Little Girl

Kardynn and I pulled into a parking space at the gym.

Me: Are you going to put on your sweater, little girl?
K: Yes, big mama!

Um...point taken...I will now stop calling you little girl.

What the F...F-stop, that is

When I took my very first photography class (gosh...was it really twenty years ago?!), one of the things that made a huge impression on me was aperture. It was exciting to learn that I could achieve the look I desired by changing the aperture. 

Per Wikipedia, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels.  In photography this is obviously the lens.  You've probably seen this diagram before - it's a great illustration of what happens to your lens as the aperture changes.  When your lens is "wide open" (i.e. f/1.4), it's letting in a ton of light.  Or you can "stop down" to a higher f-stop (i.e. f/11) and there's less light getting through.
 

The thing to remember about aperture is that the more open it is, the shorter the depth of field.  Someone once used an illustration to help make sense of that.  Have you ever squinted when you're trying to see something far away?  That's how your camera works. When the aperture gets narrow, more of the image is in focus; the wider the aperture, the less of the image in focus.

Now, you can make your camera's sensor more or less sensitive to the light by increasing or decreasing the ISO.  Back in the day of film cameras, you would control this by the type of film that you purchased.  I typically bought 200 or 400 speed film, depending on whether I thought I'd be taking the pictures primarily inside or outside. The wonderful thing about digital is that you're not locked into a particular ISO for a set number of prints, like we used to be back then.  Now you can change the ISO whenever you want.  The thing to remember is that the higher the ISO, the less light you need, but the grainier your final image will be.  I have an example of an image that I love, but it's quite grainy because I shot it at a high ISO (for the camera that I was using).  There are lots of problems with this photo - it has a crazy color cast and like I said, it's grainy, but it's an authentic shot of my husband so I love it.

ISO 3200

One final note about ISO: did you catch my little caveat up there when I said "for the camera I was using"?  Not all cameras are created equal.  The above shot was taken at 3200 with my Nikon D40.  If I were to take the same shot at the same ISO with my Nikon D7000, it'd be a completely different story.  One of the reasons my Nikon D7000 was more than twice as expensive as my D40, was because it's much better at handling low light.  So the point is, know your camera.  Play around with it at high ISOs and get to know what it does.

Okay, moving on, the final variable is how long the shutter stays open. The longer the shutter stays open, the more light that gets through the lens.  So if you have a slow shutter speed at f/1.4 then a ton of light is getting through the lens.  If you have a fast shutter speed at f/16, not much light is getting through the lens, right?  So of course the trick to getting a nicely exposed photo is finding the right balance between these two things.  Fortunately for us, modern cameras make this pretty easy for us.  On an SLR camera, there's an exposure meter inside the camera.  In my Nikon camera, at the bottom of the viewfinder, there's something that kind of looks like this:

+  | | | | 0          -     or maybe like this     +         0 | | | |   -

That's the exposure meter.  In theory, those lines to the left of the "0" mean that the image is over-exposed and those lines to the right of the "0" indicate that the image is under-exposed. I say "in theory" because there are a few other things that can throw the exposure off but for now let's just leave it at that - we can get into the exceptions later.  Understanding how your camera is metering and how much light your subject is reflecting back will help you expose your image more accurately.

There is one point I want you to consider.  Even though your camera shutter can stay open for a very long time to let in a lot of light, you have to remember that if the camera moves at all, it will make the image blurry.  If you're hand-holding the camera, you can only hold the camera so steady.  I've always had it in my head that you shouldn't really expect to hand hold the camera for more than 1/60th of a second.  But that's probably because I started out using a 35mm camera with a 50mm lens.  It's actually relative to the focal length.  In other words, if you have a zoom lens, it's easier to hold the camera steady when it's wide open, as opposed to when you're zoomed in.  Have you already noticed that?  And let's be honest, you as the operator plays a big factor.  I think I can hold the camera steadier than some people can.  I will frequently brace the camera on myself or on stationary objects around me.  This is something you have to kind of figure out for yourself and just be aware of it.  I recently attended a class by a renowned but elderly photographer and he admitted that he can longer hold the camera as steady as he once could.  So you just have to understand your limitations and what you and your camera are capable of.

If you want to learn more, you can start at Digital Photo School's article about shutter speed.


ASSIGNMENT:
For this week, I'd like you to flip that mode dial to Manual, if it's not already there.  Practice exposing the image using the camera's light meter.  Change the ISO from something low like 400 to whatever is high, for your camera.  Pay attention to the difference in shutter speed and/or aperture as well as the clarify of the images.  If you're using a zoom lens, notice the change in shutter speed as you zoom the lens in and out.

Framing for Privacy

This weekend I snapped this photo of my daughter and her friend through the window. I could have easily kept the window panes out but I left them in.  Why? 

