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Shadows in Photography – How Seeing the Shadows Helps You Understand the Light

14 Dec

The post Shadows in Photography – How Seeing the Shadows Helps You Understand the Light appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

There are many great quotes about the relationship and importance of light to photography. You’ve read how the very word photography is rooted in the Greek terms meaning “writing with light.” You likely have heard of groups of photographers like Canon’s “Explorers of Light.” Yet while we focus attention on the component of light, we sometimes fail to recognize the importance of areas without light, the shadows in a photograph. As there can be no yin without yang, photography also must “embrace the Tao”, the duality of both light and shadows in photography.

Let’s explore the relationship in this article on shadows in photography.

The left side is Yin, the right is Yang. As with photography, the shadow has a spot of light within it, the light a spot of shadow. Good photographers understand the “Tao,” the dual nature of light and shadow and use both to enhance their work.

Yin and Yang in the rocks as light falls across the land.

More Yin and Yang as light and shadow play across the Bruneau Dunes in Idaho.

You find what you seek

Beginning photography students are taught to see and seek the light. Sometimes they fail to realize that to better see the effects of light, it can sometimes be easier to look at the shadows.

We use terms like hard and soft to describe the quality of light when what we are really describing is the line between light and shadow. A sharp delineation between light and shadow, that’s what we call hard light. A very gradual transition between the two and that’s soft light. We need to look at both light and shadow to fully understand.

As with many things, you will begin to see…really see…what is there once you start to look for it. Taking your camera out with the express intention of capturing shadows in photography is a great way to seek and see the light.

Image: Sometimes the photo comes to you. When the morning light came through the Venetian blinds, an...

Sometimes the photo comes to you. When the morning light came through the Venetian blinds, and I saw this, I went for my camera.

Shadow seasons and times

It’s late November as I write this, and at my latitude – about 43-degrees north – we’re getting into winter. The days are growing shorter, and the shadows are growing longer. With the winter solstice approaching on December 21, the sun will be the lowest in the sky for us in the northern hemisphere. For my friends down under in the southern hemisphere, that same day will be the longest and the middle of summer.

Of course, the time of day plays a big part in that too, regardless of the time of year. One reason photographers favor early morning and late afternoon/evening is not just for the golden hour, but for the low light angle and more dramatic shadows.

Yes, you will find shadows at any time of the day, but their size and characteristics will vary with time of day and time of year.

When the days grow short, the shadows grow long.

Then there’s artificial light. You can’t control the sun, but you can control artificial light sources. You can control their intensity, color, and direction, and with the use of modifiers, the quality of shadows.

With regard to shadows, remember that the hardness/softness of shadows is a factor of the size of the light source relative to the size of the subject.

A softbox makes for soft shadows because it increases the size of the light source relative to the size of the subject. You will also get softer shadows when you move the light closer to the subject (which also increases its relative size).

You can learn more about the qualities of light in my previous article, “How to Understand Light and Color to Improve your Photography.”

All photos contain both light and shadow. Seeing it, and learning to best use it, is the key.

Can you study this photo and figure out, by looking at the shadows, how the light was used?

The shadow shows

Looking at a photo, studying the shadows can tell you about:

Direction

Look at a photo and study where the shadows are falling. The light source will be exactly opposite from the directions the shadows fall or from the darkest side of the subject.

The subtle gradation of light and shadow gives shape and form to these apples.

Shape and form

The way light and shadows fall, give us clues as to the shape of a subject. Photography is a 2D medium we use to capture a 3D world, and light and shadow help add depth, dimension, and form to subjects.

Photograph an egg with the light source directly coming from the same direction the camera is pointing, and you will see a two-dimensional oval with little clue as to the depth of the egg.

Now move the light to a 45-degree angle, and the shadow will begin to give evidence to the true shape of the egg.

Move the light 90-degrees to the camera direction, and your perception changes again.

Whatever the subject, the direction of the light, and the areas in shadow are our clues to interpreting our subject.

Low cross-lighting brings out the texture of these subjects with harsh light and shadow gradation.

Texture

Often we want to control how textured a subject looks in our photo. For some subjects, we may wish to emphasize the texture as much as possible. Hard light raking the subject from the side, behind, above, or below the subject will increase apparent texture by creating both lit and shadow areas.

Sometimes we want minimal texture, perhaps when making portraits. Large light sources like softboxes or nature’s lightbox, the sky on an overcast day, will soften shadows and minimize texture.

Want drama? Find a way to use the light and shadow creatively in your photo.

Mood and drama

What is in light and shadow, what is bright and dark, how and where the shadows fall – all of these work together to communicate the mood of an image.

This is another example of learning to see how both light and shadow work together.

Note how non-traditional side lighting adds drama to these portraits.

We can also use light and shadow as we make portraits.

Standard three-point studio lighting can make for a pleasing portrait. Still, when we want to emphasize shape, form, texture, or create an edgier, moodier portrait, we will want to look at more dramatic light and, in particular, how light and shadow interplay.

Image: Photographers travel the world to photograph the Palouse country in eastern Washington State....

Photographers travel the world to photograph the Palouse country in eastern Washington State. The play of light and shadow on the rolling hills is the main attraction.

Same shot, one color, one monochrome. Note how the simpler mono image is more about the lines, shapes, and tones.

Color vs monochrome

If you have worked much with monochrome photography, you may know that one reason for choosing it over color photography is that without the added distraction of color in the image, a monochrome image can be more about the lines, texture, and tones in the photograph.

When doing shadow photography, you may also be looking for an emphasis on those same things. So, if you are unaccustomed to making monochrome images, you may wish to give it a try when doing shadow photography as the two techniques often complement one another.

The shadows are as much the subject as the other objects in these photos.

The shadow as the subject

All photographs will have areas of light and shadow.

A good photographer will pay attention to how both work together to enhance their image. Sometimes, however, instead of simply having shadows be a component in your photo, you may want to try making shadows THE subject – the main focus of your image.

I said that you find what you seek, and going out with the specific mission of capturing shadows in photography is a great way to learn to see shadows better and understand light.

Let’s look at some examples of shadows in photography.

Image: In the image on the left, the shadows enhance the subjects. In the photo on the right, the sh...

In the image on the left, the shadows enhance the subjects. In the photo on the right, the shadows ARE the subject.

Go out with the intent of taking shadows in photography and you’ll find some interesting compositions.

Early morning or late afternoon when the light is low is a great time to go “shadow hunting.”

“A Little Fork Music.” Shadows can surprise you. See the hand strumming a guitar?

Seek and see shadows in photography

So now it’s all yours… get out there with your camera and go on a shadow hunt. You’ve always heard that photographers should seek the light. “Mr. Kodak,” George Eastman obviously knew a thing or two about photography and he said –

Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography. – George Eastman

I heartily endorse his advice. However, I would also suggest that while you learn about the “Yang,” the light, you do not overlook the “Yin,” the shadows. They are immutably entwined, two sides of the same coin, both to be, to use Eastman’s words, embraced, admired, loved, and known.

To practice capturing shadows in photography will help you become a better photographer. When you see the shadows, you will also see the light.

Do you have any other tips for capturing shadows in photography or shadow photography images you’d like to share with us? If so, share them with us in the comments!

The post Shadows in Photography – How Seeing the Shadows Helps You Understand the Light appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

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How to Understand Light and Color to Improve your Photography

05 Aug

The post How to Understand Light and Color to Improve your Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

The morning sun shone through my kitchen window, catching the vase with a rose in it on the window sill. A low cross-light highlighted the texture on the rose, while the purple glass vase cast a pattern of colored light across the counter. The photographer in me studied the light, saw the potential for a photo, and went to get the camera.

Image: From observing the sun shining through a vase on the window sill to the finished image, this...

From observing the sun shining through a vase on the window sill to the finished image, this idea started with simply seeing the light.

A simple observation of light. That’s how a photo can start – learning to really see the light. Understanding its properties, knowing how to control and shape it – those are the things that will take you from a casual snapshooter to a creative photographer. It’s a matter of crafting photographs rather than simply taking snapshots.

George Eastman helped bring photography to the masses with his development of roll film, simple cameras, and readily available processing. You’ve certainly heard of the company he founded – The Eastman Kodak Company. Eastman understood the importance of seeing the light.

He put it like this:

“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” – George Eastman

The vase set-up led to experiments with glasses, colored water, and more exploration of light.

Harnessing the light

The rest of the photo session explored the interplay of light, color, shadow, texture, shape, and pattern. From shots of the glass vase and rose, I switched to glasses and vases filled with water dyed with food coloring. I experimented with different camera angles, positioning of the subjects, and different background objects. I shaped the light with cardboard “flags” and the Venetian blinds through which the sun was streaming to allow different looks.

The low angle of light also provided ways to cast shadows and projections of color.

How to Understand Light and Color to Improve your Photography

In this case, the light source was simply the early morning sun. I could have created other effects had I used artificial lights, say a snooted Speedlight to cast a beam of light right where I wanted it.

Studio photographers become masters of light manipulation by using their knowledge and a variety of lights and light modifiers. Their skills draw upon understanding the properties of light and how to harness it.

Landscape photographers may not be able to create their own light, but they also understand its properties. They know when, where, and how to make the most of the light presented to create the look they seek.

