The interaction of Aperture/F-Stop, shutter speed and ISO/ASA when Capturing your Images

1st Aperture/F-Stop, 2nd shutter speed and 3rd ISO/ASA

These 3 settings depend on one another and their interaction with light. A photograph is created by a chemical process where light is exposed to film, or a sensor in digital cameras. I always shoot on manual mode which gives me complete control on how I want to capture each image. I usually start my clients on Aperture Priority.

Apature/F-Stop

F/2.8 is wide open and allows the greatest amount of light to hit the Film or Sensor for your shortest possible exposure in a low light situation. F/2.8 will also give you the shallowest depth of field. When you have a shallow depth of field your main subject matter can stay in focus but your background will become a soft blur.

F/22 is stopped down and allows the least amount of light to hit the Film or Sensor. F/22 if used correctly will give you an infinite depth of field. Stopping down all the way requires a longer exposure which can cause motion blur

When you stop down two stops from F/2.8 to F/5.6   1/4th the amount of light will hit the Film or Sensor if your shutter speed and ISO/ASA remains the same.

You can either decrease your shutter speed by 400%
Or increase your ISO/ASA by 400%

F/2.8 at 1/120 sec with an ISO/ASA 100
F/5.6 at   1/30 sec with an ISO/ASA 100
F/5.6 at 1/120 sec with an ISO/ASA 400

If your exposure is too long you have a chance of motion blur
If your ISO/ASA is too high you will create noise

Smokey Mountain Photo Workshop – Ogle Cabin

The Ogle Cabin is a Photographers paradise. Martha Jane Huskey Ogle, her children and several other family members arrived in a remote locale of the Great Smoky Mountains inEast Tennessee called White Oak Flats in 1807. It was their wish to honor her recently deceased husband, William and settle in the “land of paradise” he had found for them. That paradise  the Ogle Cabin in Gatlinburg which  is one of my all time favorite locations in the Smokey Mountains to work with clients.

Photoshop CS 5.5 – Camera Raw 6.6

After I opened the Canon CR file in Camera Raw 6.6 I made minor adjustments in the Basic Pallet. In the White Balance drop down menu I selected Auto Temperature 4850 Tint +30 and adjusted the  Fill Light to 30

Basic Processing in Camera Raw 6.6

This image opened out of Camera Raw 6.6 would look good if you haven’t  seen the image finished using Nik Software.

Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete – Film Efex – Kodak Portra 400 VC

Using Color Efex Pro 3.0 I selected Film Efex 3.0 and selected Kodak Portra 400VC from the drop down Menu.

Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete – Graduated Neutral Density Filter

Using Color Efex Pro 3.0 I selected Film Efex 3.0 and selected Kodak Portra 400VC from the drop down Menu.

Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete – Tonal Contrast

Next with Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete I used Tonal Contrast

Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete – Remove Color Cast

Next with Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete  I used Remove Color Cast and using 50% Opacity in the Blend Modes

Ogle Cabin Finished using Nik Software

Smokey Mountains Photographic Workshop

Clingmans dome - Rim Frost

On Monday,  April 23 on the first full day of the Smokey Mountain workshop there was rime ice that made the narrow winding switchbacks mountain roads to Clingmans dome too treacherous for driving and the road was closed for most of the day. Fortunately after 4pm the road to Clingmans dome was reopened and we were able to capture some fabulous images. I have traveled through the Smokey mountains for the last 20 years on my way home from the southern art fair circuited and this is the first I was able to capture Rime Ice sometimes known as hoar frost. 

Mount Le Conte

The summit of Mount Le Conte to the east of 441 was covered in rime ice. Sunlight played on the landscape like a painters brush as it dappled the trees on the mountain with light as we photographed. It is always a wonderful experience watching when nature presents us with her handiwork.   

 

Live Oak Reflections

The best time for capturing a mirror reflection is First Light. In the early morning light just as the sun is coming up, everything is still. It is as if Mother Nature is holding her breath and allowing you to see mirror images of her handy work in the lakes and ponds. This is my favorite times to capture images when earth is still and most of the world is still sleeping.

