and the texture is lost.
ISO 200 ISO 800 ISO 3200 ISO 1024000

It is really tempting to crank the ISO right up to get pictures full of light but youll find yourself disappointed with the quality especially when it comes to
faces and sharp lines. Learning to keep it to a minimum will stand you in good stead.

When to bump up the ISO:when youre in a low light, when photographing a moving subject indoors, when you dont want to use your flash
(when not allowed or capturing the mood), if you want to add grain to your image or when youre unable to prevent camera shake at low shutter
speeds.
12
Aperture
Aperture is the opening size of your shutter. The wider your open
the shutter the more light is able to enter the camera. As the ap-
erture widens the depth of field reduces which means that at the
widest apertures only and inch or two of the picture may be in fo-
cus (blurred background and foreground). At the widest apertures
the focal field will be deeper bringing more objects into focus
(sharp background and foreground).

Aperture is named withf stopsas seen in the infographic on

the right. The larger the hole, the smaller the correspondingf
/number. Each stop up halves the size of the hole and each stop
down doubles the size of the hole. So you double or halve the
amount of light you let in while the shutter is open.

Your available apertures will be limited by the lens you have. Lens-
es will come with a number telling you what the widest aperture
is (e.g. 1.8, 2.8, 4.6 etc) your kit lens most probably is 3.5-5.6 and
wont open up much more than 4.5 in manual. If you browse for
lenses youll quickly notice that the bigger apertures come with
correspondingly increasing price tags! The difference in quality
comes through and even a nifty fifty (50mm 1.8 lens) will make a
big difference wide open.

When choosing aperture as your lead setting you will need to

adjust the shutter speed or ISO to expose the photo correctly. In
the series of pictures below the aperture is changed with each shot
making dramatic differences to the depth of field while the ISO is adjusted to keep the exposure equal with less light entering the camera. As the aper-
ture gets smaller the background comes into focus.

13
 f 1.8 f 2.0 f 4.0 f 5.6

f8 f 16 f 22

In the photos above, you can see how shifting the aperture changes not only the depth of field, but also the mood of the shot.

When to use:use aperture to control how much of the picture is in focus, to blur background in portraits or close-up photography, to ensure
all of a group is in focus and to limit the light entering the camera at slow shutter speeds.

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Shutter Speed
Shutter speed controls the length of time the shutter is open for. The longer it is open the more light and action is recorded. Fast shutter speeds are used
in bright conditions or to freeze motion while slow shutter speeds are used in poorly lit / night time situations or with little or no motion.

Shutter speed is measured in lux seconds and written as fractions of a second. When SS it is set to 1s the shutter will be open for 1 lux second. At 1/4 it is
open for a quarter of a second and at 1/125 for a 125th of a second. As with aperture each click doubles or halves the speed. In combination a click down
on shutter speed and up on aperture should result in the same amount of light entering the camera.

The longer the shutter is open the more movement is recorded. Shorter shutter speeds freeze movement. A good example is a moving car. At 60 miles an
hour a car will travel 3 feet while the shutter is open for 1/30 giving motion blur but at 1/500 it will only be a couple of inches creating a far sharper image.

In the two pictures below the first image captures the motion of the traffic while the other freezes the movement

At shutter speeds of 1/60 and lower you will be susceptible to camera shake (the movement of your hands / from pressing the shutter) to minimise
camera shake use a tripod and / or remote. Camera shake is also magnified by the focal length of your camera, for example: a 200mm lens would begin to
show shake under 1/250 as tiny movements with your hands produce big movements in the frame.
As well as capturing movement over time, the shutter speed affects how much time light has to get into the camera. A slow shutter speed will give light
more time and result in a lighter picture while fast shutter speeds allow less light.

When to use: fast shutter speeds are used to freeze movement, reduce camera shake, counter-balance wide apertures and in bright conditions.
Use slow shutter speeds for still or slow moving objects, to capture motion blur, to photograph at night and for visual effects such as light trails.

15
Flex Your Muscles
Set your white balance to auto (AWB) and if you use a Canon making sure
youre in One Shot rather than AI Focus.

Inside, Outside:find yourself a spot indoors and then another one

outdoors. Either using a model or an object (same for both settings to
give continuity) adjust your settings to create a photo with the light
meter at zero in both situations. Notice what makes most difference in
each situation, be conscious of how the colours you see change, what
happens if you slightly under or over expose the picture.

