Cameras, off camera flash, mobile phones, laptops, tablets, music devices all rely on batteries to make them portable and convenient for us to take with along in our daily lives. However without adequate battery power, the fun can be short lived. Some batteries can take hours to recharge, so that’s why it’s always a good idea to charge your batteries well before leaving home to avoid disappointment.
It’s all fun and games until someone forgets to recharge their camera batteries!
Regardless of whether you are using a camera phone, compact camera, mirrorless camera or DSLR, having a clean lens will give you the clearest image possible with your camera. A grubby lens with fingerprints, dust and smudges will result in poor images and a lot of frustration. Correct maintenance of your camera and lens is easy and well worth the effort.
One form of photography that I really enjoy is long exposure photography. I find this kind of photography pleasing to view and also a lot of fun to create. Longer exposures allow the photographer to express movement in the final image. If the exposure is long enough, it can give the illusion of flattening out the ripples and waves when photographing water or can create wispy clouds when incorporating skies into the photo. Longer exposures are most often used in landscape photography, architectural or astral photography.
ISO100, f/16, 10 seconds: In this image a 10 second exposure was long enough to capture light trails from the passing cars and tram. Also the small aperture used turns the car headlights and street lights into stars.
The word bokeh comes from the Japanese word for blur. In photography though it is more than this, it’s the quality of the blur. There are certain elements however that determine if it is bokeh, or just plain old blur.
Have you ever looked at a portrait photo in a magazine, book or online and been amazed by the soft out of focus and blurry background. This is usually the result of focusing on your subject and using a wide open aperture. Or in other words, an aperture with a low f/ number. A wide aperture helps to isolate the subject and throw the back ground out of focus. As a rule anything from f/4 and lower will create this effect. Having said that, the lower the f/ number at say f/2, the more the background will be thrown out of focus and look blurry.
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I love to get out of the house to go shoot photos. And I love to just pick the camera up and start shooting with out having to think too much about what setting my camera is on. This is because I know how I left it from the last time I used it. But how can I remember that?
Usually when I am on a photo shoot I am really into what I am doing and by the time I have finished I am really tired and just want to put my camera away. Over time however, I have trained myself to remember to do a few easy things when finished photographing to be ready for the next photo session. These are now my personal “default settings” that I know my camera will be on when I next pick it up.
Fishing Boats at Calella De Palafrugel