Take & Talk Pics

Aperture Priority Mode

Hey Photo World! I need to clear up one small detail from the last episode on Shutter Priority. I never mentioned that many of you may see is as "Tv" mode or "Time Value". This is the standard for Canon as well as a few other cameras out there. Today I go over the Aperture Priority Mode or as you Canon users will see "Av" or "Aperture Value". Let me cut to the chase because I am going to sound like a broken record if I don't just lay this out there now. These modes or any modes for that matter are useless, unless you try them out and see where they can benefit your photography and work. I still feel Manual it he best way to learn and shoot. You get to a point in your photography where complete control is necessary and extremely beneficial to your image making.

With that said,  Aperture Priority Mode is as restricting as the Shutter Priority Mode. You may engage the option to select your ISO or leave it to the camera, but this is only to get "correct exposure". That is a whole other topic itself.

Happy Shooting!

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Shutter Priority Mode

Photo World I am on this “what does every little thing in my camera do and how can it be helpful to me?” kick. I know that’s not really a thing but for me blabbing on like I do it is an important enough discussion to have. Also, it gets my attention because there are so many functions I almost never use and perhaps it is because I don’t know as much as I would like about it. It isn’t 100% of the time but I would say I shoot exclusively in Manual exposure. Today, and the rest of this week, I want to walk through other Priority Modes that most DSLR’s offer and maybe why it would be something worth using or at least trying out. Photo World, that brings me to today’s topic: Shutter Priority Mode. The Shutter Priority is exactly like it sounds… You choose the shutter and the camera will do the rest. This is a great little tool for things like Sports or something where you need the speed for really freezing the image. There is more to say about it so that’s where having a podcast comes in handy – free to listen and I don’t have to write more about it. Next time on Take & Talk Pics I will be going over Aperture Priority Mode.

Happy Shooting!

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Nikon CLS

There are specific sensor receptors to interact with the Creative Lighting System or CLS. The number one complaint is the flash wont fire because of too much sun or there isn’t enough power from the on camera flash. There are so many “reasons” people have for why they think it won’t work and the number one actual problem is user error. Not having the sensor aiming back at the camera or master flash and incorrect or insufficient power from the commander flash are also a big problem for an effective CLS.  If you know your gear and you practice how you plan on using it long before you actually put it to use on the job you have a much better chance at being successful with that gear. This has never been truer than when using CLS. It isn’t a complicated system however it can be a limiting system if you are not fully prepared.

Choose the Chanel, Choose the Group, You can shoot in TTL or Manual.

The coolest thing about the Creative Lighting System is: wireless wasn't always affordable and this function for off camera flash has been around for a number of years. TTL wireless is only just becoming affordable and I know many of my students starting out are still not able/willing to make the investment for that function, but CLS offers it. Lastly and the best one by far is High Speed Sync (HSS) with off camera lighting, especially in TTL, is still a bit pricey and the cheaper versions seem to have bad reviews across the board, but you guessed it CLS even includes that.

More info on Nikon CLS:

https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9520/~/nikon-creative-lighting-system-(cls)

Happy Shooting!

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AE-L/AF-L or AF-ON

AE-L/AF-L

AE-L

AF-ON

There are also other, detailed, options for these functions. AE Lock only, AE Lock (Reset on release), AE Lock (Hold) and AF Lock only.

You may have to set a function button for this same option but not have a dedicated AE-L or AF-L button.

AE-L stands for Automatic Exposure Lock or Auto Exposure Lock. AF-L stands for Automatic Focus Lock or Auto Focus Lock. The way this button works is you may compose an image, press the shutter release half way down to catch your focus, then press and hold the AE-L/AF-L, remove your finger from the shutter release, re-compose your image, and then release the shutter to take your picture.

As far as I can tell there is very little use for the AE-L (Auto Exposure Lock). The use of this function suggests you are shooting with an automated exposure mode; Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, or Program modes. Furthermore, this would indicate you are not shooting in Manual. Now I understand the Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Program modes, but these are specialty modes that should only be used under the right conditions. If you are like me and shoot in Manual just about all of the time this AE-L/AF-L or AF-ON function serves little to no purpose. In fact, I find it to be a much slower process to use the AE-L/AF-L button.

