Camera Modes: Setting Aperture and Shutter Speed

Camera Modes: Setting Aperture and Shutter Speed
Making a Living as a New Professional Photographer
What’s In My Bag For Wedding Photography?

Posted: 04 May 2013 06:19 PM PDT

You might think that acquiring a $1,000 DSLR makes you a photographer. In truth, the first step down the "photographer road" is switching from auto mode to experimenting in AV, TV, and M. But, what do those letters mean?

Each mode is essentially a different way of controlling exposure, applying ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. A full auto mode means you cede complete control to the camera. This can be fine, but the camera doesn’t really know what it’s looking at and the results can be wildly off. At the other end of the spectrum, M mode–or manual mode–grants the photographer full control over ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Most professional photographers rarely leave M mode. If you are serious about photography, M should be your long-term destination.

“Master At Work” captured by Mark Gower. (Click image to see more from Mark Gower.)

Understanding The Different Modes

Mode settings vary from camera to camera but generally you’ll find:

Full auto (a green rectangle on my camera). The "easy" setting that allows you use your camera like a ‘point-and-shoot’. If you never get beyond it, your camera is probably wasted on you.
P – program. This is auto with the capacity for adjustments to shutter speed and aperture. Marginally more useful than full auto but still something to move beyond.
AV – stands for aperture value, more commonly referred to as aperture priority. This allows you to set the aperture you want, and the camera will decide the shutter speed to attempt the correct exposure. Ultimately you’ll want to graduate beyond AV, too, but it is very useful for experimenting with aperture. Aperture affects depth of focus/field (DoF), one of the photographer’s most creative tools. A large aperture (e.g., f2.8) results in a narrow DoF–think of a portrait in which the eyes are in focus, but the ears are fuzzy. A small aperture (e.g., f22) will result in a wide DoF. Think of Ansel Adams’ landscapes, in which a pebble at the foot of the camera is as sharp as the mountain peak in the distance.
TV – literally time value, better known as shutter priority. This allows the photographer to determine the shutter speed and lets the camera take care of aperture. Why control shutter speed? Shutter speeds can vary from 1/8000 of a second to many hours. Imagine you set a camera up on a tripod next to a busy road at night. You take a ‘long exposure,’ e.g., leave the shutter open for a minute. Anything (or at least anything bright) that moves in front of the camera during that minute will be recorded. Passing cars will be captured as dazzling ribbons of light. At the other extreme, a wildlife photographer might want to freeze the beating of a hummingbird’s wing with a very short shutter speed.

“Combat Photographer” captured by Gagan Dhiman. (Click image to see more from Gagan Dhiman.)

M – manual. In the days of film, M was pretty much restricted to those who knew what they were doing. Film, after all, costs money. One of the joys of digital photography is the freedom it gives to practice–limited only by the size of your memory card. If I’m not using a handheld light meter, I often take a test shot or two in AV or TV mode, see how the exposure looks, and then transfer the settings to M. Working in M, even if you are a beginner, helps familiarize yourself with the all-important numbers: f-stops and shutter speeds. Eventually you might even be able to guess exposure settings.
B – ‘bulb’. The term goes back to the old days of photography when cameras were always propped on tripods, exposures were long, and the shutter was controlled with a handheld shutter release ‘bulb’, which could be squeezed to open or close the shutter. The same principle now applies. Most cameras allow shutter speeds in other modes, as long as 30 seconds. If you need longer–for night shooting–B allows you to open and close the shutter when you like.

Hope these explanations helped you understand camera modes better. Don't be afraid to step out of auto mode and into the wonderful world of manual. The possibilities are endless.

About the Author:
I’m Tom Greenwood (http://www.sydneyportraits.com.au/). I am a people photographer. I love capturing not just faces, but also relationships, hugs, kisses, and even the occasional tear. I’m originally from England, now happily residing in Sydney. Not so long ago I was a journalist in Southeast Asia. After I made the switch to photography I worked as a photojournalist as well as shooting for organisations such as the UN World Food Programme, Oxfam and Save the Children.

For Further Training:

There is a downloadable multimedia tutorial with videos that teaches you how to take control over your camera, and get creative and confident with your photography. By combining illustrations, text, photos and video, it will help you get control in no time. Includes a bonus Field Guide—a printable pocket guide with some of the most essential information beautifully laid out inside.