Light Physics – the properties of light

You need not become a physicist to be a photographer, but a little understanding of the properties of light can be beneficial to your work. So, a little science knowledge can help your art. Left-brain, right-brain – good photographers use both sides.

What is light?

Light is photons of energy. It has both wave and particle properties.

Electromagnetic spectrum

Human eyes can only see a very tiny portion of what is called the Electromagnetic Spectrum. Some photographers use Infrared photography to go a little further past the red end of the visible spectrum, and ultraviolet light sources can take us a bit further past the violet end. Specialized cameras can also capture X-rays.

How to Understand Light and Color to Improve your Photography

Human eyes see only a tiny portion of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, that portion we call Visible Light.

(transferred by Penubag (talk · contribs) on 05:04, 15 May 2008 [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)]

Properties of light

When speaking of light, we often refer to its properties. These are:

Quantity – (Also called Intensity or “Brightness”)

Quality – Photographers will use the terms “Hard” or “Soft” light.

Technically, these refer to the shadows cast, not the light itself. The hard or softness of a shadow (a place where the light is blocked), depends on the size of the light source relative to the subject. Thus the sun, which is, in reality, huge, can cast harsh shadows (hard light). This is because as a pinpoint of light in the sky, its relative size to the subject is small.

On an overcast day, the whole sky may be the light source – nature’s giant softbox – and the shadows are soft or non-existent.

Direction – Light waves travel in straight lines. They can be redirected however through Reflection or Refraction.

Reflection – Light hitting an object can bounce off that object. In fact, anything we see is a result of light bouncing off that object. The apparent Color of an object is due to what colors (wavelengths) are absorbed versus those reflecting. A red apple is that color because it absorbs all other colors in the spectrum and reflects only the red wavelengths.

With highly reflective objects, the angle the light hits an object will be the same angle it is reflected. The angle of incidence = the angle of reflection.

Refraction – Light can pass through some objects and be refracted or redirected. Put a pencil in a half-full glass of water, and you will see how the light is refracted differently as it passes through the air versus the water and the glass. Camera lenses shape light through refraction. The image projected on the camera sensor is actually inverted. It is the same as it was when view-camera photographers threw a cape over their heads to see the image on a ground glass before making their photo.

$Image: Dewdrops act as tiny lenses refracting the light passing through them.$

Dewdrops act as tiny lenses refracting the light passing through them.

Light waves can:

Pass through transparent or translucent objects.

Transparent objects – little if any light is scattered as the light waves pass through – i.e window glass.

Translucent objects – Some light passes through the object but waves are scattered and objects on the far side are not clearly visible.

Reflect or bounce off an object – We call highly reflective objects “shiny.” They will often produce Specular highlights. Objects which break up and bounce light in many directions have a matte quality and Diffuse the light.

Be scattered – Light waves are bounced in different directions

Be absorbed – As discussed, objects have color because they absorb some (colors) wavelengths and reflect others. Because light has energy, the more light energy an object absorbs the warmer it will be. This is the reason black, (which absorbs most of the light energy), warms faster than does white, which reflects most of the light.

Be refracted (bent) as light passes through. Denser objects refract light more (pencil in a glass of water shows example air vs water vs glass). Diamonds have a very high “index of refraction” and thus are sparkly.

Shadows – Shadows are formed where light is blocked. Photographers seeking to understand light can learn much by studying shadows as they will give clues to the other qualities of the light.

This abstract image is all about the light and shadows

Dispersion – Visible light can be separated into its component colors due to different degrees of refraction through an object. (This is how prisms work and how rainbows are formed)

Image: A rainbow is an example of white visible light being split into its component colors when the...

A rainbow is an example of white visible light being split into its component colors when the raindrops refract the light and disperse it.

The Speed of Light – Light travels faster than sound at approximately 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km/s). Sunlight takes 8 minutes, 20 seconds to reach us. From the next nearest star, Alpha Centauri, light takes 4 years to reach us. At night we see the light from stars that took hundreds of thousands of years to reach us. Currently, the most distant star observed by astronomers is over 9 billion light-years away.

Photography and light

We know that without light there is no photography. Building on the basics of light physics, we photographers have further ways to define light and how we use it.

Photography and color

General photography works within the visible light spectrum. We use the Kelvin temperature scale to describe the color of light. For example, a candle’s flame is 1,200K, which is towards the red-orange end of the scale, and a cloudless day is 10,000K, which is at the blue end.

White balance

The human brain is good at correcting colors under different light so that we usually see “correct” colors. Cameras need some help. Using White Balance, we can index the color we want to be white or neutral in color, and all other colors in the scene will use that as a reference and adjust accordingly. Thus images shot in daylight, with flash, or under tungsten or fluorescent lights can all be adjusted for “correct” color.

A huge advantage of saving images in the Raw format is you can correct this later when editing. Unfortunately, .jpg images lock the white balance in during the capture.

Image: The color of old tungsten light is quite warm, about 3200K on the Kelvin scale. This could ha...

The color of old tungsten light is quite warm, about 3200K on the Kelvin scale. This could have been white-balanced to be more neutral, but for this image, the warm light added to the antique look desired.

With light, all colors combined equal white. With ink, all colors combined equal black.

Color models

RGB

Your camera can interpret the world of color and reproduce it on a color monitor, but in reality, it really only “sees” three colors, Red, Green, and Blue (RGB). All other colors are created from these three. Use a magnifying glass to see the pixels on your monitor, and those are the only colors you will see.

Your camera sensor can also only capture those three colors.

If all three of those colors or light combine at full intensity, the result would be pure white. Because colors record by adding one to another, the term “Additive” is used.

Any of over 16 million colors can be defined using the RGB model, which has 255 steps of each color. So, white would be 255, 255, 255. Black is no light and therefore has an RGB value of 0, 0, 0. Pure red would be 255, 0, 0. A mixed color like pure yellow is 255, 255, 0, and something like a deep purple shade might be 113, 58, 210.

Image: Pure Red is a primary color in the RGB (Light) model with an RGB value of 255,0,0 but in the...

Pure Red is a primary color in the RGB (Light) model with an RGB value of 255,0,0 but in the CMYK (Ink) model it’s a mixture of Yellow and Magenta.

CMYK

The RGB model works fine in cameras and monitors where we add light to the blackness to create color. When printing, however, we are starting with a white piece of paper and subtracting from that white to create color.

Instead of red, green, and blue being the primary colors, printers use Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK) to create all other colors. (“K” is used for Black because it is the last letter of the word and not used by any other color, i.e. (B)lue). To save costs on ink, and to produce deeper black tones, unsaturated and dark colors are produced by adding black ink instead of just the combination of cyan, magenta, and yellow. So, while in the RGB model, pure red is defined as 255, 0, 0 the same exact color in the ink printing world of CMYK is something like 0, 100, 100, 0.

So as not to make your head hurt any further, I will not get into the complexities of color spaces, printer profiles, gamut and how we can be sure what we saw is what the camera captures and finally appears on a print. That’s a whole other and a quite complex subject. For now, know it is a lot of science and a perhaps a touch of magic.

Instead, you can read more about those topics here:

Color Management Can Be Easy
How to Prepare Images For Publication – Part One

How photographers control light

As photographers, especially in studio photo work, we have the tools and the means to control the light.

Here are the basic things we can do:

Transmit – Using lights of various kinds we can transmit light onto our subjects. We control the quantity, direction, and color of the light source. By changing the relative size of the light source to the subject, we can also control the hardness/softness of shadows.

Reflect – All objects reflect light to varying degrees (which is why we and the camera can see them). How that reflected light plays off of objects, or how we might use other objects, (reflectors) to bounce light into a scene is one way we shape and control the light.

Image: Many of the principles of light discussed in this article are present in this shot. Can you i...

Many of the principles of light discussed in this article are present in this shot. Can you identify them?

Diffuse –We can cause the light emitting from the source to scatter to varying degrees, (diffused), by shining it through translucent materials. This how softboxes and other light modifiers work.

Block – As light travels in a straight line, anything between the source and the subject blocks the light and creates a shadow. How and where we create shadows is as important as where we allow light to cast. Photographers use things like Flags, Gobos, and Cookies to cast and control shadows. An example, a “barn door” on a lighting instrument is a type of flag.

Image: This image is all about the light. The backlit leaves are translucent and pass a portion of t...

This image is all about the light. The backlit leaves are translucent and pass a portion of the light striking them, filtering out some colors and passing the golden parts of the spectrum through them.

When nature lights the scene – Landscapes – Landscape photographers and those using only natural light sources don’t have the same controls over the light, but they still need to understand it to become master photographers.

Learning how light works, how direct sun, diffuse light, time of day, season, angle, diffusing factors like fog, smoke, rain, and other “atmospherics” affect the image are all a huge part of becoming a student of light. A skilled studio photographer can create light. A skilled landscape photographer knows when and where to be and then very often, simply “waits for the light.”

Image: A smoky sky filters out many of the colors of the light and passes the warm yellow and red to...

A smoky sky filters out many of the colors of the light and passes the warm yellow and red tones. The side of the wheat facing the camera receives no light and so is silhouetted against the sun. Learning to see the light is key to becoming a good photographer.