Still Life:create a still life scene and work on using aperture to change
the depth of field. Watch the background and foreground as they blur
what aperture do you need to achieve this? What aperture brings the
whole scene into focus?

The Egg:we lovethis videoabout how light affects objects. Find your-
self an egg and repeat the exercise of photographing it in one place
as the light changes (either throughout the day or by adding a lamp if
youre time poor).

Night and Day:photograph the same scene at different times of day.

How does the change of light from low sun, high sun or no sun affect
how you set the camera? What else is affecting your shot in this light?

Metering Modes: Set up a scene in front of a bright window or open

sky. Try taking the same picture using different metering modes. No-
tice how the readings change with each metering mode.

16
 Chapter 3:
Using Your Settings
in Harmony

17
When we take our cameras off auto and switch to manual its because we want to make informed decisions about the settings which the camera could not
do alone. Taking control yourself is the first step to creating beautiful sharp and well considered shots. All of the decisions you make will ultimately be
based on the light and capturing it to create a well-lit picture.

With that in mind our thoughts should always be on how our choices will affect that final photo. For exam-
ple, the picture on the left was taken in a dark room on a dark day. The ISO was bumped right up without
giving much thought to the noise it would create.

As a result we have a perfectly nice photo which lacks the quality to print it large and hang on the wall. You
may not always be aiming to print your shots but if you expose for print quality you will have excep-
tional photographs.

In this chapter, we are going to be looking in more depth at the interplay between the settings and
which choices to make when faced with a blank canvas.

Keep Your ISO LOW!

If theres one thing we have learned over time it is that working off this principle will push you to be a better manual photographer. This isnt
a diktat to follow at all costs, but a good guide to get you adjusting your other settings before bumping the ISO to create the perfect exposure.
Lets take a look at our settings in more detail so you can begin to formulate your own rhythm when shooting in manual.

Aperture: wide open or closed tight?

Without a doubt the most frequent question we are asked is how to get blurry backgrounds in photos. As you know, the answer is a wide aperture. Al-
though its not as simple as opening the aperture as wide as it will go, there are other things to take into consideration.

Firstly, on a 1.8 lens with the background at a medium to long distance youll still get your blur at 3.2 but youll have more depth in your focal field. Your
lens has a sweet spot. This is the range of apertures (and focal length if its a zoom few are sweet at either extreme) which produce the best results. For
example, the Canon 50mm 1.4 is sweet between 1.8 and 5.6.
18
Whats the distance between the first object you want in focus and the last? This is your desired depth of field. Wide open you may only have inches to
play with and tight shut you will have everything in focus. Your aperture is as much a technical decision as a creative one. That wide open bath of light
and creamy bokeh versus a subject in focus and in context.

Some tips when considering aperture:

When we are trying to balance an aperture wide enough to capture a group shot yet wide enough to
give some background blur we have a free app on our phones called f-stop which we can refer to when
we want to make doubly sure we are making the right decision. We love to take family group photos
whenever we gather so we always figure out my depth of focus before setting the shutter and ISO. This
allows me to focus on the front of the group and still have the back row in focus.
Often when talking about aperture the focus is on opening it up as far as you can yet keeping it in the
mid ranges or using a small aperture are just as important.
When youre photographing a moving subject coming into the range between 2.8 and 5.6 will give your
camera more space to keep the focus in the time between you hitting the shutter and the shot being
captured (we will be talking more about getting the perfect focus in the next chapter).
If you want your subject in the context of their surroundings, say at the beach, you dont want to lose
that duo-chrome background to blur so an aperture around seven will stand you in good stead. This
will also ensure that you dont lose your details to clipping or blow-outs as we discussed in the last
chapter.
Taking the aperture even smaller from 14 to 22 you will bring the whole scene into focus. You might be photographing an interior or a landscape and
in either situation youll want all elements of the image in focus. Using very small apertures will also allow you to slow down your shutter speed for
long exposure captures like fireworks and nightscapes.

larger aperture smaller aperture

19
Shutter Speed: frozen in time or passing time?
Making decisions about your shutter speed are often based on whether you want to capture
movement or show it. Movement in your frame can often be a creative device but there is
some movement which you will almost certainly seek to remove your own movements!