It can be found here: Extremely Essential Camera Skills

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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Making a Living as a New Professional Photographer

Posted: 04 May 2013 01:55 PM PDT

The decision to make the transition from hobbyist to professional photographer is a difficult one. While most people start their professional photography career on a part time basis, there are some who jump right in from the start. I am in the latter group. The very first time I charged anything for a photo I was a full time professional photographer. I was 31 years old, leaving a career with a six figure income, with a 2 year old son and a big mortgage when I made the jump from amateur to pro. Although it was very challenging at times, I survived and built a thriving business in a few years' time. Well, I shouldn’t say "I" made it, because I had a lot of help from my wife and some other great people on our team, but the main point is that it can be done. How did I do it? The only way I think it is even possible to earn a good living as a new professional photographer…High Volume Photography.

What is High Volume Photography?

High volume photography (referred to from here on as HVP) is simply photographing a high volume of customers at a single location or venue. Think about it, a really good wedding photographer might be able to get $3,000 for a wedding, but not starting out. With HVP, you book one account and get 100 customers to come to you and spend $30 each. Both scenarios are worth $3,000, but would you rather try and hunt down individual wedding customers and convince them to spend a $3000 with you, on your first wedding, or would you rather have multiple customers show up at your picture day and spend $30. To me the answer is easy. If you are trying to hunt down individual wedding customers when you are starting out you will starve. Building a good wedding business takes years if not decades. Even then you are still dependent on the next wedding. If you are really good, word of mouth will keep the business coming, but it is a much harder way to earn a living, especially starting out. If you really love photographing weddings that is great, but if you want to earn a living to support you while you build that business then I suggest high volume photography.

High Volume Photography can be a profitable business for many new professionals.

Types of High Volume Photography

The most recognizable form of HVP is something everyone has experience with, school portraits. Billions of dollars are spent on school portraits every single year. We have seen a drastic shift in the photography industry over the past decade but school portraits are something that I feel are here to stay. While school photography can be a very profitable business, I do not recommend starting out in HVP as a school photographer. School photography is a VERY hard business to break into and it is not a good industry in which to cut your teeth. I recommend getting started in other areas of HVP and you can decide if you want to transition into schools later in your career.

As a new High Volume Photographer is generally easier to break into youth sports photography than school photography.

Another form of HVP is youth sports photography. I started out as a youth sports photographer. Youth sports photographers can earn a really good living while still relatively new in the industry. Also, there are many different options available to purchase a franchise or license the brand of a more experienced company such as Legends Photography. In the interest of full disclosure, I offer a consulting package to help out new companies trying to make it in the HVP market. That said, I will point out the benefits and drawbacks of each of these options. The advantage of a franchise is that you typically get everything you need to get started. You get a fully developed product line, typically a website and a lot of expertise on how to run the business. The disadvantage is that you will be limited in where you can operate your business and franchise fees are typically pretty high. Also, you are locked into their product line alone.

When you license a brand, you get the benefit of brand name recognition and a fully developed product line. The only drawback is that you will typically pay a percentage of your sales to the brand and you will be limited to selling their products only. Purchasing a consulting package like the one we offer has the benefit of getting a lot of the tools and systems that have been tried and proven without giving up a portion of your sales or limiting your operating region. However, you will not get the benefit of brand recognition or prebuilt websites and other tools that may come with franchising or licensing.

Franchising is one option to establish yourself, but be sure to do your research.

In the end, it is all going to come down to what works best for you. The important thing to keep in mind, especially with a franchise, is that you are locked in with them for a long term contract, sometimes as long as 10 years or more. Most franchises have non-compete clauses that prevent you from operating on your own for a few years after your franchise agreement ends as well.

When looking into franchising or licensing it is best to consult an attorney with experience in the field. Also, talk to existing franchisees and find out how they feel about the program. Do not just rely on the people the franchise salesperson has you contact; you should seek out many different franchisees to do your research. The biggest benefit with any of these programs is that they have already made most of the mistakes that you will as a new business, so you can learn from someone else.

You wouldn’t believe the amount of detail necessary to successfully run a single youth sports picture day, much less 10 in one day. On our busiest days of the year we may have 10 shoots going at once with over 20 cameras. It takes time and expertise to be able to do this well. It is well worth the money to get the knowledge and/or brand of a proven high volume photographer when starting out.

Event photography is another way to break into the High Volume Photography arena.

The other main form of HVP is event photography. Event photographers also have the benefit of the paying customers coming to you. There are tons of different types of event photographers ranging from corporate event photographers to prom photographers and everything in between. There are a lot of things to decide with event photography as well like whether to print on-site or develop your products at a lab. All of these things will make a difference in your customer base and your startup costs. The common denominator being that you show up at a venue and the customers come to you. Now that is my kind of business!

