My Photography: 08/01/2009

Monday, August 24, 2009

My fishes

Well this is a traditional gold fish. Been with me for almost year and half now.

This is a traditional redcap. He is very active and always hungry :).

This is my sweet little aquarium. As of for now I have a pair of traditional gold fishes another pair of Koi, small red cap's. Sucker as usual in charge of the maintenance guess he is kinda invisible in in this snap. Almost forgot about another pair of shubankin. So in total i have 10 fishes :)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

गणपती बाप्पा..... मोरया

गणपती बाप्पा..... मोरया

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Max colors

I am not sure if something went wrong or right but then if you see few of the snaps they are so colorful for some reason that they appear to be enhanced or something. These ones are not enhanced or anything but yes did add some light to few of them, apart from that no other modifications are done. Most were clicked at 1/320s f9.0 -1.00EV ISO 200 42.00mm with little or no changes.

1/400s f10.0 -1.00EV ISO 200 55.00mm

1/320s f9.0 -1.00EV ISO 200 42.00mm

1/320s f9.0 -0.75EV ISO 200 15.00mm

1/500s f11.0 -1.00EV ISO 200 19.00mm

What is DSLR

I know most of you are familiar with the digital cameras these days. But there is something beyond the normal film and digital cameras. I personally for some reason prefer DSLR's . there is nothing wrong with the traditional film or digital cameras, they give great results no doubt and at the end it all depends how you take the snap.

So finally its not about how good camera you have but its about timing, angle and your aiming. If these things go well you can take great photographs. To make this little easy DSLR cameras are a little better. So what is DLSR - (Digital Single lens reflex). Here are few things that you should know about DSLR cameras.

Digital SLR cameras are defined by their reflex viewfinder. DSLRs are the most efficient when using such a viewfinder. Some DSLR cameras also feature live-view which uses the rear LCD to show an approximation of the scene. At this time, live-view either means slow auto focus or a cropped preview, plus it is also not WYSIWYG nor does it allow access to all functions.
A DSLR viewfinder sees through the lens. It is easy to judge focus - but not exposure through it. You can't see how bright or dark a picture will come out before taking it.
Optical zoom depends on the attached lens. It makes no sense to specify optical zoom when describing a digital SLR camera. Lenses which do not zoom are called prime lenses.
A DSLR's focal-length multiplier is determined by the size of its image sensor. The angle-of-view of a lens mounted on a particular sensor is calculated using the focal-length-multiplier.
The connector between an SLR camera and a lens is called a mount. Only SLR cameras and lenses with the same mount-type can be attached to each other.
SLR lenses are zoomed and manually focused by hand. This is faster, more precise and much more responsive than typical electronic zooms.
All DSLR cameras have full manual controls, manual focusing, custom white balance, high-ISO sensitivities, a hot-shoe for an external flash and can produce RAW images.
Available apertures are limited by the attached lens. Available shutter speeds are determined by the camera.
In fall 2008, Nikon with deliver the world's first DSLR with movie-mode. Until now, no DSLR had movie-recording capability. Soon after, Canon announced the first full-frame DSLR with movie mode.
Battery life on a DSLR is significantly longer than most fixed-lens digital cameras unless live-view is used.

Some useful groups

Thursday, August 20, 2009

World Photography Day, 19 August 2009 Celebration

Most of us know that the first announcement of a photograph was made on August 19th, 1839. This is well documented in photography history books, encyclopedias, as well as in various articles by authors of standing. To confirm authenticity of August 19th as the birth of photography I quote here a few lines from some popular publications and also some well known photographers from various countries: India International Photographic Council commenced celebrating August 19th as World Photography Day in 1991 and has encouraged other societies in other countries to do the same. Unfortunately, due to lack of publicity, the photographic community around the globe is unaware of this. I sincerely believe and hope that the joint efforts can play an important role in increasing awareness of World Photography Day. Photography is one of the most important inventions of the 19th century. Had this unique medium not been invented, our world would be much darker than it is today. Let us not forget this fact and let World Photography Day see the light!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Key features of Nikon D40

