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Category Archives: Photography 101

photography lessons designed to help those who want to learn to use a camera and/or take better pictures

digital’s frustrating weakness (a.k.a. sensor dust)

You know you have sensor dust when: annoying little gray spots show up on your digital files.  They are especially troublesome/noticeable when they overlay on skin tones, or in places that make them more tedious to Photoshop: Sensor dust is nothing new (Google it.) When I bought my first digital SLR in 2005, I also…

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Lesson 2.1: Histogram

The instant feedback of digital photography has made the process of learning to take great pictures infinitely easier. Did I get everybody in the frame?  Check the LCD.  Did anybody blink?  Check the LCD. Is my picture too bright/dark?  This is where checking the back of the camera can get beginners into trouble. It’s important…

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Katz Eye™ split prism focusing screen

Katz Eye is one of the leading brands of replacement focussing screen for digital single lens reflex cameras (dSLR). Today’s dSLRs ship with a stock focus screen that is optimized for auto-focus; Katz Eye lets camera owners replace this stock screen with one more suitable for manual focus. This is very helpful for photographers who…

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SOOC Nikon 28-70mm AF vs. Zeiss 35mm manual focus lens

Wasn’t it brilliant of Christopher to show up in his favorite T-shirt? Total surprise, he had no idea I went to college at Oregon. I seized the opportunity to use the bright colors of a fun shirt to do a side-by-side comparison. The test shots surprised me.   Both images straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOC), no color correction…

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Lesson 6: ISO

We’ve learned that aperture controls the amount of light coming in through the lens, shutter speed controls the amount of time in which light is allowed to reach the sensor. ISO lets you control how sensitive your sensor is in reacting to that light. Just like the aperture and shutter speed scales, ISO moves from…

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Lesson 5: using shutter speed

Exposure = ISO + Aperture + Shutter Speed. We’ve learned that aperture controls the amount of light coming in through the lens. Shutter speed controls the amount of time in which light is allowed to reach the sensor. (Coming tomorrow: ISO lets you control how sensitive your sensor is in reacting to that light.) We’ve…

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Lesson 4: exposure review

This image, my friends, is an example of first learn the rules, then learn to break them. Relax. Today is a fun day, lesson is a review, assignment is relevant to a festive American holiday. Going back to last lesson’s extra credit question: Originally, our goal wasn’t to change the exposure ratio by lightening or…

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Lesson 3: aperture

Exposure = ISO + Aperture + Shutter Speed. Learn it, know it, live it. Let me start by saying I don’t buy the top of the line camera body Nikon makes, especially since I’ve gone digital. Digital camera bodies are like computers; in a couple of years, newer, better technology will render today’s bodies almost…

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Lesson 2: exposure

So we’ve agreed that you’re looking to create technically correct images that are in-focus and not too bright (overexposed) or too dark (underexposed.) You’ve chosen a lens that gives you roughly the focal length you’re looking for depending on what you’re shooting. Q: I chose a 105mm lens, but how do I get the flowers…

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