Live Oak Reflections

In Camera Raw 6.6 I adjusted the White Balance to Auto and shifted the exposure slider to + 0.15. I also adjusted the Recovery slider to +11

Camera Raw 6.6

This is the image opened directly into Photoshop directly out of Camera Raw 6.6. This is a great image without any processing but a few adjustments in Color Efex Pro 3.0 will make this image pop.

Image opened directly out of Camera Raw

In Color Efex Pro 3.0 I used Film Effects and the film I selected was Kodak Portra 160VC. When shooting film this was always one of my favorites.

Film-Effects

To bring out the Shadows and bring down the Highlights I used Tonal Contrast in Color Efex Pro 3.0

Tonal Contrast

The last tool I used in Color Efex Pro 3.0 is Remove Color Cast. This tool will adjust the color and often gives it the warming effect I want in images.

Remove Color Cast

With just a few quick adjustments in Color Efex Pro 3.0 this image Live Oak reflection was turned into a finished image.

Live Oak Reflections

Follow the Light – Charleston South Carolina

Follow the Light – Charleston Spring Photo Workshop

Follow the Light – Charleston Spring Photo Workshop

I arrived home on Saturday from the Charleston Workshop in time to enjoy the holiday weekend with family and friends.

The weather and shooting conditions were great in Charleston and everyone captured some great images. Over the course of the workshop I could see the students grasp a better understanding of how their cameras function, which will allow them to capture better images in the field.

More important than camera functions is the understanding of Composition and use of natural Light to capture an image. By the end of the workshop I was glad to see every one had a better understand of composition and how to use natural light to capture their images.     

When we were not shooting or taking time to exploring Old Charleston we were able to go over some of  the basics photographic software used in processing images.  There are many great programs to choose from to process your images. My preference has always been to open my RAW images in Camera Raw in the Photoshop CS5 or Elements 10 programs for a few basic adjustments. After the basic adjustments I use Nik software to fine tune my images.

Charleston Spring Photographic Workshop

I am in Charleston getting ready to give a workshop and the last three days have been a nice combination of scouting and capturing some wonderful images. There has been a nice mix of sun and clouds that has extended my shooting time.

Wisteria Daydream - Charleston

While processing images and havening lunch at Panera Bread the battery went on my mouse. I went digging in my backpack knowing I didn’t have any batteries with me but I found 4 AA batteries a client from theVeniceworkshop had given me to replace the ones he had borrowed. When he gave me those 4AA’s I though that I would never need them because I had 100 of them and the drawer at home. Well I am not at home and appreciate that I had them to finish working on the images. Sometime it is the little things that people do that makes our lives easier.

Live Oaks of Charleston

Enjoy the Journey

 

Venice Carnival – Sepia Lovers; Processed using CS5 Camera Raw 6.1, Raw Sharpening Pro 3.0 and Tonal Contrast in Color Efex Pro 3.0

Heal and Clone

 Sepia Lovers – Venice Carnival

Sepia Lovers - Venice Carnival

Venice Carnival was first started in the 1300′s as a celebration leading up to Lent where nobles and commoners mingled freely while disguised by there masks. Today’s Carnival carries on the tradition where wonderful costumed characters mingle in complete anonymity. For the costumed characters who attend Carnival it must be a wonderful experience to have a few days of anonymity in a world where everyone knows to much about everyone with just a click of a button.

During the workshop I stayed in a lovely Pensione by the Academia bridge. The single room rate ran a little under a $100. It had it’s own semi private piazza where you could  have your breakfasts outdoor on nice days after the morning shoots. For the carnival workshop some of the clients stayed at the Regina & Europa which is a 5 star on the grand canal a 5 min walk from my Pensione.

With this Image I did very little work to the image in Adobe Camera Raw. The only adjustment I made was in Camera Calibration where I selected Camera Neutral.