A really good basic rule to remember is that your shutter speed should be at least twice your
focal length when handheld. For example, a 50mm lens should have a shutter speed of at
least 1/100 1/125 to avoid movement from your hands. Anything slower and you need to
find a way to steady the camera (more on this next chapter). Use this rule as your jumping off
point and then decide what your needs for the shutter speed are.

So when might you want to use really fast shutter speeds? When you have a fast moving
subject or in very bright conditions. If you want to freeze action a fast shutter speed is your
friend. Using frozen motion to show movement needs some vision; a picture of a child on a
swing at the bottom of the arc could look like the swing is not moving but at either extreme
of the swings arc it is clear that you have captured movement.

Another way to creatively capture movement is by tracking your subject. By moving your
lens to track them and using a marginally slower (but still fast) shutter speed youll capture
the movement of the background whilst keeping your subject in focus. Subjects moving at
a steady pace and in a straight line are best for this cars, bikes, runners all being good for
practicing. Depending on the speed of your shutter you might also capture movement such
as the turning of the wheels or the legs on the pedals which adds to the energy of the shot.

Slow shutter speeds used creatively can capture the movement over time and are especially
effective in high contrast situations. Star photos, light trails and car headlights are all situa- photo credit: death to the stock photo
tions which call for a long exposure. If youve ever wondered how photographers take photos of public spaces with no people its often a long (2 minute or
so) exposure which is enough to melt the movement away leaving just the buildings. If youre keen on trying your hand at long exposures you might want
to consider using a neutral density filter which limits the light coming into the camera allowing you to extend the shutter and capture more time.

20
x ISO: keep it low or embrace the grain?
Keeping noise out of your photos is all about preserving detail in the shot. More noise = less detail and loss of clean, sharp lines.

Depending on your camera the noise you get from ISO will vary. On more modern cameras, one
can comfortably shoot at 1000+ without worrying about noise whereas older cameras would have
taken very grainy shots at that level.

We have the basic principle that keeping the ISO as low as possible is desirable but thats not
always possible so when you have adjusted the aperture and shutter to the limits of the shot. At
this point you start bumping the ISO until you get the light meter sitting in the middle.
If youre worried about what the ISO might be doing to your shot bring up the preview on your
LCD and zoom in on the point where you focused to check.

There are times when you simply dont

have the light to shoot in a low ISO, with
a flash or from a tripod and at these times
embracing the noise is the only way to go.
If you know the shot is going to be noisy
you want to avoid having to do any major edits so keep in mind that you want to nail the exposure
and white balance in camera.

Its not all bad, a soft or grainy image can be incredibly atmospheric and converting to black and
white can be a way to use the grain in your photo to add to the texture of the final shot.

In bright light bumping your ISO up to 200 400 can help you nail a fast shutter speed without
sacrificing the photo to noise.

21
Exploring workflow: how do we choose our settings?

Kat M: Kat G:
I tend to start with my shutter When walking into a situation with
speed at 100 then adjust my my camera, I generally start by
aperture to suit the scene. Having setting the ISO. Though beautiful
looked through my shots I most as anything, Scotland isnt known
frequently shoot between 1.8 2.8 for its frequency of sunny days, so I
in Winter and 2.2 3.2 in Summer. often have to shoot at ISO 200-400
outside and 640- 1000 inside.
With the aperture set I then adjust my shutter with my eye
to the viewfinder watching the light meter. From there, I generally shoot with my aperture set at 2.2-2.8
for the kinds of portrait and product photography I do with
Once I have the shutter and aperture in balance I adjust my beloved 50mm 1.4 lens. This usually means most of a face
my ISO, again whilst watching through the viewfinder is in focus, with a nice amount of blurring in the background.
until the shot is at the exposure Im aiming for.
Once I have the shot frame, I then adjust the shutter speed,
When I was shooting with an older DSLR I tended to over- keeping in mind that I do not want to have my shutter slower
expose the shot by one notch on the light meter but with than 1/100th of a second. If I am not able to expose the photo
my current camera that isnt necessary as the light meter properly without a slow shutter, my first point of call is usual-
is far more reliable. ly adjusting my aperture, then as a final resort, my ISO.

In Summary:
Shooting in manual can be likened to driving a car, you need to balance the gears, accelerator and steering to move along the road. While it might
be possible to drive at 60mph in second gear its not advisable.