Becoming a student of light

Sure, you can just get out some glassware, fill it with colored water, place it in the sun and make some pretty pictures. I encourage you to do that. It’s fun and you will likely make some nice images. You need not know the physics and terminology to make nice photos. But I encourage you to take it a step further. Use it as an exercise to further your understanding and become a trained observer of light because I really believe George Eastman had it right –

Know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.

The post How to Understand Light and Color to Improve your Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

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How to Understand Your Camera’s Exposure Compensation Feature

20 Mar

In this article, learn about the Exposure Compensation feature on your camera to get the best exposures.

Whether you’re shooting sports, animals, portraits, toys, snowflakes, rocks, fish, weddings, or pretty much anything else you almost always have one goal in mind. You want your pictures to be properly exposed. Of course, you can fix an image in Photoshop if it’s too light or too dark, and shooting RAW definitely helps with that. But over the years I’ve found that the best solution is to just get your exposure right in camera.

This means finding the right combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to get your image to look the way you want. But there’s another option you have at your disposal as well – your camera’s Exposure Compensation feature. Understanding what this does and how it works can help you get your pictures looking pixel-perfect in camera without having to adjust anything afterward.

How to Understand Your Camera's Exposure Compensation Feature - photo of a goose

What is Exposure Compensation?

Buried deep in the computational brain of your camera is something called a light meter whose job it is to measure the amount of light entering the lens. This lets your camera adjust some of the exposure settings automatically or gives you enough information for you to make adjustments yourself.

The problem with metering and the camera choosing the exposure

Depending on how you have your metering mode set up it might look at all the light coming in through lens, just the part in the center, or sometimes only the light where you have your focus point set.

As your camera takes measurements of the incoming light and adjusts exposure settings it tries as hard as it can to get a picture that is properly exposed. It might make the aperture larger or smaller, adjust the shutter speed, change the ISO or use a combination of all three of those techniques just to make sure the photo comes out right.

The trouble is, your camera doesn’t always have a good sense of how you want your picture to look.

How to Understand Your Camera's Exposure Compensation Feature - photo of a young man

My camera tried to make this image much darker because of all the light behind this young man, so I used exposure compensation to make the background slightly overexposed which meant my subject was properly exposed.

Enter the solution

Sometimes you might want your picture to be slightly over (lighter) or underexposed (darker), and this is where the exposure compensation feature really starts to shine. If you notice that your images aren’t coming out quite as light or as dark as you want them, you can either change the aperture, shutter, or ISO yourself.

Or just tell your camera “Hey, brighten things up a bit will you?” and with a quick twist of the Exposure Compensation dial, voilà, your problems are solved.

Most people find Exposure Compensation to be particularly useful when shooting in a semi-manual mode such as Aperture or Shutter Priority, but you can use it in other modes as well like program auto or even full manual.

In order to dispel some of the mystery surrounding the exposure compensation feature, let’s take a look at what your camera is actually doing to the settings when you use it in any of those modes.

General Notes for Using Exposure Compensation

NOTE: Please make note that when you dial in any Exposure Compensation it does not get reset to zero automatically for your next shot. You need to change it yourself manually once you’re done using it.

PROBLEM: One of the biggest problems beginners have is not realizing their Exposure Compensation is active. If you have erratic exposures, or all your images are either too dark or too light – check to see if the Exposure Compensation dial has been moved and correct it to zero if necessary.

How to Understand Your Camera's Exposure Compensation Feature

“How does exposure compensation work? Please, tell us more!”

Aperture Priority Mode

Most photographers I know shoot primarily in Aperture Priority mode because of the way aperture affects depth of field and other critical elements of the composition. I use this mode almost exclusively, usually combined with auto-ISO to make sure my shutter speed never gets too slow, and it works like a charm.

I like adjusting my aperture and letting my camera take care of everything else because nine times out of ten it’s just easier for the way I prefer to shoot. If I notice my pictures are too bright or too dark I just adjust the Exposure Compensation to take care of it.

When shooting in Aperture Priority, adjusting the Exposure Compensation doesn’t ever change your aperture–doing so would defeat the whole purpose of using this mode! Instead, it changes the shutter speed by either speeding it up or slowing it down in order to make your picture brighter or darker.

How it works

In the image below, shot in Aperture Priority, you can see that the subject is way too dark while the background is properly exposed. This is partially a result of my camera’s metering mode but also because the scene itself contains a high degree of dynamic range and is therefore tricky to get just right.

Aperture Priority, 200mm, 1/750th, f/4.0, ISO 100, no Exposure Compensation.

To fix the problem I could have changed my camera’s metering mode but instead, I chose to dial in an exposure compensation value of +2EV. The result left the background totally blown out while giving me a properly-exposed subject.

Aperture Priority, 200mm, 1/180th, f/4.0, ISO 100, +2EV Exposure Compensation.

The key takeaway is that while the focal length, aperture, and ISO values did not change the shutter speed most certainly did. My camera dropped it all the way down to 1/180 second which let in much more light and therefore resulted in a two-stop overexposure from the original.

When using exposure compensation in Aperture Priority your camera will adjust the shutter speed to be faster or slower, which can make a big difference if you are shooting a moving subject. You might want a fast shutter speed but if you’re dialing in a few stops of exposure compensation you might end up with one that is too slow to capture the image you are going for.

It’s not a problem per se, but it is something to note and it could dramatically affect your images if you aren’t aware of what is happening. If you need a faster shutter speed you can increase the ISO a bit also.

Shutter Priority

In a similar vein, using Exposure Compensation when shooting in Shutter Priority will not change your shutter speed but will instead alter the aperture in order to make your image lighter or darker.

When I shot the image below of a duck on a frozen pond I wanted a fast shutter speed in case my avian friend started moving quickly. So I used Shutter Priority with a speed of 1/250th of a second.

Shutter Priority, 200mm, 1/250th, f/8.0, ISO 100, no Exposure Compensation.

You can probably tell that something isn’t right with the photo. The duck is too dark! I had to lighten the composition quickly before it flew away, so I dialed in a value of +1.5EV on my Exposure Compensation.

Shutter Priority, 200mm, 1/250, f/4.8, ISO 100, +1.5EV Exposure Compensation.

This image is a bit different from the static wood carving in the aperture priority example because you can clearly see the effect that exposure compensation has had on the composition. My camera kept the shutter speed unchanged but used a much wider aperture which gave me an image with far less depth of field. Notice how both the foreground and the background are much blurrier – a direct result of shooting with a wider aperture.

What about ISO

You might have noticed that a third exposure parameter has thus far remained unchanged, that of the ISO. While it’s standard for most cameras to alter the aperture and shutter speed when using Exposure Compensation, ISO is usually the last parameter to get changed unless you are using Auto ISO.

In that case, your camera will most definitely change the ISO if it needs to, especially if shooting in Aperture Priority and your minimum shutter speed (as set up in your settings) has been reached.

I had to use a fast shutter speed on this image and didn’t care too much about aperture, so I shot in Shutter Priority and used Exposure Compensation to get the image to look how I wanted. I did not use Auto-ISO because I wanted a nice clean picture, so my camera adjusted only the aperture when I dialed in the Exposure Compensation.

Manual Mode

NOTE: This only applies to Nikon shooters! If you use Canon, Fuji or another brand Exposure Compensation does not have any effect in Manual Mode.

Exposure Compensation in Manual Mode works a bit differently because nothing changes at all when you dial in a value. Instead, it’s your camera’s light meter itself that changes so you can adjust the aperture, shutter, and ISO values manually in order to get your picture to look how you want.

It’s an interesting twist on things that might seem a little strange at first if you are used to having things automatically change when you adjust exposure compensation, but once you start using this method you may not ever want to go back.

It essentially gives you the best of all worlds by letting you adjust exposure settings to get the value you are looking for, you can then choose precisely the parameters you want to change.

In Manual Mode, adjusting Exposure Compensation only changes how your light meter displays exposure. Notice how the vertical line indicating the point of proper exposure has shifted to the left when dialing in an Exposure Compensation value of +2EV.

The magic of mirrorless

I know the subject of mirrorless cameras versus DSLRs can be a bit of a thorny one for some photographers, but I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it here in an article about exposure compensation.

While the same logic applies regarding Aperture and Shutter Priority modes, the big difference is how you can actually see your exposure settings change in real-time as you look at your camera.

This rear screen of this mirrorless Fuji X100F shows me that the photo will be properly exposed.

This is one of the main strengths of shooting mirrorless, though it should be noted that DSLRs can also this in Live View–albeit usually with some tradeoffs such as slower autofocus that usually happens when utilizing Live View.

I can see the result of a -1EV Exposure Compensation on the digital readouts (i.e. light meter, histogram, etc.) but most notably the image itself has decreased in brightness as well. This helps me get a very good idea of what effect this Exposure Compensation will have on the final image.

Conclusion

I used to be somewhat scared of using Exposure Compensation because I didn’t really understand what was happening when I changed its value. With a much better idea of what my camera is changing, and why, I am now much more comfortable using it on a daily basis to get my shots to look how I want.

In fact, I often won’t even change my metering modes anymore and instead just rely on Exposure Compensation because I know what it’s doing to my photos and I’m not scared of using it. If you have never used it much either, you might want to go ahead and give a try. You just might like it.