I didn't give it much thought at the time but in retrospect, I think it's my attempt to convey that I am not a part of their moment.

As I sit here studying this photo, I realized that I frequently do this.  I zoom out the lens and then frame the photo with something between myself and the subject....my way of giving the subjects their "space". 

I'm not sure that any of these are great executions of the theory but it's interesting to realize that I've subconsciously been doing this.  I definitely love capturing authentic interactions, which is easier to do when people aren't aware of you taking photos.  A while ago my brother suggested that I could be a paparazzi.  I was taken aback by his suggestion but I guess I can see how he got the idea.

Red Rocket

The other day I surprised my children (and myself, for that matter) by letting them do something slightly dangerous.  I had to chuckle when I overheard Oskar telling Annika, "I didn't think Mom would let me do this but she did."  I did caution them about the dangers of jack-knifing and tumbling over the front of the wagon but then I let them be kids and have some fun.

Here we are, a week later, and I'm beating myself up for not making them put on helmets.  I actually didn't think of it at the time.  (Though, ever since my friend's daughter had to be flown by helicopter to Fairfax Hosp, after a minor fall on her scooter, I don't like to take chances with head injuries.)  But on the flip side, there is a part of me that knows that I probably smother them way too much.  Ugh!  I wish I could have an objective perspective on these sorts of things.  It's easy for me to get bogged down in the "What Ifs".

Fortunately no one was injured and they had a blast.  (And for anyone who is truly concerned for their safety, you'll be relieved to know that I had to use a V-E-R-Y slow shutter speed to show some action. Oh, I should include a disclaimer: professional photographer, don't try this at home.)

 

Camera 101

Over the years I've had many a person joke that they were going to have me show them how to use their camera.  And I always say that I would be happy to do that - and I'm very sincere about that.  It would make me feel great to know that I had helped someone improve their photography. But no one has ever taken me up on it.  I think it's because my friends all know that I can be a bit chatty.  So I suspect that they're probably terrified that once they get me started on a topic I'm so passionate about, I will never stop. *ha* So I thought it was safer for me to write some photography tips. That way, if you get overwhelmed, you can just stop.  Plus, if your life is anything like mine, I'm guessing you don't have a lot of time. So I'll do my best to keep this short.  We'll just tackle one thing at a time...maybe have a weekly assignment.  ??  What do you think?  And you can take one photo or 10 or even 100.  It's totally up to you.  I just want to help you understand your camera better - the more you know about the tools on your camera, the easier it is to get your pictures the way you want them.

I've been trying to think of a good place to start and I think the most logical place is the mode dial.  Most cameras have a fairly similar mode dial. There are usually some letters and some pictures. I think most people start out with "Auto" mode (it's probably the green one).  Auto mode basically just means you're letting the camera make all the decisions.  Fortunately today's cameras are pretty smart so you can get pretty good snapshots this way.  They may not always turn out the way you want, however. So if you want to have more control over the results, you can switch out of Auto mode.  Most cameras have some scene selections - portrait, landscape, babies, sports and macro.  Those all seem fairly intuitive so I'm not going to explain what they do. But the great thing is that once you understand how your camera works, you can accomplish these same results by controlling the aperture and shutter speed yourself.

Let me share a quick story. When I first got my dSLR I put that puppy on Auto and just let it do it's thing.  I marveled at Auto mode because that's something my first SLR certainly didn't have. Another thing my first SLR didn't have was an on-camera flash.  Auto mode and flash made my life so easy. I could take pictures anywhere...and I was perfectly happy with my snapshots.  I was documenting our lives with gusto.  It didn't take long for my husband to start criticizing my "deer-in-the-headlights" flash shots.  I think he was primarily motivated by his dislike for having the blinding light go off in his direction. But in my heart of hearts, I knew he was right. I had a fancy, shmancy dSLR but I was using it exactly how I had used my point-and-shoot camera. I wasn't really taking advantage of my camera's capabilities.

So I switched my camera mode to no flash mode.  (The flash symbol is the one that looks like a little lighting bolt.  Therefore, "no flash mode" is the one that looks like a lightning bold with a line through it.)  When I stopped using the flash, I became a little fanatical and stopped using the flash altogether. Eventually I realized that Program mode (P) gave me a few more options and therefore more control, but the camera would still take care of the aperture and shutter speed for me. 

Now, I'm a sucker for shallow depth of field (which means that I like it when the background is blurry) so I quickly went from Program mode to Aperture Priority (A on Nikons and Av on Canons).  In Aperture Priority mode, I could tell the camera to stay down around f/4 and let it pick the correct shutter speed.  (If your eyes have started to glaze over now that I'm talking about f stops, don't worry, I'll get to that in the next installment.) 