Likewise, taking well exposed photos with extremes of aperture, shutter or ISO is possible but it might not return the result you want. Practicing getting
the balance between the three elements of the exposure triangle takes time but just like driving a car, the more you do it the more natural it will become.
22
Flex Your Muscles:
Light in the Dark: One of the best ways to see the effect of shutter
speed, is to take pictures in a dark situation with a moving light.
This can be on your street at night with traffic going by, someone
running around with a sparkler or torch, or fireworks. If you have a
tripod, use it. Otherwise, set your camera on a firm surface. Set your
camera at ISO200 and your aperture at 5.6. Set your lens to manual
focus (usually a switch on the lens) and set it to infinity - . Then, take
a series of shots of the light(s) moving past, adjusting your shutter
speed as you go from fast to slow. See how the longer shutter speeds
create light trails.

Fake It Till You Make It: One of our best tips for going into manual
is to compose the shot in auto, make note of the settings and then
switch to manual, set up the camera with those settings and change
from there. Sometimes auto has it spot on, but a lot of the time auto
may not be taking the picture how YOU want to take it maybe auto
is allowing too much movement in the shot with a slow shutter speed
and you want to speed it up to freeze the action. Or maybe you want
a creamy background and auto wants the full scene in focus. Play
around switching between the 2 and see what works and what doesnt.

Open: We want you to spend time taking photos, practicing going into
manual. Work on taking photos in manual that are well exposed and
taken with the lowest ISO you can manage in that situation.

23
 Chapter 4:
White Balance

24
 All light is made of colours and different intensities and conditions throw out different
colour. Standard household tungsten lighting gives and orange cast while shade creates
a blue tinge. While our eyes adjust for the differences cameras are not yet so smart. The
white balance adjusts colour to compensate for the colour of the light.

Most of the time your auto white balance will get it right but in situations where it cant
take a white reading or there is difficult lighting its worth setting the white balance to
a specific setting. A great example is thinking about a snow scene. Your eye sees white
snow while your camera sees blue snow, orange snow and grey snow which can cause the
Auto White Balance Daylight other colours in the scene to look odd.

If youre shooting RAW you can set the white balance in post-processing which has the
advantage of never getting it wrong! Although having to change it dramatically can
throw your exposure. If youre shooting JPEG then this is essentially another setting
telling your camera how to process the shot. A colour cast is not as easy to fix in post-
processing for JPEG so getting it right when you capture the shot is the way to go.

Your camera will have a range of white balance (WB) presets and it is worth getting to
know what options you have available to call on in difficult lighting. Each setting adjusts
the colours in a scene so for shaded scenes the tones will be warmer and to combat
Shade Flash indoor lighting blues will be added.

Your camera will also have an option for custom white balance. Read your manual to
find out how to set this. Some cameras will allow you to set the custom WB from another
picture or you may need to fill the frame with a white or 18% grey card and read from that.
Setting a custom white balance can help you in difficult lighting situations by setting it
to compensate for that lighting specifically. I often use it when Im shooting stills for a
time-lapse so there is no flicker effect from subtle WB changes.

Flex Your Muscles:

Get out and about and use the different white balance settings in their intended
Tungsten Flourescent habitats. Take shots in both AWB and the specific WB (e.g. shade in the shade) and see
which is closest to your interpretation of the scene.
25
 Chapter 5:
Focus

26
Focus:
You can bet one of the things about the photos you admire most is that they are in focus. Eyes are sharp and the subject looks as clear as if you were
looking at them with your own eyes. While we arent suggesting you go fully manual , getting in control of your auto focus will take your photography to
another level. Those moments when the focus falls on the wrong spot in the photo will be gone and you can bring greater accuracy to your pictures.

Closest Object in Focus Centre Object in Focus Single Point of Focus

Before we look at what you can do to get well focused images its worth exploring some of the limitations of full auto focus. Your camera is a computer
which makes certain assumptions about how to set up the picture and one of those assumptions is which element should be in focus. Im sure youve all
experienced the frustration of the camera refocusing on something at the last moment or not being able to get the focus on someone in a crowd. Those
days are over!

Many people will use focus/recompose to get around the camera picking the wrong spot but its no compensation for getting it right as moving through
a 3D plane the focus wont be equal when you move the camera back.