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How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

22 Feb

What is it that makes one picture appear dull and another more striking? What is it that makes some tones appear detailed and others smooth and transient? The answer to both of these questions involves the issues of color hue, color purity, and tone distribution.

Prague A - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

This street scene in Prague is the original underexposed camera image.

Prague B - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

The same image after tonal and color adjustments have been applied.

The science of color and tone

All color detail is determined by these three elements. In the Photoshop/Lightroom world, you’ll recognize these terms as HSL or Hue, Saturation, and Luminance. The world of photography is both an art and a science. The science part is filled with graphs, measurements, and strange words that most people don’t encounter every day.

These terms come from the scientific vocabulary of engineers, chemists, and mathematicians in the photographic trade. When digital cameras were introduced to the general public years ago, suddenly everybody could push around the colors and tonal range in their own pictures. While Adobe Photoshop provided a serious workshop, it showed up with a boatload of technical color science terms.

Unfortunately, if you don’t fully understand the terms, you may not be taking full advantage of the controls they provide. In this article, I’ll do my best to bring these terms down to Earth and make them understandable. We’ll get past the technical jargon and get into the practical application of these terms.

Hue, Saturation, and Lightness

Hue, Saturation, Lightness (luminance) are the irreducible minimum building blocks involved in good color editing and reproduction. While there are many more issues to be addressed in the processing of an image, these three are the make-or-break elements that must be understood and adjusted if you want your color images to catch a viewer’s eye.

Incidentally, when editing your images, these elements should be addressed in that very order; value (hue), intensity (saturation), and tonality (luminance). While hue and saturation concern color, luminance refers to the tonal structure of an image; pretty much an issue of dark versus light.

The Saturation slider affects the intensity of the color in an image. This is a powerful tool; exercise restraint.

The Saturation effect on a Genoa Italy cathedral – normal saturation levels.

How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

None.

HSL Dialog Sat Low - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

Genoa C - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

Oversaturated.

HSL Dialog Sat High - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

A Primer on Image Detail

Contrast usually refers to the overall light-to-dark extremes of an image but the real power of post-production editing is in pushing the tonal values around inside the overall range.

But if you really want to make the detail in your image stand out, you must adjust the internal contrast of the image. The biggest difference-maker adjustment should be the middle tones of your images; tones in-between the lightest and the darkest in your image.

TrafalgarSq A - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

Trafalgar Sq O Levels - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

The middle slider in Photoshop’s Levels dialog is referred to as the gamma slider. Gamma is another one of those legacy scientific terms that you can think of as a “mid-tone” adjustment. Moving this elementary slider from left to right actually shifts the entire middle range of tones from lighter to darker.

TrafalgarSq B - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

This picture of the King Charles statue in London’s Trafalgar Square is backlit and was dark, but a simple middle tone adjustment opened up the shadows and revealed hidden detail.

TrafalgarSq A Levels - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

Photoshop’s Levels tool is the most basic of tonal controls. There are actually several much more effective tonal shaping tools available in Photoshop and even more comprehensive controls in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom. We won’t get into a thorough discussion of these tone adjustment tools and workflow recommendations in this article (perhaps at a later time).

Leaves A - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

Leaves B - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

This picture of winter leaves was fairly well exposed but required both tonal and color adjustments to reveal the rich colors in the original scene.

Camera Raw dialog - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

Editing for Tonality

There’s a reason why tone adjustment should be your number one issue in image preparation; even more critical than color accuracy.

Your eyesight has tonal perception and interpretation capabilities that far exceed the dynamic range of any digital camera. Make no mistake, capturing seven stops of light range is an amazing feat. But capturing this wide range of tones doesn’t automatically translate into detail, image definition, or good tonal distinction.

Properly reassigning those internal tones to more closely match what your eyes see is where the real editing magic happens. Hang with me here because this will get a bit involved, but I think it will definitely be worth your time.

LinearCapture Eye Camera - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

This chart shows the difference between the way your eye registers light and how your camera records it.

Camera View – Human View

Your camera’s image sensor records light quite differently than your eye perceives it. The camera actually records a lot of data from the lighter portion of the scene and very little data from the darker portion. The image sensors capture light in a linear fashion. Unfortunately, humans view the lighting in scenes in a logarithmic fashion.

You might say that original camera files usually benefit from a “fashion” adjustment, generally lightening the middle tones. Camera images that don’t get their tonal values adjusted almost always lose detail in the darker areas of the image. Virtually all camera images benefit from internal adjustments.

Chrominance and Luminance Explained

Chrominance deals with the color component of an image while luminance deals with the contrast or tonality component of an image.

Chroma refers to the color in an image while luma describes the non-color or tonal part. Achromatic is a fancy scientific word that is pretty simple to understand. Remember your high school English… the prefix “a” means “without,” so a-chromatic literally means without color.

In the HSL model of color, hue, and saturation fall in the chrominance column while tonality and contrast are on the luminance column (the structural or tonal backbone of an image).

Basic Luminosity Adjustments

Where does the term “luminance” come from? Light is measured in lumens. A lumen is the smallest measurable unit of light visible to the human eye. Luminosity then is the measure of lumens reflecting from (or transmitted through) a light source and perceived by your eye. The more lumens, the brighter the light. Light measurements are also made in increments called candelas. A candela is roughly the value of light produced by a single household candle.

Photo by Akshay Paatil on Unsplash

Just as “horsepower” is a carryover index of a measurement of power (relating to the pulling strength of multiple horses) candelas is an index of the cumulative light emitted from multiple candles. These legacy terms are sometimes confusing, and it would be nice if photographic color science terminology were simplified for those just entering the process, but until then, you’ll have to get acclimated.

I’ll take it slow, as you can easily drown in the scientific terminology minutia. I’ll keep the terminology on a basic digital imaging level so that you can make practical use of what you learn.

Basic Color Science

As stated before, all color is composed of three elements; value, intensity, and luminosity. Value (or hue) refers to the “color” of color, or what differentiates red from orange or purple. Intensity (or saturation) refers to the purity color, distinguishing pastels to pungent colors (the more white light is combined with pure color, the more the color strength is diluted). Luminosity is the measure of the brightness and relates to the image’s lightness or darkness.

Hue (value) differentiates one color from another. Saturation (intensity) determines the purity of color. Luminosity (brightness) determines tonality.

The detail in digital imaging terminology is the degree to which colors and tones distinguish themselves from each other. While hue, saturation, and luminance all play a significant role in detailing an image, the heavy lifting of detail is done by luminance or the shaping of the internal tones in an image. Detail is a product of contrast, and contrast is almost completely controlled by the luminance element. This is why post-production professionals perform all their sharpening adjustments in the luminance channel exclusively.

Shadows Highlights dialog - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

Photoshop’s Highlight/Shadow dialog box

Camera Raw dialog - How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality

Adobe Camera Raw main dialog.

Shaping Light

Contrast, like audio equalization, cannot be effectively accomplished by using a linear (bass-treble) type control such is the luminance slider in the HSL panel which simply lightens or darkens an image. The effective shaping of an image requires the individual adjustment of five specific tonal regions of an image; highlight, quarter-tone, mid-tone, three-quarter tone and shadow. I use a variety of controls to shape my tonal contrast.

Ansel Adams once stated, “Half the image is created in the camera, the other half is created in the darkroom.” Though you may never use a darkroom to produce a photographic image, the essence of his statement is still true. Capturing pixels with your camera is only your first step in producing a good picture, what you do with the image that comes out of your camera will determine your skills as a photographer.

Digital photography provides almost limitless avenues for personal expression. Shaping the color and tonality in your images is the backbone of great photography. Determine to learn something new about this fabulous art form every day. Push pixels around and stay focused.

The post How to Understand the Science of Photography and Technical Terms for Mastering Image Tonality by Herb Paynter appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Use Still-life Subjects to Understand Focal Lengths

11 Dec

Do you think that using an 18mm lens or a 100mm one will only zoom in or out your scene? Why are camera lenses are measured in millimeters? Do you know what those measurements mean for your photo? If you’re not sure which lens to use and why I invite you to keep reading and learn about focal lengths and how to use them.

The most common consideration when choosing your lens is whether or not you need to zoom in or zoom out. Therefore logic dictates that you would use a wide-angle lens for landscape photography and a telephoto for a detail of that landscape. Another well-known factor is the distortion of wide-angle lenses, so for example, if you want to do a portrait you would instead use a normal or a telephoto lens.

But how about shooting objects or photographing still life subjects? Which lens is better? I’ll use this subject to illustrate the characteristics of different focal lengths that normally get less attention.

What is focal length?

When light comes in through the lens, it passes through a small hole called a nodal point. The distance from that point to the sensor when your lens is set to infinity is called the focal length and this is measured in millimeters. A smaller distance gives you a wider angle of view and that’s why it’s called a wide-angle lens. Therefore a bigger distance gives you a narrower angle of view which is called a telephoto lens.

What is normal?

When you say a normal lens, it means that it will see more or less the same angle of view as the human eye. Anything longer than the normal focal length is a telephoto and everything shorter is a wide-angle lens. This measurement depends on the size of your sensor because the measure of its diagonal is what determines “normal” for that camera.