I'm not trying to paint too rosy of a picture here to make you think anyone can jump right in and be successful because that's not the case. Also, being a talented photographer isn't nearly as important as being a talented businessperson. Taking pictures is by far the easiest part of high volume photography. There are countless organizational details that go into running a successful high volume photography business and I will be writing a series of articles on some of those details in the coming weeks. My point is that if you are willing to work at it and if you have a good business mind you can do well in HVP.

I will be providing a lot more insight into HVP in future articles so make sure to check back to PictureCorrect.com to learn more about this lucrative business.

About the Author
Andy Stockglausner is a Marine Corps Veteran and he owns MVP Studios and The Marine Corps Gift Shop with his wife Michelle. MVP Studios provides youth sports, event and school photography services all over Southern California. MVP Studios provides high volume photography consulting packages starting at $1,000.

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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

What’s In My Bag For Wedding Photography?

Posted: 04 May 2013 10:18 AM PDT

Wedding photography is a difficult genre to summarize, simply because each wedding is different. In other forms of photography, such as landscape or studio portraiture, you can be pretty sure what equipment you will need to get the job done. Wedding photography is more complicated; one wedding could be outside in the midday sun whilst another could be in a dimly lit church.

The need for “gear” to cover every eventuality is great, and in this article I want to share with you exactly what is in my bag when I shoot a wedding. Before I get into it, I want to confirm that I shoot with two Canon 60D cameras, so my lens choices below are suitable for crop body shooters.

“имаи” captured by Daria Nagovitz. (Click image to see more from Daria Nagovitz .)

Canon 10-22mm

This lens is used sparingly and is perhaps used for only one picture during each wedding! But it’s invaluable because it has an extremely wide angle of view, allowing for great shots of the venue and of unique architecture. I also use this sometimes if the wedding party is especially big, as it allows me to get everyone in the photo without standing too far away.

Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS

The workhorse. This lens is practically glued to one camera for the duration of a wedding, because it is quite simply one of the best lenses Canon has ever made. Its focal range is great, and most importantly, it features image stabilization, which allows for handheld shots in low light. The 17-55 is also great for evening receptions as its focal range allows for candid photos in the tightest of venues.

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II

This lens is expensive but worth it. If you can’t afford it, then I suggest either renting it or getting the 2.8 IS Mark I. Another alternative is to purchase the Sigma 70-200 2.8 OS, which is every bit as good as the Mark I. This focal range is vital for a wedding ceremony, especially when the venue or officiant demands that you stand well away from the couple as they exchange vows. It allows you to stand at the back of the church or on the balcony and still capture intimate moments with ease.

“Dancing” captured by Natalie Milissenta Shmeleva. (Click image to see more from Natalie Milissenta Shmeleva.)

Canon 50mm f/1.4

This is a great lens which costs around $400! Its wide aperture allows low light shooting in the dimmest of receptions. It’s a fantastic portrait lens and great for grabbing shots of the wedding party and guests.

Canon 135mm f/2.0 L

This lens, a “luxury” L series lens, is in my bag to achieve only one type of shot: beauty shots of the bride. The detail, colors and vibrance the lens picks up are second to none. And the bokeh (background blur) is so creamy it almost doesn’t exist!

So there we have it. Five lenses complete my lineup when I attend a wedding. To complement the lenses, I also carry four Canon 430EX II Speedlites, which I place around the reception hall on Manfrotto light stands. I then bounce the flash units off the ceiling while the reception is underway. They allow me to get shots I would never have been able to capture in darkly lit halls. Finally, I carry an array of SD memory cards, ranging from 4GB to 16GB, and a host of spare camera and flash batteries.

“***” captured by Natalie Milissenta Shmeleva. (Click image to see more from Natalie Milissenta Shmeleva.)

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about what I carry to weddings in my camera bag, and I hope this list helps you set your own gear bag in order.

About The Author:
Stewart McKay is a Scotland Wedding Photographer who shoots a mix of classical and contemporary wedding photography designed to tell the story of a wedding in a timeless manner. He has shot weddings from Scotland to as far away as South Korea and is focused on delivering not only amazing photographs but excellent customer service.

For Further Training on Wedding Photography:

Check out Simple Wedding Photography, it covers everything you need to know to photograph a wedding and the business behind it. From diagrams of where you should stand throughout the ceremony to advice on all the final deliverables to the client. This 200 page ebook will be useful to wedding photographers of any experience level. It also carries a 60 day guarantee, so there is no risk in trying it.

It can be found here: Simple Wedding Photography eBook

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