Depth of field, motion and your lens all play an important part in the focus of your photos. The lens is responsible for focusing and when it comes to
sharpness, a prime lens (fixed focal length e.g. 50mm) will give better results more often than not (we will go into the reasons for this in the chapter on
lenses).

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 ISO 200 ISO 320
f1.4 1/400sec f8.0, 1/25sec

In the picture on the left, wide aperture has determined that only one tube in the shot is in focus. This effect is one of the most common, sought after
elements to beginner photographers. Its easy to be lured into wanting to always shoot wide open at the largest aperture your lens will allow.
However, at the widest apertures, when youre a metre away from your subject you might only have 1.5cm of focus, due to the geometry behind
depth of field if your subject moves a touch you will have an out of focus shot. Find the compromise by using a slightly smaller shutter (higher f
number) for an increased focal depth whilst maintaining background blur.

Remember you can use a depth of field app to help you figure out focal depth for your settings. Probably not one you would use in every situation but
really helpful when taking a group shot for example.

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Focusing Modes:
AI Servo (Canon) Continuous Focus AF-C (Nikon): was developed to enable photographers to track and photograph a moving object without
refocusing on the subject between shots. The AI of Canon stands for Artificial Intelligence named so as the camera tracks and predicts the speed of a
moving object refocusing continually to ensure well focused shots. When you have the hang of tracking motion with the centre point of the camera AI
Servo can be really powerful. Use for: Moving objects intended to be the focal point and with continuous release shutter. Get your manual out and find
out how it works on your camera.

One Shot (Canon) Auto Focus Single AF-S (Nikon): this is your standard click-the-button-and-its-in-focus mode. The majority of your auto settings
will use AF-S. If your subject moves then youll need to refocus the shot. Use for: still or slow objects. Great if you have fast fingers.

AI Focus (Canon only): This is a combination of the above two modes. It is supposed to sense movement and switch from single focusing to continuous
focusing. It generally regarded as the poor cousin of the two main modes and Im yet to read an article which recommends using it over the others.

Single Point Focus: Your best option to stop the camera focusing in the wrong place, is to take control of the Auto Focus (AF) Point Selection yourself.
Each camera is different so check the manual or google to find out how to set yours for manual point selection. Once youve done this you will have
control over the point where the camera focuses. You can move it around the matrix or even choose to activate the whole grid.

By determining the point of focus you are setting the sharpest point of the image and not leaving it to chance. We can honestly say that moving to self-
selected single point focus transformed our photographs overnight. There is no more compelling reason to go manual forever than getting control of the
auto focus!

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Where to focus:
Now youre fully in control of the focus lets think about what to aim for. When taking pictures of people the rule is always to focus on the eye closest to
you, often referred to as the lead eye. The photos below were shot a few seconds apart. The first focuses on an eye and the second focuses on the end of
her nose. You can see for yourself the difference even those couple of centimetres make.

Build good habits and always aim your focus for an eye. What should you do in a group? Select the eye of a person in the front row: your brain will
compensate for a slight loss of focus in the back row but if that happened in the front row it would jar, throwing the whole image off.

This same rule applies in most cases, for example, a still life with only the cakes in the back of the shot in focus doesnt
work as well as the same picture with the objects in front taking the focus. Having something out of focus in front of
your subject (such as grass or a door frame) can give a framing effect but be careful that foreground focus is adding to
your shot not drawing the eye away from the subject.

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 How to get sharp images:
so you can focus your shot where you please and select the right AF
settings for your conditions but what other elements will help capture
sharp images?

Shutter speed: this should always be 1/60 or higher when hand held
and as discussed previously the speed needs to increase to match the
magnification (e.g. 50mm = 1/100 minimum). While a little blur can
add to a photo (as in the lassoing picture above) too much often looks
plain wrong.
Extremes of zoom: if youre using a zoom lens the extremes of the
zoom (fully in or fully out) will compromise the sharpness of the
picture.
The Sweet Spot: your camera will have a sweet spot where focus is
best. This is often not the widest aperture but a stop or two higher.
Noise: as we saw in the last chapter ISO creates noise which will affect
the sharpness in your pictures. Keep the ISO as low as possible in
the conditions whilst having the shutter fast enough to capture any
movement. Grain is better than blur: ok, not always but if youve got
unwanted movement or cant keep your shutter above 1/60 (at the very
minimum for anything that moves better 1/100) then bump your ISO
up and take the grain.
Your movements: What you are doing when you take a photo has a
huge effect on the overall sharpness. As anyone who has ever lent their
camera to a child knows unless the camera is still the image wont
work.
Blur is the enemy of sharp focus and motion blur can often
unnecessarily ruin a good shot. Motion in your pictures will cause blur.
Sometimes a little blur will add to the shot whereas at other times not
so much.