For example, in analog photography, it was a very standard measure because there were only so many negative film formats. A 35mm film had a normal lens of 50mm, this can be translated into digital cameras that have a full frame sensor because it’s about the same size as 35mm film. If you have a cropped sensor camera, that “normal” lens becomes a telephoto.

Left – longer lens more zoomed in. Right – wider lens more zoomed out.

Why is this important?

As I mentioned before, zooming in or out is the most obvious impact of the focal length. But what happens when you are shooting something where you can achieve that by getting closer or further from your subject? How do you choose your lens? Well, that’s where the other characteristics of the focal length come into play.

Compression

A photograph is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional world. By changing the focal length you can compress or extend the distance between two objects, or between the subject and the background. Let me show you with a series of images taken of the same scene but with different focal lengths.

I put a measuring tape next to the objects so that you have a reference and see that they were separated by the same distance even if it doesn’t look like it in the various images.

18mm lens.

35mm lens.

55mm lens.

Notice how the distance between the shells seems to change. With wide-angle lenses, things will seem further apart from each other, compared to how they look with a telephoto lens. Now, you probably also perceived another difference between the images, and that is the focus. Which brings me to the second characteristic.

Depth of field

As you probably know, the depth of field (area in focus) depends on the aperture. A small aperture gives you a greater depth of field than a big one. But there is another factor involved and that is the focal length.

A wide-angle lens appears to have a greater depth of field than a telephoto at the same aperture. It is a common misconception that wide-angles have more depth of field than longer lenses. The reason it appears so has to do with the subject to camera distance, not focal length.

This effect is intensified by the fact that you will be physically closer or further away with each lens to achieve the same framing. Allow me to illustrate with this photos in which I maintained the same aperture but changed the focal length.

180mm - Using still-life to understand focal length

1800mm

160mm

100mm

70mm

55mm

35mm

18mm

See how the photo taken with a 180mm lens has such a shallow depth of field that the blurry background even creates a halo that comes over the sharp focus subject. After that, each image got greater and greater depth of field by using smaller focal lengths.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is no such thing as the best lens for the type of photography you are doing. It really depends on the results you want to get.

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How to Understand Pixels, Resolution, and Resize Your in Photoshop Correctly

19 Nov

Size, resolution, and formats… What do pixels have to do with it?

Do you buy your camera based on its number of megapixels? Are you having problems sharing your photos online? Does your print look low quality even if it looks great on the screen? There seems to be a lot of confusion between pixels and bytes (image size and file size), quality and quantity, size, and resolution.

So let’s review some basics to make your life easier, your workflow more efficient, and your images the correct size for the intended usage.

How to Understand Pixels, Resolution, and Resize Your in Photoshop Correctly

This image is sized to 750×500 pixels at 72 dpi, saved as a compressed JPG which is 174kb. Let’s look at what all that means.

Is resolution the same as size?

One of the biggest misunderstandings comes from the concept of resolution. If this is your case, believe me you’re not alone.

The problem is that resolution can refer to many things, two of them relate to the problem at hand. Further on I’ll explain these two resolution concepts, however, they have one thing in common that I need to clarify first. They both have to do with pixels.

You’ve probably heard a lot about pixels, at least when you bought your camera. This is one of the most available and “valued” specs on the market so I’ll start there.

What is a pixel?

A digital photo is not one non-dividable thing. If you zoom in far enough you’ll see that your image is like a mosaic formed by small tiles, which in photography are called pixels.

The amount of these pixels and the way they are distributed are the two factors that you need to consider to understand resolution.

Pixel count

The first kind of resolution refers to the pixel count which is the number of pixels that form your photo. In order to calculate this resolution you just use the same formula you would use for the area of any rectangle; multiply the length by the height. For example, if you have a photo that has 4,500 pixels on the horizontal side, and 3,000 on the vertical size it gives you a total of 13,500,000. Because this number is very unpractical to use, you can just divide it by a million to convert it into megapixels. So 13,500,000 / 1,000000 = 13.5 Megapixels.

Pixel density

The other kind of resolution is about how you distribute the total amount of pixels that you have, which is commonly referred as pixel density.

Now, the resolution is expressed in dpi (or ppi), which is the acronym for dots (or pixels) per inch. So, if you see 72 dpi it means that the image will have 72 pixels per inch; if you see 300 dpi means 300 pixels per inch, and so on.

The final size of your image depends on the resolution that you choose. If an image is 4500 x 3000 pixels it means that it will print at 15 x 10 inches if you set the resolution to 300 dpi, but it will be 62.5 x 41.6 inches at 72 dpi. While the size of your print does change, you are not resizing your photo (image file), you are just reorganizing the existing pixels.

Imagine a rubber band, you can stretch it or shrink it but you’re not changing the composition of the band, you’re not adding or cutting any of the rubber.

In summary, no resolution is not the same as size, but they are related.

So quantity equals quality?

Because of the aforementioned correlation between size and resolution, a lot of people think that megapixels equal quality. And in a sense it does because the more pixels you have to spread out, the higher the pixel density will be.

However, on top of the quantity you should also consider the depth of the pixels, this is what determines the amount of tonal values that your image will have. In other words it is the number of colors per pixel. For example, a 2-bit depth can store only black, white and two shades of grey, but the more common value is 8-bit. The values grows exponentially so for example with an 8-bit photo (2 to the power of 8 = 256) you’ll have 256 tones of green, 256 tones of blue, and 256 tones of red, which means about 16 million colors.

This is already more that the eye can distinguish which means that 16-bit or 32-bit will look relatively similar to us. Of course, this means that your image will be heavier even of the size is the same, because there is more information contained in each pixel. This is also why quality and quantity are not necessarily the same.

Therefore quantity helps, but also the size and depth of each pixel determine the quality. This is why you should look all the specs of the camera and its sensor and not just the amount of Megapixels. After all, there’s a limit to the size you can print or view your image, more than that it will only result in extra file size (megabytes) and no impact in the image size (megapixels) or the quality.

How to choose and control image size and file size?

First of all, you need to choose the outlet for your photo, there is a maximum density that you need. If you are going to post your image online you can do great with only 72 dpi, but that is too little for printing a photo. If you are going to print it you need between 300 and 350 dpi.

Of course, we are talking about generalizations because each monitor and each printer will have slightly different resolutions as well. For example, if you want to print your photo to 8×10 inches you need your image to have 300dpi x 8″ = 2400 pixels by 300dpi x 10″ = 3000 pixels (so 2400×3000 to print an 8×10 at 300dpi). Anything bigger than that will only be taking up space on your hard drive.

How to resize in Photoshop

Open the menu for the image size and in the popup window, you need to tick the Resample Image box. If you don’t activate “resample” you will only be redistributing the pixels like I explained at the beginning of the article.

You can also choose to tick the Constrain Proportion if you want the measure to adjust according to the changes you make. So the width adjusts when you change the height and vice versa.

8×10 inches at 300 ppi, this is the size needed for printing an 8×10. Notice the pixel size is 3000 x 2400.

750×500 pixels at 72 ppi. This is web resolution and is the exact size of all the images in this article. The size in inches is irrelevant when posting online – only the pixel size matters.

On the top of the window, you’ll also see how the file size changes. This is an uncompressed version of your image, it’s the direct relationship I explained in the first part of the article: fewer pixels means less information.

How to Understand Pixels, Resolution, and Resize Your in Photoshop Correctly

Now, if you still want to change the file size without resizing anymore, you have to do it when you save the image. Before saving your photo you can choose the format you want:

Formats - How to Understand Pixels, Resolution, and Resize Your in Photoshop Correctly

If you don’t want to loose any information you need to save an uncompressed format. The most common, and therefore easier to share is TIFF.

Tiff - How to Understand Pixels, Resolution, and Resize Your in Photoshop Correctly

If you don’t mind losing a little information as long as you have a lighter file, then go for a JPEG and choose how small you want it. Obviously the smaller you set it, the more information you will lose. Fortunately, it has a preview button so you can see the impact of your compression.

JPG high quality.

JPG low quality. Notice how it’s pixelated and breaking down? If you crunch it too much or go too low quality you risk degrading the image too far.

Conclusion

So there you have it. So quality, quantity, size and resolution explained and they all have to do with pixels, as they are the basic units that constitute your image. Now that you know you can make the best choices to print, share and save your photos.

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How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

14 Sep

Do you ever get under or overexposed photos when you use your camera’s light meter? Do you get frustrated that even in auto-mode you can’t get the correct exposure? That’s because there are two different type of light to deal with when taking a photo.

When you make a photograph the light is your raw material, which is why it’s important to understand how it works. It’s a very broad topic to cover, so for this article, we are just going to focus on the difference between incident and reflective light because that’s the key to getting your exposure right.

Incident versus reflective light

We all know this difference in a very intuitive way; let me give you an everyday example: when there is a sunny day, do you wear white clothes or black ones? Easy! You wear white or at least light colors, but why? If the sun will be the same, why wouldn’t you wear dark colors? Because you know that dark colors absorb light and therefore you’ll feel the heat more than wearing white which will reflect more light and keep you fresher. This is the same principle you need to apply when measuring the light for photography.

The difference explained

Diagram How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Incident light is that which is illuminating your scene. It falls on the subject before being altered (reflected) by it which is why it’s also a more accurate light reading.