Happy Shooting!

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Question Assumptions with Nick Leung

Today’s featured guest is Nick Leung!

Nick is a wedding photographer based out of Seattle Washington for 8 months and then Hong Kong China the remaining 4 months of the year. He was named one of Seattle’s top 25 wedding photographers in 2015. His wedding photography career kicked off on a remote stretch of the Great Wall of China 4 years ago and that inspiring moment keeps Nick driven to continue the double fronted wedding business he runs.

Notes from Rob: Nick and I seemed to be on the same page as far as mindset and our approach to business. I was impressed with his outlook and understanding on both progress and opportunity. I can easily say we both continue to look forward and have a drive to see "what else" when it comes to our photography and our businesses. This will not be the last you see/hear from Nick.

Bio: Nick Leung is a professional wedding photographer based out of Seattle and Hong Kong. After graduating from University of Washington with a Business degree, he worked in corporate finance for 7 years before becoming a full time wedding photographer. His journey during this drastic career change has been both challenging and rewarding. It is the lessons learned from this journey that he wanted to share most with the Photo World.   He has only been in wedding photography for 4 years, but have already been voted as Seattle’s top 25 wedding photographers. He considers his love and passion for his work the most important aspect of his career. Recently, he has found a new passion for motivating and empowering other photographers out there to “take the leap” and this interview could not come at a better time for Nick to share his story.

Happy Shooting!

w: nickleungphotography.com

Blog: nickleungphotography.com/blog

 

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Pixel Binning

Hey Photo World! First, I would like to start off with the fact that I am no expert on the Pixel Binning subject bur more so I am an interested learner on all things photography. My latest endeavor has been studying up and testing out the sRAW option on my Nikon D810 and D750. For more information on my findings so far with sRAW you can listen to episode 226 here!

In my search on sRAW, there were many references to pixel binning and how it should be a much more effective down scaling of resolution to ¼ the size of a traditional full resolution RAW file. At face value, it sounded like a great solution to the speculated sRAW flaws. However, after investigating the difference between compressions with RAW files, sRAW images, and even the compression operations of JPEG images, there seemed to be little evidence that pixel binning offers substantial improvements. Then, I gathered much of my information by reading through multiple blogs and other writings on the subject and here is a list of the sites I read from.

Sites:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/489187-understanding-binning/.

http://info.adimec.com/blogposts/bid/42336/Shot-noise-reduction-with-machine-vision-cameras-using-in-camera-processing.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3922435.

http://www.photometrics.com/resources/learningzone/binning.php.

http://www.andor.com/learning-academy/ccd-binning-what-does-binning-mean.

http://www.olympusmicro.com/primer/digitalimaging/concepts/binning.html.

http://info.adimec.com/blogposts/bid/104547/Binning-to-increase-SNR-and-frame-rate-with-CCD-and-CMOS-industrial-cameras.

Although, the multitude of information on the subject it seems to be a very technical operation. After ingesting the information I have given thought to the entirety of the subject and feel there are little to no benefits to want to see pixel binning in a DSLR camera CMOS sensor. However, an improvement on the sRAW format or an allowance of an mRAW (medium RAW) equaling half resolution vs the quarter resolution of a sRAW image would be a more appropriate settlement on the RAW size options.

Finally, I would be pleased to see Nikon and Canon offer a sRAW and mRAW with a bit depth choice as well. That would benefit many photographers out there.

Happy Shooting!

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sRAW

I have been testing out the sRAW option in my Nikon D810 and wanted to know more about it. So like most people I turned to Google and got articles and blogs all about sRAW or small RAW. Furthermore, some bad press kept showing up on the subject. All these photographers out there complaining and ripping the idea of sRAW apart. They go on about how bad it is and how much you lose by skimping out and using sRAW to save a near useless amount of space. Well, it’s my turn to go off the deep end and rant about the sRAW options out there. Again, I did some testing on my Nikon D810 and I will do the same on my Nikon D750 to see how it compares.