photo credit: death to the stock photo

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Good practice for hand held shooting:
Keep your elbows close to your body and hold the camera firmly with
two hands.
Act like a sniper: I see this advice so much and as distasteful as it is
there is merit in the principle. Rest your elbows on a surface (table, chair
back, ground) or brace yourself against a solid object. Plant your feet
shoulder-width apart and keep those elbows in tight to let your bones
support you. Exhale as you press the shutter.
Dont crouch if you want to get low, kneel, lie or sit on the ground so
you are a solid base. Kat M tends to bring one knee up in front of her to
rest her arms on while Kat G is often seen flat out on the ground.
Be gentle with the shutter. All of the movement in the Playmobil picture
above came from me hitting the shutter. Practice having your finger on
the front of the button and gently rolling back to release.
Tripods: when youre using a tripod be aware that this could confuse a
lens with image stabilisation. Have a look at the lens manual to tell you
whether you need to turn it off when its mounted on a tripod.
Remote/shutter delay: removing that movement on a shutter at very low
shutter speeds is necessary even on a tripod. Using a remote is the best
way to activate the shutter although if you dont have one, a two second
delay will be enough to get rid of your movement. Remember to focus
the scene then slip into manual focus so theres no chance of the shutter
re-focusing after you have composed the shot.
When you bring all of these elements together: manual AF selection,
steady camera hold and sharp settings you have the ability to take pin
sharp images every time.

32 photo credit: death to the stock photo

Back Button Focus:
If there was one thing that we could credit for making the biggest change to our photography, it would be
switching to Back Button Focus.

In simple terms, for almost every model of digital camera the shutter button at the front of the camera does
three things: it meters the exposure, it focuses the camera when pushed half way and it releases the shutter
when fully compressed. While, this does make it a very handy button, having 1 button do all these things can
mean that you have less control over what the camera is doing - and focus is often the first thing to go.

Things that can throw your focus out when using the Shutter Button for Focus and Shutter Release:
Focusing and then recomposing your shot
Tracking a moving object
Pressing the shutter too slowly
Shooting multiple shots of the same object
Keeping the focus button connected to your shutter isnt usually a problem if you are photographing stationary objects in the centre of your frame,
but in most situations, separating out the two will give you much more control.

With Back Button Focus (BBF), you change the functions of your camera buttons and move your focus control to a button at the back of the camera. Each
model and brand is different, so you will need to check your manual. Here is a great post for Nikon and Canon users showing them how to turn on BBF
on most models.

Once you have turned on BBF, it may take some time to get used to having the focus at the back, but the rewards will be huge. It is especially handy when
shooting in a continuous focussing setting such as AI-Servo/ AF-C and tracking moving objects. Your BBF keeps the moving object in focus, allowing
you to choose when to release the shutter for the shot you (not the camera) want.

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 Chapter 6:
Lenses

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The variety of lenses that can be fitted to a DSLR camera is one of the biggest advantages they have over other types of cameras. From telephoto to
macro to wide angle and everything in between, lens manufacturers have something for everyone. A camera is
really only as good as the lens it has fitted to it. Even the best camera offerings from Nikon and Canon will take
substandard photos with a substandard lens. This is why it is always the advice of photographers to buy glass
or invest in lenses over camera. Purchase the best and fastest lenses you can affordthe improvement to your
pictures will pay you back.

However, some basic knowledge of how lenses work can really help you get great shots, even with your kit lens.
This chapter does get a bit technical, but we will give you a couple of quick tips to walk away with at the end.