When light hits objects it gets transformed by them and reflected out; this is what we perceive and what the camera captures and reads. This is called reflective light.

Light metering

Let’s see how these two concepts apply to light metering and exposure when you take a photo. In the next examples, I always used the same light for each.

In this first shot, I metered the light once I had framed the image I wanted, so it gave me a reading making an average of the reflective light.

General Reading - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

The settings were ISO 400, f/5.6, with a shutter speed of 1/80th.

And the resulting photograph looked like this:

General Reading Result - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Reflected light from a dark subject

However, like we said when talking about clothes, dark objects absorb light. So if I make the reading by measuring the black part of the photo, the settings that were “correct” before, now appear to be underexposed.

Black Reading - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Even if the lighting is always the same, your camera thinks there is less. As a result, your photos will be overexposed.

Black Reading Result - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Exposure: ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/13th.

Reflected light from a light subject

On the other hand, light objects reflect most of the light, so your camera will receive the message that it needs to reduce the exposure if you meter off something light.

White Reading - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

And as a result, you will end up with underexposed images.

White Reading Result - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Exposure: ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/200th.

None of these three readings gave you the correct exposure on your image because none of them were about the incident light. In order to get this accurate reading, you need to use a handheld external light meter, which can be very expensive. Fortunately, there are other ways to get the right exposure without having to spend a fortune.

Black and white… and gray

Back in the 1930s, a photographer called Ansel Adams developed a technique for the optimal exposure of photographs by dividing the degrees from light to dark into 11 zones, therefore it’s called the zone system. Everything in the world has a color and lightness that correspond to a zone. All light meters, including the one integrated into your camera, are designed to give you the middle zone: Gray V that reflects 18% of the light. So, what you need in order to have a correct exposure is to measure the light reflecting off of this tone.

Gray card Reading - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

You’ll find gray cards on the market which are used to calibrate your exposure and white balance. They are a very practical and economical way to turn the reading of your reflective light into an incident light accuracy.

It is also very easy to use, you just have to put one in front of your subject and frame it with your camera. Once that’s the only thing in your shot, press the shutter button halfway to see the light meter and adjust your exposure accordingly. With those settings, you can have the perfect exposure regardless of the tones in your image.

Grey cardReading Result - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Exposure: ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/30th.

Real world examples

I know what you’re thinking, that was an unreal example because most of your photos will have much more colors than just black, white and gray V. That’s true, but the principle remains the same. Look at these real life examples:

Bridge Reflective - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Reflective reading with an exposure of ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/80th.

Compared to the incident reading:

Bridge Incident - How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light and Get More Accurate Exposures

Incident reading with an exposure of ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/320th.

How to improvise!

What if you don’t want to be carrying around a gray card? Or did the perfect image catch you unprepared? No problem, everything in the visual world has its equivalent in the zone system.

For example, grass or wet cement correspond to the gray V zone so you can always look for elements like that in your photo and you will get a very accurate reading from them.

Take this composition of candle holders. When they are all white the photo is dark, sad and shows all the imperfections of the backdrop because it’s underexposed. However, when I add a gray candle holder and measure the light in it, the exposure is perfect.

Exposure: ISO 1250, f/11, shutter speed 1/125th.

Exposure: ISO 1600, f/8, shutter speed 1/125th.

Tip: So that you are never caught off guard, you can measure the palm of your hand and figure out how much lighter or darker it is than the gray card, that way you will always have the perfect reading “at hand”.

Things to remember:

Get close enough to the gray object so that it’s the only thing you see through the lens, or at least the majority of it, and take that reading to set the exposure values.
The gray card or object needs to receive the same light as the rest of the scene. Be careful to not cast a shadow with your body or your camera when getting closer to measure the light.
Reflective light depends also on the material and shape of the object so a black car, for example, reflects more light than a black wool sweater.

There you go, understanding the difference between reflective and incident light can transform your photo from snapshots to pro shots!

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How to Understand the Difference Between TTL Versus Manual Flash Modes

01 Sep

It is no secret that the popup flash which comes built-in to your digital camera simply isn’t enough in most situations. For a variety of reasons, shooting using just the popup flash is not a feasible option. That is why you will find photographers everywhere you look, going for an external flash and using it increasingly during their shoots.

External flash, also known by the term “speedlight” provides many benefits and advantages to photographers, even while shooting in extremely low light conditions. They allow us to have a far superior control over the lighting of an image. Flashes are available in the market from a variety of manufacturers including camera makers like Canon and Nikon, or third-party companies like Godox, Yongnuo, Nissin, etc.

How to Understanding Your Flash Settings: TTL Versus Manual Mode

If you step out in the market to buy your first flash, you will come across two variants, a fully manual flash, and a TTL (Through The Lens) flash. You may end up getting confused over which flash will suit you the best and which one you should invest your money in. Both the Manual and TTL flash have their own plus and minus points which appeal to photographers. What is important is to properly understand their systems, functionalities, advantages, and disadvantages.

Understanding Manual Flash

On a fully Manual flash, there is no control (d either by the camera or the flash) over the intensity or duration of the light emitted from the flash. Instead, it is the photographer who controls the output of the flash by adjusting the settings, either in-camera or on the flash itself.

While using a manual flash, there are four controls you can use to set your flash output manually as per your requirements:

Adjust the ISO on the camera.
Raise or lower the level of output from oyur flash (½, ¼, 1/8th power, etc.)
Alter the distance between the subject and the flash (light source).
Adjust the aperture value on the camera.

How to Understanding Your Flash Settings: TTL Versus Manual Mode

Manual mode – check the user manual for your flash to see how to set it.

Not all flashes are equal

An important point to remember and consider is that the majority of flashes can shoot in manual mode, but not every flash can shoot in TTL mode. A manual flash also gives you specific control over the light and exposure, and allows you to set it exactly to your requirements. You do not have to use exposure compensation while using a manual flash as your composition, frame, etc., does not have any affect on the overall exposure and lighting of the scene.

Pros and cons of manual flash

In situations where the distance between the flash and the subject is constant and fixed, you can opt to use manual flash settings. A manual flash is extremely useful in situations where you have to fire away a series of shots of the subject repeatedly, under similar exposure conditions. E.g., in food photography, product shoots, and more this is the case. The power level is fixed, and it remains the same, which ensures that the exposure does not vary from shot to shot.

Manual flash works best when the subject is not moving like this setup, posed shot.

One of the main drawbacks of using a flash in manual mode is that you still need to figure out the optimal power output needed to obtain the correct exposure, which can be a time consuming process. And thus, a manual flash can mainly be used while shooting portraits, headshots, and fine art. In other words, in situations where you can take time to setup the scene.

Many also believe that manual mode is the best to use to learn about external flash photography. You choose the output, click the picture and then review it. If it does not come out the way you were expecting and wanted it to, then you can tweak the settings and try again. So you end up learning more in the process.

Understanding Automatic or TTL Flash

When the flash output is directly controlled by your camera, it is called Through-the-Lens metering or TTL. In the case of an Automatic or TTL enabled flash, the flash output is directly controlled by the flash or by the camera’s exposure metering system. Thus, using a flash in TTL mode will give you varied flash output.

Flash in TTL or Automatic mode.

The only method to control a TTL enabled flash is to use the flash exposure compensation function on the flash or through your camera settings. Also, while using a TTL flash, your chosen Aperture and ISO levels do not affect the flash output because the camera tells the flash to emit a particular output based on the camera’s readings. If the settings change, so will the output to compensate automatically.

When you half-press our shutter release button on your camera to focus, your camera not only focuses, but it also takes a metering of the scene and its exposure. It measures the amount of ambient light which is being returned “Through the Lens” to the sensor.

How to Understanding Your Flash Settings: TTL Versus Manual Mode

How it works

A TTL enabled flash fires a “pre-flash” before the actual shot is taken. The camera then measures the pre-flash with the ambient light level to calculate the power needed from the actual flash to make a correct exposure. This pre flash happens really quickly, only micro-seconds before the main flash, and thus cannot be seen by the human eye. Based on the model of your flash, this pre-flash can be an actual white light flash or an infrared one.

Using a TTL enabled flash is extremely helpful in situations when you are moving around a lot, shooting in different or changing lighting settings, etc., and do not have the time to fire a series of test shots before the shoot.

How to Understanding Your Flash Settings: TTL Versus Manual Mode

One of the drawbacks which accompany the use of a TTL flash is less control and less precision over the lighting. If you get an incorrect exposure while using a flash in TTL mode, it is really difficult for you to know the power setting which was used for that shot.

Conclusion

If you have recently purchased your first digital camera and plan to buy an external flash, then you have two options.

Either go for a manual flash, as it will urge you to learn more about how to control and adjust the lighting in various situations. But if you want to take up professional assignments and cannot afford to experiment with a manual flash, then go for a TTL enabled flash.

Which do you use? Do you have a flash that does both? Which do you prefer for different situations? Please tell us in the comments below.

The post How to Understand the Difference Between TTL Versus Manual Flash Modes by Kunal Malhotra appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

04 Aug

Visual weight is the term given to compositional elements within an image and how much visual impact they have. Some things will feel heavier or more present within the image in comparison to other elements. As a photographer, it is your role to understand this and use it to your advantage when setting up your composition.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

How can visual weight affect an image?

