Photography Tips & Tricks

[Guyzerr]

Ugh. I am not qualified to operate my camera.

Someone tell me about filters. I know nothing of such things but I've heard they're useful. :unsure:

There are many different kinds of filters so you gotta be more specific.

 

[freakofnature]

I was kinda looking for general information to get me started. :unsure: No? OK...

I'd trade my camera in for a point and shoot except then I wouldn't be able to change lenses and get dust on my sensor while not knowing how to clean it properly. :nod:

 

[Siphorous]

I was kinda looking for general information to get me started. :unsure: No? OK...

I'd trade my camera in for a point and shoot except then I wouldn't be able to change lenses and get dust on my sensor while not knowing how to clean it properly. :nod:

General info?

Ok - first rule is that filters need to be bought in sizes that are appropriate for your lens.

Taking off the lens covers for my lenses and examining the back you should see the size of your lens.

If I do that on my lenses, I can see:

52mm
55mm
58
77mm

...so it's very important to decide on what lens you want to use for filtered shots. If landscape is your thing, then maybe you'd want a filter for your wide angle lens - unless you have the type of lens which has a big range of course where you can get away with one sized filter.

Types of filters

It's been a while since I've used one personally but I have to hand two types - a UV filter and polarising filter.

UV Filter - filters uv rays so doesn't affects your photos (some may argue this but I can't tell). Point of it? - to protect your lens.Typical use? Better to see a filter scratched than your lens.

Polarising filter - come in two types, circular and linear. Unless you're using a really old camera and you have a modern autofocus dslr - you'll want a circular polariser. Point of it? To remove glare and what not. Typical use? makes skies bluer etc. Will have to rotate the filter to get the best effect. You'll see it as you rotate it.

Neutral Density (ND) filter - Point of it? when you want less light entering your camera. Typical use? Bright sunny day and you want to capture a waterfall whilst blurring the water some.


Hope that helps... I've become less reliant on filters and nowadays find myself doing things the lazy way. e.g. adjusting bad light in lightroom for example. However, if I took time and effort - software like lightroom would not be needed. I have my reasons but they could be seen as just excuses

Anyway - hope that helps as an intro to filters. I'd probably have to look up anything deeper on them.

 

[Guyzerr]

Further to Siph's comments here's a couple of links.

http://www.dpfwiw.com/filters.htm

There are some good examples of what Siph was talking about. It's nice to be able to see the difference of what a filter can do.

http://photo.net/equipment/filters/digital

Special Effects filters. I remember the star filters from way back when I shot film.

Click on the name of whatever interests you and you'll see some examples of the effects.

http://www.camerafilters.com/

 

[JanieDough]

if you shoot in black and white red can make your pictures more contrasty too

i have one filter - the UV one on my lens at all times because like siph said it protects it from scratches.

 

[freakofnature]

Good stuff. Thanks guys!

 

[freakofnature]

I took this picture in in the middle of the night. I was trying to do some dark/shadowy thingamabobber. It didn't seem to matter what settings I used, I got varying degrees of redness. How do I remedy that? Is it a filter issue? Shutter speed? Aperture?

If I increased the exposure it turned out like this, which is kinda cool except I didn't want it to look like it was the middle of the day.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

I took this picture in in the middle of the night. I was trying to do some dark/shadowy thingamabobber. It didn't seem to matter what settings I used, I got varying degrees of redness. How do I remedy that? Is it a filter issue? Shutter speed? Aperture?

If I increased the exposure it turned out like this, which is kinda cool except I didn't want it to look like it was the middle of the day.

You would want to adjust both exposure and aperature for this photo

like what I did with this photo, first with just exposure adjusted:



and then aperature

 

[Guyzerr]

You would want to adjust both exposure and aperature for this photo

like what I did with this photo, first with just exposure adjusted:



and then aperature

I'm sure she doesn't want to black it out completely which would have happened to yours if it wasn't an actual light. Maybe you can follow up with your advice and actually guide her step by step. I think that would be the best way to do it.

 

[Siphorous]

Bri? Any advice for Zirconaz along the lines of what Guy said?

 

[freakofnature]

Oh, that's OK. I"ll figure it out myself eventually. I haven't really had a chance to experiment with settings because I haven't had an overcast night like that since I took those pictures. A lot of the redness was due to the city lights reflecting off of low cloud cover.

 

[Siphorous]

Oh, that's OK. I"ll figure it out myself eventually. I haven't really had a chance to experiment with settings because I haven't had an overcast night like that since I took those pictures. A lot of the redness was due to the city lights reflecting off of low cloud cover.

Interesting. Do you use a tripod too for the night shots?

 

[freakofnature]

Interesting. Do you use a tripod too for the night shots?

:nod: A tripod is a must for night photography because it requires longer exposure time and my hands aren't THAT steady. Camera shake drives me nuts. I even have a remote shutter release so I don't have to touch the camera to take a picture. I took this picture without a tripod (because I didn't have it with me at the time) and you can tell. It would have been an amazing picture without the camera shake.

 

[Siphorous]

Aaah. I was just making sure

and aye - that one would have been a wonderful shot! Still, it gives you a hint of what might have been so in that sense is not bad at all.

My remote thingy isn't working so an alternative method is to just set it on self timer on the tripod for 10 secs. That's my cheap and cheerful approach in the abscence of a working remote.

 

[Alien Allen]

I am impressed how some can hold a camera steady under low lights. Wish I knew what the trick was because I am horrible with the shakes.

 

[freakofnature]

I am impressed how some can hold a camera steady under low lights. Wish I knew what the trick was because I am horrible with the shakes.

In a pinch you can rest your camera on something solid for support if you don't have a tripod. I didn't use a tripod for this shot but I rested my camera on a railing and it turned out alright.

 

[Alien Allen]

In a pinch you can rest your camera on something solid for support if you don't have a tripod. I didn't use a tripod for this shot but I rested my camera on a railing and it turned out alright.

I am not even good at that it seems when it is this dark. I was in NYC a couple years ago and took what would have been really neat pics of the outside of the hotel where John Lennon was killed. They all came out shitty even though I was resting the camera on something across the street.

Photography is another of my failings that just pisses me off. I do not have the patience, the eye or the ability to take good pics. The desire to do so is there but the rest I fail at.

Sigh

 

[Guyzerr]

Oh, that's OK. I"ll figure it out myself eventually. I haven't really had a chance to experiment with settings because I haven't had an overcast night like that since I took those pictures. A lot of the redness was due to the city lights reflecting off of low cloud cover.

Tell me what kind of camera you have and I'll try and help you out.

 

[freakofnature]

Tell me what kind of camera you have and I'll try and help you out.

Nikon D40

 

[Guyzerr]

Nikon D40

Gimme some time to think this over so I can try and make it simple.