Ultimately, and like a photographers work, the proof is in the pudding. What do you do with your images? What do you need your images to do for your specific customers and industry? Will you need all the resolution at a later date so why not do it all right now with the max RAW options? You will have to be the judge of all that. Like I say all the time: “know your gear”, and that also goes for know what your gear is being used for. I will admit, this is a fast paced and somewhat confusing subject with a lot of numbers and lingo being used throughout the episode. Bear with me and many even listen a couple times if you want to get all the details. The main 3 things to know are these:

14 bit uncompressed RAW – 73MB

12 bit compressed RAW – 30.5MB

sRAW – 11 bit compressed – 27MB

Finally, when talking about RAW compression options I love how Nikon states it in the user manual for the Nikon D810: “Uncompressed, images are not compressed; Lossless Compressed, no effect on image quality; Compressed, with almost no effect on image quality.” Makes compression look like a joke. Take it or leave it… everything will be fine.

Happy Shooting!

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Nice To Employees

This is for all you photographers who have 1 or more employees. Heck you can apply this method to those of whom are flying solo. Also, I would like to clear up the word “employees” for you. Many would think it means you have individuals on payroll with an hourly or salary wage or someone who comes to work for the company at regular intervals. Well “employee” can mean a lot of things and I look at it as anyone who does work for someone else regardless of the interval, pay rate, or consistency. You could say they are temporary or sub-contractors as well. No matter how you define them you should be nice to your employees.

Nice/Positive Mean/Negative Competitive pay Restrictive pay Constructive guidance Pushy guidance Offering more work opportunities Restricting the hours Perks No perks Somewhere to go/climb the ladder Lateral movement

Nice seems like an obvious choice and an easy way to go but nice isn’t always the easiest to define. What you think could be nice may easily be blah or in some cases “not nice” to others. There is an attitude in how you treat them and that directly relates to an attitude in how they treat you/your business. Photo World you already know what I am talking about because just about each of you can go back to a time when you had a job and your attitude was reflected by how you felt you were treated. If you instill positivity to your employees, no matter their capacity, than you will see positivity from them. The opposite is true when there is negativity involved. Be positive! Be nice to your employees! Why do you think I always finish every episode with:

Happy Shooting!

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Chase The Light

Photo World I was thinking about one of the turning points in my career as a photographer. Really it was before my career kicked off. This was happening while I was learning and working for other photographers. I used to spend hours and hours poring over photos, surfing the net, flipping through magazines, and even perusing a newspaper here and there. (Yes I used to read actual newspapers). I would look at how all those other photographs were taken and more specifically what kind of light was used to make the picture. I wanted to know what light source was used, guess the modifiers that were helping shape the light, figure out what the exposure must have been. I will say that it didn’t come easy but I do have a skill now for determining what lens is used for many of the photographs my students make just by investigating their images. I still find myself asking what kind of light is in play or what kind of modifiers were used here? I am continually seeking the answers… not to learn them and then emulate that practice but to see if my eye is good enough. I find myself critiquing many photographs with thoughts on how it could have been better with the right light. I’m no more gifted than any

Leadership

Photo World today's episode is more about personality development than running a business. Although, one does need the right personality to run a business. Specifically with small businesses you may be the boss but you must also show leadership. You must have a leader’s mindset.

In a quick google search I found a Leader is – The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. Or business (business was added by me).

There is a ton of information on leadership and how to go about gaining good leadership skills or how to operate in the work place but what about when you own your own business?

According to mindtools.com A leader can:

• Create a vision
• Motivate & Inspire
• Deliver the vision
• Coach and Develop

Owning your business, means your name is on it. So…

Don’t blame others for failure or setbacks. – busted wireless story

What kind of leader do you want to be? – panic while serving or casually under control

The kind that only chases the pay check or the one who is there for their passion and in turn their clients? – informative selling vs. pressure selling

Happy Shooting!

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