6 megapixel DX format CCD (1.5x FOV crop, as D50)
Nikon Image processing engine (as D80 / D200)
3D Color Matrix Metering II, 420 pixel sensor (as D80 / D50)
New Multi-CAM530 three area AF sensor
ISO sensitivity range 200 - 1600 plus HI 1 (3200 equiv.)
Custom Auto ISO (selectable maximum ISO, minimum shutter speed)
2.5 fps continuous shooting (as D50), unlimited in JPEG
No status LCD, new LCD monitor based status / settings screens
Help suggestions on LCD monitor (eg. scene too dark, try using flash)
Large 2.5" 230,000 pixel LCD monitor
Bigger viewfinder view (x0.8 magnification, 95% coverage)
Short shutter lag and viewfinder blackout
Support for SDHC (SD cards over 2 GB in capacity)
In-camera retouching
D-Lighting (shadow / highlight enhancement)
Red-eye reduction
Trimming
Monochrome
Filter effects
Small picture
Image overlay
USB 2.0 with PTP and Mass Storage device support
Very compact, light body (smaller, lighter than D50)
Improved menu user interface (as D80 / D200)
New EN-EL9 Lithium-Ion battery (7.2V, 1000 mAh)
New 'Version II' AF-S DX 18-55 mm kit lens

Digital SLR defination

A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that uses a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera.
The basic operation of a DSLR is as follows: for viewing purposes, the mirror reflects the light coming through the attached lens upwards at a 90 degree angle. It is then reflected twice by the pentaprism, rectifying it for the photographer's eye. During exposure, the mirror assembly swings upward, the aperture narrows (if stopped down, or set smaller than wide open), and a shutter opens, allowing the lens to project light onto the image sensor. A second shutter then covers the sensor, ending the exposure, and the mirror lowers while the shutter resets. The period that the mirror is flipped up is referred to as "viewfinder blackout". A fast-acting mirror and shutter is preferred so as to not delay an action photo.
All of this happens automatically over a period of milliseconds, with cameras designed to do this 3~10 times a second.
DSLRs are often preferred by professional still photographers because they allow an accurate preview of framing close to the moment of exposure, and because DSLRs allow the user to choose from a variety of interchangeable lenses. Most DSLRs also have a function that allows accurate preview of depth of field.
Many professionals also prefer DSLRs for their larger sensors compared to most compact digitals. DSLRs have sensors which are generally closer in size to the traditional film formats that many current professionals started out using. These large sensors allow for similar depths of field and picture angle to film formats.
The term DSLR generally refers to cameras that resemble 35 mm format cameras, although some medium format cameras are technically DSLRs.

Close up photography tips

If your camera has a limited close focusing you could zoom out to the telephoto setting to increase magnification. Beware though depth of field is reduced further.

If the camera has a filter thread attach a close up lens that screws into the front. These are available in +1, +2. +3 +4 and +10. Most cameras can be adapted with stepping rings or push on systems to allow a close up lens to be attached.

You can mount a digital camera on the top of a magnifying loupe that you'd normally use to check transparency sharpness and use this to greatly improve the close focusing capabilities.

Take a small white or silver reflector to throw light back towards the subject and fill in the shadows caused by overhead illumination.

Increase the ISO speed of your digital camera manually to allow a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture. The results will have more noise (grain-like appearance) but they will be sharper with more depth of field.

Example one. Bright colors and blur background.

Example 2 Soft colors and blur background.

Example 3 Minimum colors and blur background.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Camera settings that I prefer

Few basic camera settings that will help you to take great pictures. These are the ones that I prefer as I got good results. You can use your own settings as per your wish.

Quality
I use the basic large file quality. I prefer smaller files. Using the fine quality just blows up your file size and the fineness in the picture is not even considerable. Even the large JPEG basic quality gives you good results.

Exposure compensation
I set the exposure compensation to -0.7; most of the digital SLR’s in market have a defective metering. When exposure is set to -0.7 it gives you good results as compared to the default exposure.

Shutter advance mode
I set my camera to the continuous mode. I get one shot with one press. In case I need to take more shots to compare then I can keep the button pressed and take multiple pictures keep the good ones and delete the not so good ones. D40 can take up to 2.5 snaps per sec.

ISO
I prefer using the ISO auto more and ISO 200. The camera lighting meter checks the overall lighting and sets the ISO on it’s on. For out door photography I usually set it to 200 and it gives me better results than ISO auto. Nikon D40 supports ISO 200 – ISO 1,600.

White balance
I set my camera to auto white balance. I let the camera decide it. The auto mode works great most of the times with Nikon D40. I have tried all the modes at same location with same lighting conditions and diffident modes at different locations with different lighting conditions. Results of auto mode are much better than other modes. So finally I decided to leave it to auto mode.

Optimize the image
This option is available in the menu. I set it to use the vivid color. It gives good results.