Light colored elements = a light feel
Dark colored elements = a heavy feel
Eyes/faces = heavy
Text = heavy
Negative space = light
Focus = can be heavy or light depending on what you are focusing on
Image placement within the frame = can choose to make something heavier or lighter
Scale = can affect the weight of an element
Balance = can affect the weight of an element or the feel of the overall image
Color = a pop of unexpected color is heavier than its surroundings

Examples and Discussion

Light or even toned images and feel

This macro shot of red clover is tonally quite similar over the entire image, with a shallow depth of field and a soft focus. The color tones are also soft so the overall feeling to this image visually is quite light – there isn’t really anywhere for the eye to settle and engage with the image.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Compare it with another image that is tonally quite similar, color tones are muted with soft blurry cloud elements. However, in the image below there is a distinct contrast between the white and black points in this image. The black rocks have distinct visual weight and there is a definite point for the eye to rest on and travel around the image.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Image with large dark areas

In the case of dark moody shots with a lot of black background showing, you would think that the black would overpower the whole image. However, When the subject is well lit and positioned in a sculptural shape like the gerbera below, the subject carries the visual weight of the image and the black recedes into the background to support it.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

The landscape below is deliberately underexposed to add drama to the sky and show off the subtle light beams through the clouds. This meant the dark rocks are particularly underexposed and so they carry the visual weight of the image, almost slightly too heavy towards the bottom as a result.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Color against a neutral background

A bright pop of color in an otherwise neutral tone background carries all the visual weight in the following two images.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Additionally, in the image of the New Zealand native wood pigeon below, the sharp eye holds the visual weight, with extra emphasis due to the bright red color of the eye and the beak. This is where your eye is drawn first.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Balance and scale

Balance and scale are also important factors. In the lighthouse image below, the bright white of the lighthouse holds the eye and the attention, but the horizon line of the sky against the sea gives the necessary scale to balance the overall compostion of the image.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

This floating swimming platform has the visual weight in this image, balancing the landscape on the left of the frame, which in turn provides the scale to understand the platform in the overall image context. Being closer to the camera also gives the platform more weight in this composition as well.

Balance of light and dark

In the horseshoe image below, it has been deliberately shot to enhance both the dark shadows, The white spiderwebs and add textural details, while the shadows add supporting visual weight to the shapes of the horseshoes.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Below is a similar black and white image, with shadow detail supporting textural elements. But this image is more about the lighter areas, which take up most of the large central area within the image, so they carries more of the visual weight of the image.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Color and balance

Use of colour within an image can have significant impact. In the image of a sunset below, with the rich red clouds and the dark silhouetted tree line at the bottom, you might thing the dark trees carry the visual weight, but they instead balance out the large red cloud area nicely. The darkest or brightest element is not always the visually heaviest.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Tonally the image below is very even, with the dark sea cliffs being balanced out by the bright sunrise of the sea haze. But the surprise in this image is that the visual weight is carried by the single seagull in flight across the ocean.

Another sunrise, quite dark toned, but here the white froth of the waves taken as a long exposure to capture the movement has the visual weight within this image.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Assessing visual weight within a composition

The image of a leafy stream below has a nice balance of light and dark. The stream travels diagonally through the image, drawing the eye. While there is quite a heavy visual weight in the bottom left-hand corner, it still has enough light to have texture and detail and be part of the image. There are enough brighter areas above it and through the water as well so that the overall composition doesn’t feel overwhelmed by the darker areas. Our brains can accept that it is an image taken within a forest, so there will be light and dark areas.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Visual weight working against the image

Wild Kookaburra on a tree branch (below). In processing, this image has been deliberately overexposed as the original image was taken in shade and was quite dark. This has changed the tonal balance quite a lot, especially in the background. The branch closest to the camera has all the visual weight in this image, weighing it down and making it heavy on the right side. The bird’s dark eye and the feather detail on the wing do counteract the branch a bit, but not enough.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Still life with a feather – an experiment shot while learning still life and food photography. An another example of how visual weight needs to be taken into account in your composition. Here the feather is too light in tone, too small in scale and too soft in structure to balance out the darkness of the basket of eggs in the background. Even though the feather is in sharp focus, the egg basket has all the visual weight in this image.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Visual weight working for the image

Negative space works really well here with the macro flower shot below. The flower only takes up a small part of the overall image, but because that one element is in sharp focus and the rest is very blurred and becomes part of the background, the flower has all the visual weight in this image. Notice how at the very bottom of the frame, the stem of flowers that is in partial focus also contributes to the weight of the image.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Framing and placement of the gerbera flowers (below) relate directly to the visual weight of them within the image. The diagonal line bisects the image in half, but adds a dynamic angle that engages the eye. The selective focus at the front of the petals combined with the dark stem visually balance out the rest of the negative space in this image. The two other flowers are further away and out of focus so support the subject visually but due to their softness, do not overwhelm the image.

How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition

Summary

Visual weight is a more advanced composition concept, one that may be difficult to grasp initially. Understanding how it can impact your final image is important because thinking about it as part of the overall composition is necessary. Obviously with things like landscapes, macro, flowers, food photography and other staged or stationary situations you have more time to think and adjust your composition. With street, event, wedding, sport or other changeable situations, you may not get time to consider all your options.

As can be seen from the examples above, both good and bad, visual weight can and does make a difference to the final image. Learning to see compositionally and frame your shot up with intent and forethought will improve your photography more than anything else, in my opinion.

Because visual weight is affected by other elements of the composition – like tone, focus, light/dark, balance and scale – if you are thinking about those, then visual weight becomes part of the overall composition equation. It is still useful to think about it as a separate element, if you have time to do so, and of course, if you remember. Do you use visual weight as a compositional element for your images?

The post How to Understand and Use Visual Weight in Composition by Stacey Hill appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Understand the Differences Between Full-Frame Versus Crop-Sensor Cameras

14 Jun

I remember how excited I was to get my first DSLR several years ago. My wife and I had a newborn and wanted to get better shots of our little baby than what a pocket camera could provide. So we soon found ourselves with a new-to-us Nikon D200 that produced stunning images of our precious little boy. The pictures wouldn’t win any prizes, but they were leagues beyond what we could get with our pocket camera or cell phone and that was fine with us.

However, the more I learned about cameras in the coming months, the more I started to think we had made a mistake because our camera was, I discovered, a crop-sensor model. Unbeknownst to us, we had spent hundreds of dollars on what was clearly an inferior camera! Or so I thought at the time. The truth, as is so often the case, is much more nuanced. I’ll explore it a bit in this article so you can understand the practical differences between these two types of cameras and hopefully decide which one is right for you.

How to Understand the Differences Between Full-Frame Versus Crop-Sensor Cameras

This duck is rushing to get the latest full-frame camera he read about on the internet.

Different, not better

Before I get too deep into this article I want to make one thing clear; neither crop, nor full-frame, nor medium format, nor micro-four-thirds are any better than the others. All of them are different, and each format has its strengths and weaknesses (yes, even full-frame cameras have weaknesses!) and each is ideally suited to different types of photography. Moreover, all types of cameras are capable of taking great photos. Even mobile phones, which are basically super-duper-ultra-crop sensor cameras, can take breathtaking award-winning shots that grace not only social media feeds but billboards, walls, and pages of magazines across the world.

The term crop-sensor or full-frame refers solely to the size of the imaging sensor inside a camera. A full-frame sensor is the same size as a piece of 35mm film which was, and still is, the most widely-used type of film in analog cameras. The most common size that the term crop-sensor refers to is known as APS-C, which is the same size as a piece of film from the mid-1990’s Advantix format (also called the Advanced Photo System or APS) invented by Kodak.

How the smaller sensor affects your images

Using a smaller sensor has interesting effects on things like depth of field and apparent focal length of lenses, but it’s not a subjective measure of how good or bad a camera is. Think of it like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet with different sized plates. Shooting with a full-frame camera is like taking a normal size plate to the serving area, whereas using a crop sensor camera is like using a plate that is about 30% smaller. Both will get the job done, and both are great for different types of people. So what’s all the fuss about? Understanding some of the practical differences between these two types of plates…er…cameras will help you know which type is best for you.

So what’s all the fuss about? Understanding some of the practical differences between these two types of plates…er…cameras will help you know which type is best for you.

Crop-sensor versus Full-Frame…it’s not about which is better, but which will suit you better.

ISO performance

For years one of the immutable truths about shooting with a full-frame camera was that it automatically gave you better performance at high ISO values. While this is still mostly true today, it’s also safe to say that for a majority of practical scenarios crop-sensor cameras have picked up the slack and can hold their own fairly well when pitted against their large-sensor counterparts.

If you are looking for the ultimate in high ISO performance though, you might want to ditch that Canon Rebel and start shopping around for a 5D Mark IV or a 1DX. The reason for this discrepancy is due to physics. The pixels, or tiny individual light-sensitive bits on a camera imaging sensor, are usually larger on a full-frame camera.

Bigger buckets

For example, pretend it’s raining and you want to collect some of the water that’s falling freely in your front yard. To do so you set out 24 large buckets (so big you call them mega-buckets) next to each other and wait a few minutes for them to start filling up. Your neighbor, meanwhile, sees your plan and rushes to do the same thing but uses 24 ultra-mega-buckets that are about 30% larger than yours. When the sun comes out and the birds start to sing, who will have collected more water? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not going to be you.

