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Hey guys!
Within the last year I dove headfirst into photography, and some of the recent "Post photos of your speakers" thread reminded me a lot of the pictures I used to take. Getting a fancy pants camera and making friends with a professional photographer has taught me a lot, and there's some real basic stuff you can do if you want to improve the quality of your photos. This is all fairly basic info, but it made a dramatic difference in the pictures I was taking when I was starting out and I thought I'd post the advice here. If you're just documenting a project then these aren't all that big of a deal, but if you are trying to show off your best work then these might be of interest to you.
TIPS FOR TAKING BETTER PICTURES OF YOUR SPEAKERS
1) DO NOT USE FLASH!
Do your best to avoid using the built-in flash in your point and shoot camera. The built-in flash provides very direct light, and you will generally get the best results with soft, diffuse lighting. A pair of floorstanding incandescent or halogen torchiere lamps work great for soft indoor lighting, and you probably have one if not more in your house already. Another great alternative is taking your photos outdoors on an overcast day. Try to avoid glaring light sources like overhead light cans and open windows with the sun shining through. These will cause hard shadows and reflections off glossy surfaces in your photos.
2) SHOOT IN APERTURE PRIORITY MODE
You will probably want to take your pictures using "Aperture Priority" mode on your camera. Increasing the aperture / lowering the F-stop number increases the amount of light that passes through the lens: the lower the F stop number, the wider the aperture and the more light the lens is gathering. Because we are not using flash, you will want to use a wider aperture / lower F-stop number. In aperture priority mode, you set the aperture setting and the camera automatically adjust the shutter speed to get a properly exposed image. See your camera manual for how to select aperture priority mode and how to adjust your aperture settings. Note: using a wider aperture (lowering your F-stop) also makes your depth of field more shallow. This won't be an issue with most point and shoot cameras as their widest aperture is usually somewhat limited, but it is something to be aware of. If your camera has very low f-stop capability (f/2.8 or lower) the shallow depth of field can be used to great artistic effect if you are going for that sort of thing.
3) CHANGE YOUR ISO SETTING AS NEEDED
ISO is the sensitivity of the image sensor in the camera. It's the "amplifier volume control" inside your camera. The higher the ISO setting, the more sensitive the sensor is to light falling on it. Since you are trying to avoid using flash, you will want to lower your f-stop (to get more light) and increase your ISO (to increase sensitivity to the light you get). At very high ISO settings your camera will start introducing noise into the image. Depending on the quality of the sensor in your camera, this may be noticeable as early as ISO 400 or not noticeable at all until ISO 1000 or beyond. Without flash you will want to use a high ISO, but don't "crank it to 11".
4) DO NOT USE DIGITAL ZOOM!
Stay within the optical zoom range of your camera, and try to avoid being at either the maximum or minimum range of your optical zoom. Less expensive point and shoot cameras will introduce either significant pincussion or barrel distortion depending on your zoom setting, resulting in an apparent bowing of straight lines. If this happens, play with your zoom setting and just take two steps either forwards or backwards to get everything back in frame.
Hope these simple tips help! I love seeing you guy's work and if I can do anything to help you show it off more, just ask!
Within the last year I dove headfirst into photography, and some of the recent "Post photos of your speakers" thread reminded me a lot of the pictures I used to take. Getting a fancy pants camera and making friends with a professional photographer has taught me a lot, and there's some real basic stuff you can do if you want to improve the quality of your photos. This is all fairly basic info, but it made a dramatic difference in the pictures I was taking when I was starting out and I thought I'd post the advice here. If you're just documenting a project then these aren't all that big of a deal, but if you are trying to show off your best work then these might be of interest to you.
TIPS FOR TAKING BETTER PICTURES OF YOUR SPEAKERS
1) DO NOT USE FLASH!
Do your best to avoid using the built-in flash in your point and shoot camera. The built-in flash provides very direct light, and you will generally get the best results with soft, diffuse lighting. A pair of floorstanding incandescent or halogen torchiere lamps work great for soft indoor lighting, and you probably have one if not more in your house already. Another great alternative is taking your photos outdoors on an overcast day. Try to avoid glaring light sources like overhead light cans and open windows with the sun shining through. These will cause hard shadows and reflections off glossy surfaces in your photos.
2) SHOOT IN APERTURE PRIORITY MODE
You will probably want to take your pictures using "Aperture Priority" mode on your camera. Increasing the aperture / lowering the F-stop number increases the amount of light that passes through the lens: the lower the F stop number, the wider the aperture and the more light the lens is gathering. Because we are not using flash, you will want to use a wider aperture / lower F-stop number. In aperture priority mode, you set the aperture setting and the camera automatically adjust the shutter speed to get a properly exposed image. See your camera manual for how to select aperture priority mode and how to adjust your aperture settings. Note: using a wider aperture (lowering your F-stop) also makes your depth of field more shallow. This won't be an issue with most point and shoot cameras as their widest aperture is usually somewhat limited, but it is something to be aware of. If your camera has very low f-stop capability (f/2.8 or lower) the shallow depth of field can be used to great artistic effect if you are going for that sort of thing.
3) CHANGE YOUR ISO SETTING AS NEEDED
ISO is the sensitivity of the image sensor in the camera. It's the "amplifier volume control" inside your camera. The higher the ISO setting, the more sensitive the sensor is to light falling on it. Since you are trying to avoid using flash, you will want to lower your f-stop (to get more light) and increase your ISO (to increase sensitivity to the light you get). At very high ISO settings your camera will start introducing noise into the image. Depending on the quality of the sensor in your camera, this may be noticeable as early as ISO 400 or not noticeable at all until ISO 1000 or beyond. Without flash you will want to use a high ISO, but don't "crank it to 11".
4) DO NOT USE DIGITAL ZOOM!
Stay within the optical zoom range of your camera, and try to avoid being at either the maximum or minimum range of your optical zoom. Less expensive point and shoot cameras will introduce either significant pincussion or barrel distortion depending on your zoom setting, resulting in an apparent bowing of straight lines. If this happens, play with your zoom setting and just take two steps either forwards or backwards to get everything back in frame.
Hope these simple tips help! I love seeing you guy's work and if I can do anything to help you show it off more, just ask!
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