But only in the land of the blind that is called ‘Photography’, where some friends of mine live and in which I’m the one-eyed woman. It is lonely at the top, so I’ve written a short and simple photography course, very aptly titled ‘In the land of the blind…’, for my loyal subjects, who each recently acquired a nifty digital SLR camera and hadn’t a clue what to do with it other than taking photos using the automatic setting. But that is not why someone buys a camera with lots and lots and then even more lots of possibilities.
Yesterday one of these friends came here to practice her photography skills together with the Queen herself. Ahum. We called it: Lesson One – Aperture, and while enjoying a cup of tea and some homemade cookies (made by hubs who is the King in the land of the blind that is called cookie-baking), I explained the difference in aperture settings and focus, with the emphasis on a small F number for close-ups and then we went into the garden to see if my explanation had made any sense at all. The weather was perfect. Very sunny (and very cold too, but it is winter) and dry.
I haven’t seen her photos yet, but these are some of the shots I took myself. And apparently I do know what I’m talking about. The only thing is… have I been able to explain it well enough to someone else? I can’t wait to see her shots.
F5.6, focus on the first apple.
F5.6, focus on the second apple.
See the difference?
We did the same exercise, using the fence around our field as a subject.
I know. You’re amazed.
My kingdom has many gates and fences. Here’s another one. Nice, non? Looks like the head of little guy with a pointy hat. A small gate-keeper perhaps?
On our photohunt in the garden, Mozes, one of my loyal subjects from my other country ‘Furrytailland’, followed us around, hoping to convince us that he would be a magnificent subject for a photo or two.
Doing the look-at-me-I’m-a-gorgeous-cat-stare at friend who ignored him, because she was taking photos of a tree. I couldn’t resist of course.
He then did the look-at-me-I-can-climb-a-tree-and-descend-elegantly-too-trick.
“Did you get that?”
“Good. I can climb a tree with two paws in my nose of course. Easy-peasy.”
“I’m pretty comfy here. Might stay here for a while.”
“Did you see how high up I was?”
“Wait! What’s that I see?!”
So I looked what he had spotted and it was a deer! And I had my camera with me. That only happened once before. I often see deer. I often have my camera with me. But only once before I’ve seen a deer and had my camera with me. Hopefully next time I will have my 70-300mm lens on my camera in stead of my 17-85mm. But hey, you can’t have everything. And besides. Where would you keep it all.
What a lovely post. It was super to follow your lesson, and, yes, it was perfectly easy to understand. Wonderful F-stops!
ReplyDeleteI had a cat like that. She was so proud of her tree-climbing prowess, she would sometimes call me to come out of the house and see.
@ Katherine: See, to me a screaming cat in a tree means: 'Call the Fire Brigade!!!' LOL
ReplyDeleteI've never had a cat that couldn't get down. Perhaps it's a lazy ploy on the cat's behalf, of cruel lazy-fare (ha ha) on mine.
ReplyDeleteof = or
ReplyDeleteWell, first off, I was eating an apple as I stopped by here to read, so that was an interesting coincidence. Handsome cat, too. I love black (or mostly black) cats.
ReplyDeleteNow, I don't understand about the f. I get how you're supposed to focus on different things, but you seem to be giving (unless I'm really blind, and that's why I take such hideous photographs) the same numbers below each photo. Am I missing something? So, does the f have nothing to do with focus?
(I'm not trying to be difficult, Carolina. I truly am ignorant about it.)
@ Suldog: The F-number (or f-number, whatever) has to do with the lens opening. The smaller the F-number, the wider the lens opening and the less sharpness there is in the depth of the photo. I'm not quite sure what the technical terms for all this are in English, but I hope I can make it clear anyway. I use the Av setting on my camera, in which A stands for Aperture. In this setting, the camera will choose the shutter speed for me in order to get a photo with the right amount of light.
ReplyDeleteSo... F5.6 (small number) is a wide lens opening and that means that everything behind (and in front) of the subject I've focussed on will be unclear. Which is a nice effect in portraits (focus on the face and not on the surroundings) or close-ups (of a flower, apple, insect). F32 for instance, means a small lens opening and lots of sharpness in the background of the image. If I make a portrait of someone in front of a bookcase, because he/she's an avid reader, I will choose a larger F-number to show the background sharp too. Also for photos of landscapes a larger F-number will be a better choice.
But, and it's a big but, you need enough light, a steady hand or a tripod, if you want to take a photo with F32. The smaller the lens opening, the less light will 'fall' into the camera, the longer the shutter speed will be to get a shot that has the right amount of light on it. This may be lesson 2 in the 'In the land of the blind...' photography course ;-)
Most point-and-shoot cameras have settings that do this automatically. If you choose the picture of the face or flower that is on the 'settings-button' that probably is somewhere on such a camera, it will adjust its lens opening (wider). Most people don't bother choosing different settings, but it really makes a difference to a photo.
But I don't understand? Aren't digital cameras for pointing and shooting?
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew what you know?
I'm not much good at photography if it's not point and shoot. Your photos are wonderful. Wish I knew how to do a better job like you do.
ReplyDeleteKeep this up, Carolina, and I might have to go out and buy a more expensive camera with manual settings and multiple lenses...
ReplyDelete...and a cat
Yes... I'm guilty but only since getting my DSLR when I had my old Nikon I used it all manually but need a refresher course. I LOVE the photos of Moses... my Max does the tree thing too, so cute.
ReplyDelete@ Gaby: Well, my dear Gaby, I'm currently doing a refresher course on my blog for DSLR camera owners, who haven't a clue (anymore) about how to use the different settings. It's called 'In the land of the blind...'. Perhaps you'll find some useful tips and tricks to get you started again?
ReplyDeleteYeah, Moses likes showing off his tree climbing skills. He's a real boy, hehe. I'm guessing by the name that your Max is a boy too. Our girl cats don't feel the need to run up and down trees so much.