Image Sharpness
Image sharpening is set to auto. I prefer auto because you have to keep changing the sharpness for different situations. Any way the results on the auto more are good so I do not bother to fiddle with the sharpness setting. For those you are lazy this is good camera as it does most of the things by its own. Acts like a normal aim and shoot camera but gives results as they are expected from a SLR.

Tone compensation
The Nikon D40 automatically adjusts the contrast and dynamic range to each shot. Again I do not disturb this as it works well in auto mode.

Color mode
This setting is one of the most important one. It gives colors to your pictures. If you want good outdoor and indoor pictures with D40 select the IIIa mode. It gives brighter pictures. Don’t even try to use any other modes unless you have all the time in the world to experiment with the other modes.

Saturation
I prefer (+) saturation. That gives much better and brighter pictures. That’s the default mode on D40.

Hue
I leave this one to default. I do not change it as it messed up the exposure and contrast of the picture for some reason. At the end you don’t get good pictures so leave it to default i.e. 0.

Focus mode
I always use the AF mode; the camera will focus on the object on its own and give good pictures.

Modes
Most of the digital SLR’s have many automatic settings like landscape, play, action, portrait and night etc I just ignore all these modes and the auto one of course.

I prefer one of the 4 manual modes P, S, A 7 M.

P mode – This is program automatic exposure mode. Here the camera decides the exposure time and the aperture settings. This is the simple one and saves lot of efforts of yours. We can even set it to manual if you want to do some experiments. The ideal combinations are displayed on the screen as decided by the exposure metering.

A mode – This is aperture priority mode. This lets you select the aperture values manually and the D40 will decide suitable shutter speed for you.

S mode – This is shutter priority mode. Here you can set the shutter speed manually and the D40 will decide the suitable aperture value for you.

M mode – This is the manual exposure mode. Here you can set the aperture and the shutter speed manually. The only thins is you have to try lot of combinations to take good pictures unless you are pro with the manual mode.

I hope this will give you a basic idea of how to use a digital SLR. The settings are good for any SLR from the same range. It can be Cannon or Nikon; this will work well with 95% of the cameras. Let me know if this article is useful for you.

Few of my creations

I would like to display few of my clicks. They are not as good as the the one's that are clicked by professionals but something that can be considered as fine for a beginner :).

These are the same ones that you may find on my Orkut or Facebook profile.

If you see any of the snaps you can see a great color composition. Trust me these are the actual raw files not processed or enhanced.

Great shot, I give this credit to nature for providing wonderful lighting and camera for capturing it.

This one is a mixture of green, white, blue and black colors. this one was clicked from shade. That's why you can see shade and sunny field are clearly visible here.

All the the pictures are of the same landscape from different angle with different settings that gives such a diverse effect.

My new Nikon D40

I am just a beginner in case of serious photography, I had a plan of executing this hidden hobby of mine so finally decided to buy Nikon D40 after doing lot of research on DSLR's. I found Nikon D40 a versatile DSLR at a reasonable price for beginners like me.

I would like to share few of the points that I considered before buying my Nikon D40. Trust me I have used it for more than a month now and D40 has given me fantastic results. It is the best camera to take outdoor pictures especially if you get it at a price of Rs. 24k in India.
The price drops to just under $500, with the excellent 18-55mm lens.

Nikon D40 is too much fun it trendy and cool. Nikon D40 is almost weightless with its 18-55 mm Lens and SB-400 built in flash, I grab it for Rs 24 k a couple of months back. I can just click good photographs easily with it. It works great with there lenses like my Nikon 50-200 mm.As of yesterday, I've made over 1,000 shots on my D40 and it still runs and works like new. I get about 750 shots on each battery charge, and even after swinging around my neck unprotects these past years, the plastic LCD cover is still perfectly clear.

Why should I move my head to look two places when I can have it all right in front of me on my D40? Nikon D40 has about double the battery life of any other Cannon DSLR's in same range, so I never need to buy or carry a spare battery, even to make 500 shots in a day or more. I got my D40 for fun, and since have fallen in love with how fast and easy it is to use. The great images just keep pouring out of it. Its so light weight I carry it everywhere I want with any extra battery or the charger. Nikon D40 is a fun, light, cool camera which is very sturdy and has great battery backup.

I am not trying to do marketing or anything for this product but I am really impressed with it, that all I wanted to share. Infact Nikon has discontinued this product as it affected the higher versions of the Nikon :).

As we move on I will add few snaps that I took with my D40. Trust me all the pictures are originals, unprocessed. It captures great pictures and no processing is required.