Update…

I’ve had a few emails asking me about using a camera other than one with manual setting capabilities for this tutorial.

While the earlier focus of our Hands On! Photography tutorials was geared towards the technical side of your digital cameras, we are now into the artistic side of photography (composition).  For this reason, we will gladly accept photos from other cameras.

All digital cameras store the camera settings in the image file so they are still available.  You can easily see them in either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements by clicking on File Info.

<Note, other programs may also be able to read this info, but I am unfamiliar with them – if anyone knows, please let me know and I’ll pass the info along!>

If you do not have either of these programs, please submit them anyways!  I can try to view the settings and include them when posting to our blog.  This will still provide a learning tool for those who view an image and wonder what settings were used to achieve the exposure.

Hope that is clear to all!  If not, please contact me via email at sue {at} canadianscrapbooker {dot} ca.

Cheers,

Aug Tutorial question:

Erin Aumack posted this question in our comments and I thought I’d share it, along with my answer, in case any of our readers missed it and may have the same question:

Can natural light also be outdoors? Or is this a challenge for indoor photos?

Here’s my answer:

I would consider natural light outdoors as daylight (not direct sunlight) as discussed in the June tutorial.  For this tutorial, I’d like to see you work on using indoor natural lighting. 

Thanks for your queston, Erin – can’t wait to see your results!  I’ll be back with our first August submission soon!

Cheers!

Q & A: Round 1

Hello, everyone!  How is your January assignment coming along?

A reader left me a question in one of her comments, and it occured to me that others may have questions as well.  So each month, I will post a Q&A type of post to answer your questions regarding the assignment that month.  You can leave me your question in a comment or email me directly at sue (AT) canadianscrapbooker (DOT) com.

Here’s Sonia’s question:

How do you get a lower F setting? I could not get it lower then f/5.6.

The lowest f/ setting, or widest aperture, will depend on the lens speed.  If you are unsure of your lens speed, there are two easy ways to check: 

1) in manual mode, set your camera to manual or aperture priority, and dial down to the widest aperture – it will stop changing at the lowest number.  This is your lens speed.

or

2) look at your lens – there should be a bunch of numbers on the barrel or on the front rim, as shown below:

In the first photo, this is a 50mm fixed, or prime, lens, with a lens speed of f/1.4.  In the second photo, it is a lens with a varying focal length of 18-55mm.  As such it has a varying lens speed, depending on the focal length.  At the 18mm focal length, the lens speed is f/3.5 and at 55mm, it is f/5.6

Hope that answers your question, Sonia!

If you have any questions pertaining to this month’s assignment, or just in general, please ask! 

Cheers,