Adobe Camera Raw - Camera Calebration - Camera Neutral

 

 

Siena Farmhouse – Processed using Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Camera Raw 6.1

 

Last fall I spent 2 weeks teaching Photographic Workshops in the Chianti area of Tuscany, Italy. We stayed at a Agriturismo that was  an working vineyard south of Florence, each day we started with a sunrise shoot then head back to the Agriturismo for breakfast. After breakfast we would explore nearby villages for more images and a little shopping. I find that my best images are normally captured at sunrise and sunset except when you are lucky enough to have scattered showers thought the day. When everything is drenched from a fresh rain it enhances the colors. If you are luck enough to have partial overcast, as in this image, your colors are not washed out from the bright sunlight. The mix of blue sky and clouds helped to give this image it’s finishing touch.

 

Raw CR2 File

Siena Farmhouse – CR2 Raw image

 

This histogram looks good but the image looks a little dark. In the Basics Pallet, I  start with the Exposure slider by moving the slider to +0.20 to brighten the image. This changes the Histogram by shifting the information to the left and created a little clipping in the highlights. To compensate for the clipping, I shifter the Recovery slider to 11 which shifted the highlighted area back to the right and eliminates the clipping.

 

The next step is to adjust for White Balance, this can be done by manually adjusting the Temperature and Tint sliders or using the dropdown menu. Using the dropdown menu to check the presets, with this image I liked the Daylight preset of 5500 Kelvin and +10, this added the warmth you normal see during daylight hours. 

 

The next adjustment I made was Clarity which adjusts midtone contrast. This is a wonderful adjustment which brought out crisper detail in this vineyard image. With the Vibrance slider  I added +40  to bring out the saturation in the midtones. I love this adjustment, it adds a much subtler saturation than you can achieve with the Saturation slider. In this case it enhanced the blues in the sky and richened the tones throughout the image.

Basic Pallet

Siena Farmhouse – Camera Raw 6.1 Elements 9 Basic Pallet

The next adjustment I made was in the Camera Calibration pallet, to bring out the colors in this fall vineyard image. Using the Camera Profile dropdown menu I selected Camera Landscape, to bring out all the colors I remembered seeing in this wonderful image near Siena in Tuscany.

Camera Calibration

Siena Farmhouse – Camera Calibration – Camera Landscape

The Last adjustment I made was in the Detail Pallet. Right click on your screen and bring the image to 100%. By bringing the image to 100% you will be able to see the effect the sharpening is having on the image. On this image I set the Sharpening Amount at 100 with the pixel Radius at 1.1 and the Detail at 25, which are the setting I use 90% of the time.  With most images I find that if I set the Amount between 75 and 150 with the pixel Radius between .75 and 1.5 and the Detail amount at 25, I achieve my best results.

Detail Pallet

 

Siena Farmhouse – Detail Pallet – Sharpening

 

With just a few minuets of processing in Adobe Camera Raw 6.1 in Elements 9 we have a printable image that will bring out the beauty of  this Siena Farmhouse.

Adobe Camera Raw 6.1 - Elements 9 - Siena Farmhouse

 I will work with this image for several more hours to bring out the colors and clone out antennas and other distractions but for all practical purposes this image is ready for printing.

Leaning Tower of Pisa – Color Effex Pro, Transform and Viveza 2.0

When shooting in RAW I  process my images in Adobe Camera Raw before opening the images in Photoshop CS5. The tools in the ARC converter represent some of the greatest innovations in photographic technology. There are other programs I could open my images in but my preference for processing images has always been the Photoshop programs.

As you can see when this Raw image is opened even though the histogram is good it is a little dark and a little cool. Both adjustments can be corrected using the adjustment sliders in the basic tool Pallet.

Leaning Tower of Pisa – CR2 Raw image

 

When you are capturing images whether with film or with RAW digital files the most important elements are proper exposure and composition. If your exposure is good and you have good composition it will only take a couple of minuets to transform a RAW image into a finished work of art.