Focal Length: Of course, the first aspect of a lens is its focal lengthits most likely the reason you are selecting the
lensand the lower the focal length, the wider the angle.
1 35mm : Wide Angle
35-100mm: Portrait
100mm + : Zoom

The kinds of lenses you collect will depend on the kind of photography you want to do a wildlife enthusiast will have more use of a with a zoom lens
than a landscape photographer and portrait photographers will want to stick to the sweet spot of 50-85mm. Macro lenses are also on offer to get you
extreme close up shots of small details.

Within the full range of focal lengths, there are also options for zoom and prime lenses. Zoom lenses allow you to change the focal length of the shot you
are taking, where primes are fixed.

Zoom vs Prime:
Some photographers love zoom lenses, where others love fixed focal length. Each have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages:
Zoom: Prime:
+ cover a wide range of focal lengths, allowing the user to stay in one place + it is cheaper to produce a high quality, fast fixed focal length lens than it
and change the scope of the image. is to produce a zoom.
high quality zoom lenses tend to be more expensive than primes. + They are likely to have larger apertures than their zoom equivalent.
Quality of focus is likely to deteriorate at either end of the focal range. You have to zoom with your feet if you want to change your distance to
the subject or change lenses.

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One of the first lenses that people buy after their kit lens is a nifty 50 50mm f1.8 prime lens offered by both Canon and Nikon at a very reasonable
pricetag. There is no doubt this is a great lens for a great price (usually around 80-100/$100-$130), but because of the cropped sensor of most consumer
DSLRs, it can be harder to use in small spaces. The reason for this is that the sensor in consumer DSLRs (which I would bet most of you have) is smaller
than the sensor in 35mm cameras and full- frame professional cameras, the image enters the camera slight cropped, making the lens work like it has a
bigger focal length:

35mm lens on a cropped 35mm lens on a full frame 50mm lens on a full frame 85mm lens on a full frame
sensor Canon 500d Canon 6d Canon 6d Canon 6d

All of these pictures were taken from the same spot, with the same settings but the focal length of the lens and the sensor on the camera changes how
much of the scene is taken in. There isnt anything wrong with this, in fact there are many benefits to shooting on a cropped sensor camera, but it does
make wide angle shots slightly more difficult as wide angle lenses tend to work more like a portrait lens.

Each focal range has its pluses and minus, which are up to you to work around. One of the main drawbacks to lenses in the wide angle and zoom
category is lens distortion, where the photo seems to bend inward or outward. Wide angle, or barrel, distortion is possibly the most common due to the
wider focal length of kit lenses. Lens distortion can be corrected to some degree in editing packages, but getting it right can be a real pain.

This photo was taken with the 18-55mm kit lens. You can see in the first photo how the draught plate on the door appears to curve outwards and the
subjects nose is enlarged. The bottom photo has been corrected in Lightroom, but his nose is still bigger than real life. The best bet to avoid distortion all
together is to shoot at a focal length higher than 50mm (or 80mm if you have it) and/or stand further back from your subject.

Aperture:
The kit lens that came with your camera is likely to be a 3.5-5.6, zoom lens. What this means is that its aperture decreases as you zoom. It opens up to
3.5 at its widest angle (though sometimes this is only in auto settings) and at 5.6 at its tightest. This is not very fast and can limit your ability to shoot in
natural light. As we have discussed in other lessons, big open apertures are important to getting that lovely bokeh (background blur) and to letting in
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lots of light into the camera, but sadly as f/ numbers go down, pricetags go up. Generally speaking, good lenses have a large aperture (so an f number of
2.8 or lower). These lenses will work in lower light conditions and be able to get sharper images. To get apertures that wide, the manufacturer will have to
use high quality glass and will give you the sharpest images with the best colour representation.

Branded vs 3rd Party Lenses:

In addition to the lenses offered by your brand of camera, you are also able to buy lenses from 3rd party manufacturers. Tokina, Sigma, and Tamron are
the 3 biggest and offer a wide range of options for most camera brands (though they do tend to favour Nikon and Canon). It used to be that professionals
only used first party lenses, as they were known for better quality. As time has moved on, 3rd party lenses have increased in quality, whilst often still
being cheaper than branded options. Making the decision between a 1st and 3rd party lens can really be about what you want out of a lens for what price,
not whether or not it is made by your camera brand.