How to Understand the Differences Between Full-Frame Versus Crop-Sensor Cameras

Even though you and your neighbor were both harvesting rainwater with 24 mega-buckets, hers were larger in size and therefore able to collect more water. It’s kind of the same with cameras in that a model like the Nikon D5500 has a 24-megapixel image sensor which is the same as a full-frame Nikon D750. However, since the pixels on the D750 are bigger they are more sensitive to light. So, when there’s not much light available, such as a situation where you may need to shoot at ISO 6,400 or 12,800, they do a better job of collecting the light.

ISO 6400, crop-sensor Nikon D7100. Note how grainy much of the dark areas look, and the somewhat desaturated feel of the bright colors.

Shooting the same scene with a full-frame Nikon D750 yields much better results, with less overall noise and cleaner colors.

Technology advances

This analogy quickly breaks down when you consider the advances in modern technology. Most crop-sensor cameras today significantly outshine their forebears from just a few years ago when shooting at ISO 3200 or 6400. The Fuji X-T1, a modern crop-sensor camera, is about equal to the full-frame Canon 5D Mark III in terms of high ISO performance. Granted the latter is a few years old and has since been bested by other full-frame cameras, but still, the point remains that today’s crop-sensor cameras are no slouch when it comes to shooting at high ISO values.

However, if you want the absolute best in terms of high ISO sensitivity, a modern full-frame camera is usually going to be your best bet. It’s not a zero-sum game though, and there are many other practical considerations to think about. Lastly, just because a camera can shoot at ISO 25,600 doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you.

Cost and Size

There is a principal of mathematics known as modus ponens which is used as a way of showing a certain thing to be true because it follows a logical progression. Basically, it’s a formal way of saying that one thing P naturally implies Q. If P is true, then Q must also be true.

Camera Size

When we apply this rule to photography we can immediately see one disadvantage of cameras with larger sensor sizes. It goes like this; full-frame sensors are larger than cropped image sensors (i.e. condition P). Larger sensors need larger camera bodies in order to compensate for the increase in sensor size (i.e. condition Q). Therefore, cameras with larger sensors are larger than cameras with smaller sensors. Quod erat demonstrandum.

The sensor in a full-frame camera is much larger than the sensor in a crop-frame camera. Therefore, the camera itself needs to be larger too.

Price – $ $ $

Thus, we can see another key difference between cameras with various sensor sizes, and it’s something to keep in mind when considering which type of camera to buy. Image sensors range from the size of a tic-tac breath mint to that of a postage stamp, to a potato chip, and even larger when you consider highly specialized imaging devices like those used at NASA. These image sensors are not cheap to manufacture, which is why full-frame cameras can easily cost twice as much as their crop-sensor counterparts. If you go all the way up to medium format, with sensors that are significantly larger than full-frame, you can easily spend $ 10,000, $ 20,000, or more on the camera alone, without any lenses.

How to Understand the Differences Between Full-Frame Versus Crop-Sensor Cameras
Crop-sensor cameras like the Nikon D3300 or the Canon Rebel T6i are smaller, less expensive, and also more portable than their full-frame counterparts. If you’re shopping for a camera, don’t need crazy-high ISO performance, and also don’t want to empty your pocketbook in the process, then a crop-sensor or micro-four-thirds camera (which has a sensor that’s about 25% as large as a full-frame camera) will suit you quite nicely.

However for many photographers, the size of their camera is of little concern, and they don’t mind the increase in size, weight, and cost that comes with venturing into the full-frame territory. Just know that bigger isn’t always better, especially because along with bigger sensors comes bigger lenses that are required to fit on them as well.

Lens Size and Selection

When considering a camera system, whether crop-sensor or full-frame, it’s not just the size of the camera that you will need to keep in mind but the size and price of the accompanying lenses as well. Lenses designed for smaller sensors are generally smaller and less expensive than lenses for full-frame cameras. A 70-200mm f/2.8 lens for full-frame cameras, which is fairly standard for many photographers, can easily cost upwards of $ 1500. Whereas a similar piece of glass like the Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 lens for crop-sensor cameras will set you back about $ 1000. It’s even better when you look at the micro four thirds system, where lenses are significantly smaller and often less expensive than comparable full-frame models.

The classic 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. Designed for full-frame cameras, it’s a fantastic lens that will give you great photos but it’s also expensive and heavy. Similar lenses for cameras with smaller sensors are smaller, lighter, and often cheaper.

However, one advantage of going with a full-frame system is the sheer quantity and variety of lenses that you have available at your disposal. Since all 35mm film cameras ever made are full-frame, you can use most of those lenses on modern cameras and sometimes you don’t even need an adapter. Many modern full-frame cameras are capable of autofocusing with older lenses too, making it easy to find high-quality glass that will suit your needs if you don’t necessarily need to buy brand-new. There is a growing selection of lenses for crop-sensor cameras, particularly in the micro-four-thirds ecosystem. But if you need access to the largest possible array of lenses than a full-frame camera might just be your best bet.

Lens Performance: Depth of Field and Focal Length

At this point, it might sound like I’m less than enthusiastic about full-frame cameras, but I promise you that’s not the case. I shoot with both crop-sensor and full-frame gear. There is a reason why full-frame cameras and lenses are highly sought-after despite their larger size, heavier weight, and greater cost. Most glass made for full-frame systems costs more and weighs more because it is higher quality. They also produce superior results compared to some of the cheaper lenses for smaller cameras. (Note that I said most, not all. Certainly, there are many outstanding lenses for APS-C and micro-four-thirds cameras. But it’s safe to say that lenses made for full-frame cameras are, for the most part, going to produce outstanding results.)

There’s also the fact that when shooting full-frame you get the benefit of a shallower depth of field. For example, portrait photographers often prefer shallow depth of field. When shooting with a large sensor and a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens you can get results that are difficult to replicate with crop-sensor gear. The math is a bit tricky, but shooting a subject at 200mm with an aperture of f/2.8 on a full-frame camera gives very different results than using a crop-sensor camera.

Examples

Shot with a 200mm lens on a full-frame camera.

I shot the photo above at 200mm with my full-frame camera, but it would have been quite different if I shot it on my crop-sensor camera. A 200mm lens behaves like a 300mm lens when mounted on an APS-C camera. That means I would have had to move much farther back to get this same composition and therefore would have significantly increased the depth of field. The background would not have been as blurry, and the pillar behind the boy would have been more in focus as well.

85mm lens on full-frame versus crop-sensor

Here’s a photo that I took with my crop-sensor D7100, using an 85mm lens at f/4.

85mm lens at f/4 shot with a crop-sensor camera.

After I took that picture I put the same 85mm lens on my full-frame D750 and while standing in the same spot, took the following image:

85mm lens at f/4 on full-frame, same physical position as the first picture.

It looks like I zoomed out, but in fact, I was using the exact same lens but on a full-frame camera. To get a picture like the one I shot initially, I had to move forward which then changed the background elements and also gave me a shallower depth of field with a background that was more out of focus.

85mm lens at f/4 shot on a full-frame camera.

The reason this happens is that with the former you are getting a picture that accurately reflects a lens’s true focal length, whereas on a crop sensor camera you are seeing a cropped version of what the lens sees.

Wide-angle

This picture of the Edmond Low Library on the Oklahoma State University campus was taken with my 35mm lens on my Nikon D7100 (crop-sensor).

35mm lens at f/4 on a crop-sensor camera.

I took the next picture sitting in the exact same spot on the library lawn, using literally the exact same 35mm lens mounted to my full-frame Nikon D750.

35mm lens at f/4 on a full-frame camera.

Nothing changed here except the camera on which the lens was mounted. The shot of the library on my crop-sensor camera is, in a very real sense, a cropped version of what you see on a full-frame camera. The implications of this are profound since it means a 35mm lens on a crop-sensor body actually behaves more like a 55mm lens. (The exact value varies just a bit depending on whether you shoot Nikon or Canon, which each use a slightly different crop factor.)

Implications – how it affects you

So what are the practical implications of this phenomenon? It means that if you are primarily interested in landscape, architecture, or other shots that are suited for wider focal lengths, a full-frame camera will generally be a good choice. However, if you like to shoot wildlife or sports, a crop-sensor camera can give you a lot of extra reach with your lenses and effectively transform a 300mm telephoto lens into a 450mm birdwatching, goal-scoring powerhouse.

I like to do close-up photography on my full-frame D750 not because it’s objective a better camera, but because there are specific features about it that I like for this type of photography.

The Final Word

After examining various differences between crop and full-frame cameras, I hope it’s clear that neither one is inherently better. Both are uniquely suited to different types of photographic tasks.

I’m always eager to hear from the dPS community on topics like this though, and if you have thoughts you would like to share on this issue please leave them in the comments below. Which system do you use and why? Are you satisfied, or are you considering switching from one format to another?

Do you have any questions after reading this article? Post a reply and in the meantime, no matter what type of camera you have, remember to get out there and use it to take pictures you enjoy.

The post How to Understand the Differences Between Full-Frame Versus Crop-Sensor Cameras by Simon Ringsmuth appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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