My First Attempt At HDR.

Well, here it is, my first HDR. Composed from 3 images each 2 f/stops apart. The picture is of a pot pourri bowl, yes, not the most lively of subjects but it had great colours. I’m quite please with how the image turned out.

The full size image can be seen Here.

Any feedback appreciated.

Understanding Aperture

What is Aperture?

Aperture can be defined (in photography) as being a “hole or opening through which light is emitted”. But how is this applied in modern photography. Well, put simply, Aperture’s main use in photography is to control the depth of field (DOF) but Aperture is also used in conjunction with your Camer’a shutter speed to control exposure. For those that don’t know, the definition of depth of field is the distance in front and behind an object which remains to be in focus.

Therefore a larger depth of field keeps more of the image in focus and a smaller depth of field focuses on one main part of an image (the focal point) leaving more of the image out of focus.

How is Aperture Measured?

Aperture is measure in f/stops or f/numbers. The lower the f/stop, the greater the aperture (size of the hole that light can pass through) the smaller the depth of field. Therefore more of the image will be out of focus than on a higher Aperture setting.

Therefore, the higher the f/stop, the smaller the aperture and the greater the depth of field. Meaning more of the image will be in focus.

Wow! Now I understand Aperture, how can i use it?

Typically, larger aperatures are used when you want the most of the image in focus, Landscape photography, HDR etc. A smaller aperature are more often used when a photographer only wants a viewer to focus on his chosen subject/focal point, macro photography is a prominent example.

The principles of aperture can also be applied with more creative photography and can produce some interesting and unique effects.

How do i change the aperture on my camera?

Before we move any further, please understand that aperture of course works with shutter speed, so for know i would suggest that whilst practicing this technique, that you shoot in Aperture Priority Mode, (Av). This allows you to set the aperture, and the camera will choose a suitable shutter speed. This feature is avaiable on pretty much every modern DSLR.

There are too many cameras on the market for me to list how to change the aperture on each. But the appropiate information will be available in your camera’s manual. I might later post a short snippet on how to change the aperture on a popular enthusiast camera. Such as the EOS 400D.

If you have found this tutorial useful, please share with your friends, fell welcome to link here from a forum etc. I will be releasing many moer tutorials and if your interested in learning more about photography subscribe to the RSS feed and be alerted whenever a new post is uploaded. To suscribe to the sites RSS feed, simply click the link in the side bar. I hope to see you again soon!

Comments are also appreciated as it proves to me that someone found the tutorial useful.

A New Lens!

It isn’t often that a 15 year old, un-employed student can afford to splash out on a new lens, but that day came today. Walking into my local camera shop to buy an ND Grad Filter, i found my self walking out with not only my new filter, but a new Sigma 70-300m F4-5.6 APO DG MACRO. Aswell as a hoya UV filter for my custom.

Not a bad day eh? Has anyone else got this lens? I’ve only played around with it in the garden so far. But it’s lookin pretty promising. I snapped some great macro shots from 10-20ft away.

A Brilliant Site For Free-lance Webdesigners.

Looking to wet your tongue in the webdesigning world? I came across a site today, 99designs.com

Bascially it’s a graphics competition website. We’re companies in need of new layouts, logo, promotional designs hold competitions. Where anyone registered to the site can enter. The prize pots are usually quite large, $200+ for a logo etc.

In my opinion this is a great way to ‘wet your beak’ in the designing world as it where and find out how you stack up against other designers.

I haven’t joined the site yet but certianly intend on doing so tomorrow. I’m pretty busy tonight and it is 2:15am.

If anybody knows of any website similar, i’d love to find out about it. Leave a comment :D

My Rights?

I’ve been wondering for a while, am i breaking the law when photographins certain objects, buildings, people? Am i breaking copyright law when photographing something with a logo in it? I was told by a friend the other day i could even be breaking the official secrets act when photographing some buildings. I’m going to be researching alot into this over the next few days and expect a follow up report soon!.

If you know of any laws or have any useful information, leave a comment. I’ll make sure to credit you if the information is used!