Things to consider when buying a lens:

Think about the kinds of shots you want to take do you like extreme close up of details? Buy a macro? Do you want to take portraits? A 50mm or
85mm prime would be your best bet. Looking to capture groups or landscapes? Think about a wide angle lens.
Research!! Amazon reviews and digital photography forums are great places to see real life reviews of the lenses in action. For more technical reviews,
check out DP Review or Photozone.
If its a 3rd party lens, make sure you buy the mount that is for your camera brand.
Always buy the best quality you can afford.
Local camera shops often allow you to rent before you buy. Take a lens out for a test spin before you commit.
eBay is a great place to buy and sell 2nd hand lenses, with many lenses retaining much of their value. If you try something and you arent reaching for
it, sell it on!

Lens Accessories:
If there was one tip I could give every single person in the world about using a DSLR it would be:
BUY A FILTER FOR YOUR LENS
Filters are a thin piece of glass or plastic that provides two basic functions:
1. Filters out various kinds of light, depending on the kind of filter it is.
2. Protects your lens from scratches and other damage.
A new UV filter is a couple of pounds/dollars on Amazona new lens is considerably more.

Another useful addition to a kit bag is a lens hood. This is the petal or tubular shaped (depending on where the
lens moves when it focuses)* device that fits over the end of your lens and helps stop glare.

While we are at it, another tip for lens and camera care - always turn your camera off and point it down to change
the lens to protect the sensor.

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 Glossary

38
Aperture: the opening in the lens that lets in light. Lenses have a series of blades that open and close, much like the way your iris controls the size of
your pupil. The larger the size of the opening, the more light that is let into the camera.

Auto-Focus: Digital SLRs come with a range of focusing options to help you lock focus on stationary or moving targets.

One-Shot Auto-Focus: used when both the subject and the photographer are still. If you are using back button focus, depress the focus button and then
let go to lock focus.

AI Servo/Continuous Focusing: The camera uses predictive focusing for moving subjects. This is useful when the subject OR the photographer is in
motion. When in this mode, pressing and holding the focus button down (either the shutter release pressed half way, or the back button if you have set up
back button focus), your camera will continually track the moving object. Generally, the advice is to use a single focus point if you are tracking a subject
in a group situation and auto point selection if the subject is alone (i.e. a child running through a field).

AI Focus (Canon only): This will decide which method is more appropriate, One Shot or Servo. Can be unpredictable and most professional
photographers would not recommend this mode.

Bokeh refers to the way in which the out of focus elements of an image are aesthetically pleasing. It helps offset
the subject from its background.
Larger apertures help achieve this effect.

Exposure is the amount of light let into the image.

Exposure Value is the combination of shutter speed and aperture that determines the amount of light let into the
image.

F-Stop: The size of the opening in a lens (the aperture) is measured in f- stops. Confusingly, the larger the opening
in the aperture, the smaller the number.

ISO: The cameras general sensitivity to light is defined by the ISO. A higher ISO is more sensitive to light and therefore better for low-light
photography. However, images shot at a higher ISO may have more grain.

JPEG is one of the main file types for digital images. These files are more like the image you see on the viewfinder. Most image software packages can
handle .jpeg files.

Macro refers to a lens that is able to render images greater than life size. Often used to focus close up on very small elements of an image.

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Noise/Grain is the level of the distortion, usually in the shadow elements of the image. Caused by low-light conditions.

Point of focus: the element of the photo that you want to draw the most attention to by keeping it in sharpest focus. In portrait photography, you want to
use the subjects eyes at the main point of focus.

RAW files are often compared to a film cameras negative. It is the basic, untouched data recorded by a camera. RAW files are not usually useable
straight out of the camera, as they tend to have low contrast, slightly dark and grey and will need to be edited in some way. However, this file format
allows you a greater range of flexibility with editing, as image quality is not compromised. You may need specialist software to process the images.

Shutter Speed, or the time in which the shutter remains open, is the other key element that controls the amount of light being let into the camera. It is
measured in portions of a second, ranging from 1/1000th of a second (shortest) to 1sec (longest).

White Balance is the function of the camera that corrects for any unwanted colour casts in the image caused by the light sources, ensuring the colour
white is white. Even the most basic point and shoot cameras will allow you to override the automatic settings if your photos are coming out with a colour
cast. DSLR users, white balance is a great reason to shoot in RAW if you have the processing capabilities, as it allows you to set the white balance after
the photo has been taken.

Now get
snapping!

photo credit: Xanthe Berkeley

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