Shallow depth of field

I also love panning so in that case, I would switch to Shutter Priority (S on Nikons and Tv on Canons) and pick the shutter speed, and just let the camera find the correct aperture.

Panning, to capture the motion

Another example of panning

Eventually I decided I wanted even more control over the exposure so I switched to Manual mode (M).  Sometimes I still wander back to one of the other modes.  I'm not as speedy with Manual mode because the exposure is constantly changing.  But in general that's where I shoot.

Okay, that's all we're going to talk about for today.  I just want you to have a basic understanding of the different modes on your camera and what they do.  Eventually we'll get into more details like ISO, and metering and aperture but for now we're keeping it simple.

ASSIGNMENT:
This week's assignment is to switch that camera out of Auto mode and play around with it.  I'd suggest switching to Aperture mode and play around with different apertures and see what a difference it makes.  Compare the background at f/3.5 to the background at f/9 and f/16.

Sorting Socks

I've mentioned laundry before. I'm probably kind of weird in that I sort of like doing laundry.  I plop myself in front of a TV and start watching trashy television, completely guilt free.  Because I figure that as long as I'm working, no one has any business judging me for watching Forensic Factor, or Forensic Files, or Law & Order: SVU or even Dance Moms.  I'm hard at work, people.  Of course the one tricky part is that I can't have any of the kids around, so the funny thing is that this is frequently what I do with my magical two hours of child-free time that happens three times a week.  I sit there and fold clothes while watching child-inappropriate television.  We'll leave the psycho-analysis of what that says about me for another post.  So anyway, back to the laundry, I've already mentioned that I'm an overzealous sorter and I've also mentioned that I'm a very neat fold-er.  Being a little OCD comes in handy when you're doing laundry.

But there is one laundry task that I abhor - sorting socks. I don't think I have always detested sorting socks but now that I'm the mother of four young children, the unpleasant aspects of this task have grown exponentially.  You might think that I'm being a little dramatic, in which case I will venture a guess that you don't have to sort socks for four children...four children whose socks are not so very different from each other.  I've tried buying them different styles - which helps - but unfortunately my children not only foil me by putting holes in their socks, they're also growing.  So the socks get passed down from one to the next (if they make it that long) and that makes it extra confusing.

But this week I've come up with what I'm hoping will be a clever solution.  I bought four lingerie bags which I've labeled with a sharpie. I told the kids to put their dirty socks and underwear in the bags (because sorting underwear for three little girls is not fun either). Today I washed two of their bags and it worked great. I didn't have to tax my brain trying to remember whose socks are whose plus it made finding the mates that much easier. I imagine the trick will be getting the kids to keep putting their socks and underwear into the bags.  But so far, so good. 

Discovery

This morning I got to see the Discovery Space Shuttle being transferred to the Udvar Hazy Museum here in Dulles, Virginia.  I posted a few photos to Flickr.  Check them out at this URL.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/hezro/sets/72157629838953809/  When I have a little more time, I'll embed some of them into this post.

 

Scavenger Hunt

On the last day of Spring Break, I decided to put together an "Amazing Race"-inspired activity for my kids.  We invited some friends and set off to solve clues and discover some new places.  It was a bright, sunny day so not optimal conditions for photos.  Between that and a large group of kids without much patience for photos, these are not the best snapshots you'll ever see.  But I think the kids had a fun time and that's what really mattered.  (Though properly exposed photos would have been a nice bonus!)

While solving the clues, the kids had to complete a "Connect Four" challenge of various different photographs.  One of the photographs was to shake hands with a dog.  So here they are shaking hands with Maynard.

Next was a picture with an ice cream cone.

And then a building with a stone wall.

They hit the jackpot with this shopping center because there was also a barber pole.  This didn't give them a Connect Four but it gave them a good start, for sure.

We went to the Rust Nature Sanctuary, where we found this cool giant nest, amongst other things.

 

 

They were supposed to make a triangle in front of this pond, which believe it or not, was quite the ordeal. But they finally got it.

They all vied to read the clues.

 

At the Skateboard Park in Leesburg.

 

The train at Wegmans.

With organic clothing.

With yummy YanYan.

 

 With a lawn ornament.

First attempt at getting all the teammates in midair.

Second attempt.

Third attempt.

The photographer gives up.

Next we made a video of  "touchdown victory dances" at the Redskins Training Facility.  Then we found a pond where they did their best fish impression.

The final destination turned out to be my favorite.  At a local golf course, we stopped by the pro desk to see if we could go out to an old graveyard site on the course. They said we could and actually let us go there in golf carts. We had two kids to a cart, so two of the employees very generously helped me get the 6 kids out there.

We're finished!  Woo hoo!