Monday, November 09, 2009

Aperture's my favorite

I shouldn't say this. It's only going to hurt Shutter's feelings. But it's true. Aperture's my favorite. Today, I shot one of the vinyl wall stickers we have up near Henry's changing table in our bathroom over and over again, running through all of the f-stops. Because I need to do this over and over again in order to have the information sink in. The first photo is way overexposed, the last is too dang dark, but some in the middle are just about awesome. Or rather as awesome as a vinyl wall sticker in a bathroom above a changing table can be. When I try to do this type of experiment with the shutter it doesn't go well because, after a certain point, the shutter speed slows down enough to require a tripod or for me to accept defeat in the form of a blurry picture. (For me, that was when the shutter was at 1/10.) Rather than post all 22 pics, here's a glimpse at what my iPhoto library looks like after today's photography fun. Kind of makes you want to run right out and buy your own DSLR so you can join the party, doesn't it?

3 comments:

Shawn and Becky said...

I found myself telling my husband just this weekend that 'for my next camera' I want a DSLR . . . he paused and then said okay, like it's no big deal! But I might also have to take a photograpy class so I can actually use the thing. I guess the auto settings will treat me fine for a while.

Christie said...

We had our camera for over two years before I made a real attempt at shooting in something other than automatic, and I can point to a gazillion photos previously taken that I think are really great shots. So, yes, you'll do awesome in automatic. Besides, for the first bit you'll be amazed just at the quality difference between your old point and shoot and your new DSLR.

clickmom said...

Not sure what you are trying to do but if you are looking for exposure you should know how your camera's light meter works. The light meter averages out the light reflected into your lens. Typically the average of all the lights would end up in somethign called "middle gray" which is the color that green grass would be in a black and white photo. Normally that would be fine unless you are shooting something like a white snowy scene or a dark night time shot. If you are shooting a very white photo you would over expose your shot a stop or two. Shooting in the dark? Underexpose. Also, most people can't hold a camera steadily at shutter speeds lower than 1/60. Some of the DSLR cameras have very little shake to them and people can get a good shot off at 1/30, but I wouldn't try to hand hold any slower.

Also, (I'm gonna get hate mail for this one, I know) but I think Dooce photoshops her photos a little heavy in the blue tones. If you want that look add some blue. Good luck!