Basic photography: understanding Aperture

Jul 26 2009 Published by under Tutorial

“How can I get that kind of shot? It looks really nice.”

I’ve got that question a lot from relatives and friends who just started photography. And I assume they’re getting DSLR means they want to, at least, get better pics than from a compact camera. But on DSLR, one is required to know how it works in order to shoot properly.

There are terms like shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, and some other stuffs that will scare point-and-snap amateurs away. But for the first one, I’ll start with aperture.

So, here’s an explanation of what aperture is. It is actually an opening of lens. If lens is a human eye, aperture is the iris. Its opening control how much light goes into the retina or the image sensor.

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The end of megapixel race

Jul 20 2009 Published by under News

The more megapixel, the better. This is what average person believe in. Well, it may be true generally. But may not on some cases. It depends on who you are and what you need. Akira Watanabe, manager of Olympus Imaging SLR department, said “Twelve megapixel is, I think, enough for covering most applications most customers need” to ZDNet. What does he mean ?

The megapixel myth

Generally, there are 2 kinds of photographer, those who snap for fun and artistic shot (amateurs) and those who snap in a studio (professional). These professionals prefer camera with more MP because they need it for large size prints. With higher MP, the larger one can print because higher MP means smoother image.

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How to shoot ghost effect

Jul 12 2009 Published by under Tutorial

ghost effect

This tutorial is intended for beginner. Please don’t mind the terms I used if you are not one.

It is for sure making your model transparent is a piece of cake using Photoshop. One just need to select the model, and slide the transparency slider. Got it.

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How to shoot light trails

Jun 19 2009 Published by under Tutorial

Images of light trails often shot in evening to night time is always impressive. Be it a driveway filled with cars’ headlights or brake lights, or even a “drawing” using flashlight.

Here’s a step-by-step on how to shoot the drawing using flashlight. Please bear in mind that this is just a guide. Any improvisation is greatly welcomed. Just keep repeating until you get your desired shots.

light trail

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How to shoot “zoom effect”

Jun 15 2009 Published by under Tutorial

zoom effect

The above is one of the examples of so-called zoom effect. Don’t worry, it’s pretty easy:

  1. Decide on the subject (you can try a model).
  2. Set the shutter speed to anything longer than 1 second.
  3. Click the shutter.
  4. Twist the focusing ring (zoom in or zoom out you can experiment on that).
  5. Enjoy the result, repeat until you get your desired output.

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