With this images I shifted the Exposure slider to +1.10 to lighten the image a little. If you look at the histogram on the top right it has shifted the information to the right without creating any clipping in the highlights. I also moved the black slider from 5 to 8 which gave me a little depth in the shadows. With the White Balance I selected Auto which warmed the image. Then I brought the recovery sliced to 31 which brought a little more detail to the clouds. There are many other wonderful tools that I have spent hours on in ARC but I seldom use them since I have started using Nik software. I will use a few of the  tools in the Nik software suite to finish this image after I open the Raw CR2 file in Photoshop CS5

White-Balance in ARC

The perspective of this image is off and there are two ways to correct this. One is to get out my 4″x5″ camera out and make the adjustments to straighten the angles out before shooting by making bellows adjustments or use the transform tool in Photoshop when I get home. A good amount of my shooting time is spent teaching digital classes and I seldom bring my film cameras while I am teaching so I spend the extra time making the perspective adjustments using the transform tool after I get home.

Before you use the transform tool you must first create a duplicate layer of your images you can do this by going to the top Menu bar to Layer > New > Layer via Copy or use the shortcut Ctrl J to create a duplicate layer. Once you have done this go back up to the top Menu go to Edit > Free Transform. If you hold down the control key you can drag the corners to correct the perspective of the image. When I want to make precise adjustments I will create a grid by going to View > Show > Grid. After you have transformed the image, hit enter and you have transformed the perspective to the image.

Free Transform

When I have finished some basic adjustments I decide on which of the Nik software to use. With this image I have decided to use Film Effects in Color Efex Pro. On the right hand side there is a dropdown menu that has 33 different film types to chose from. When you scroll over the film type with your curser it will show you a preview of what that image would have looked like if you had captured that image with that type of film. For this image I selected Kodak Ultra Color 400UC. In the past I would have been limited to the types of film I had brought on location. This one tool in Nik Color Efex Pro opens up endless possibilities. 

Film Effects in Color Efex Pro

The next tool I decided to use is VIVEZA 2 which is also a Nik software tool. By dropping in a control point in the blue sky I moved the warmth slider to the right to give the sky a nicer blue. I then duplicated this control point by holding the Alt key and dragging a duplicate control point to the left and right. To avoid any overlap of the blues I had just enhanced I dropped in neutral control points into the clouds. In this case there was some overlapping and the neutral control points eliminated the blue overlap and put the original warmth back into the clouds. You can try Nik software for a 15 day trial and when you buy Nik you can use my discount code “EuropeanImages” for a 15% discount. 

Viveza 2.0 – Leaning Tower of Pisa

By using ARC and Nik software I have transformed a finished image into a printable file in just a few minutes. I usually find that I will go back and tweak an image in a day or two, so I am viewing the image with a slightly different perspective.

Leaning Tower of Pisa - Printable Image

Greenbrier – Smokey Mountain National Park

 Just north and east of Gatlinburg there is an amazing area in the great smoky national park called Greenbrier. The rock formations in Greenbrier look like the formations you would find on the Moon.  It is an amazing place to photograph especially after a fresh rain.  The crevices fill with water and create wonderful reflection pools of the surrounding trees. I like to visit this area in the late afternoon when the light is being blocked by the surrounding hills and trees.  You can get some amazing reflections on the water lying in small pools between the rocks

Greenbrier Moonscape – Great Smokey Mountain Park, Tennessee

I came in at a low angle and Captured my images at F16 through F32 so my depth of field would not only keep the rocks and small reflection pools in the foreground in focus but also keep the waterfalls and trees in the background in focus.

Greenbrier – Great Smokey Mountain Park, Tennessee

Image number 16, 17 and 18 in the Smokey Mountain gallery were photographed in the Greenbrier area.

Greenbrier – Great Smokey Mountain Park, Tennessee

I selected my camera White Balance for Auto and selected my Camera Profile for Neutral in Adobe Camera Raw and then opened the images into Photoshop CS 5 so I could do my adjustments using Nik software. With these single images I found that running them through the Nik HDR program game me amazing contrast that I couldn’t achieve with any other tools I had used.