The Shutterbug Society; Activity #3: Ask and Answer

[ed1nburgh.livejournal.com]

Activity: Ask and Answer
Points: 10 points participatioon
Dates: NOW until Thursday, July 1 at 22:00 PDT.

Details: Since this is a photography club and we have members of all skill levels, for this activity, you're going to have the opportunity to ask or answer photography questions you've always wondered!

FOR QUESTIONS: Be sure that it is a question of substance. Asking, "What's a camera?" will not get you points, but asking something of more substance, such as "What is the rule of thirds?" or "What's the difference between digital cameras and film cameras," will count towards points. If you are only planning on asking questions, you must ask THREE questions to get participation points.

FOR ANSWERS: If you know the answer to a question you see, feel free to respond! In order to get participation points, you must answer one question with at least five, complete sentences. It is encouraged that you post an example of what you're talking about, to make your answer totally clear.

Of course, feel free to go beyond the minimum! You may ask more than three questions or answer more than one, or any combination thereof.

If you have any questions for me, please respond to the thread below!

Shoot things, legally! Join The Shutterbug Society today!

Comments

[ed1nburgh.livejournal.com]

Questions about the activity here!

[buriedgold.livejournal.com]

Polaroid photo manipulation.

Seen it in "shortbus" but don't really understand how it works.

Anyone?

xD

alyshia//ravenclaw

[trickery.livejournal.com]

What are the best techniques for nighttime shots?

Elisabeth/Slytherin

[end1essly.livejournal.com]

Um, what is the rule of thirds? XD

Olga//Puff

[wingsofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

What is the difference between an f-stop and aperture?

Lena//Ravenclaw

[wingsofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

When shooting on film, what is the difference between the different film speeds?

Lena//Ravenclaw

[wingsofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

What is the difference between a "point and shoot" and an SLR camera?

Lena//Ravenclaw

[gringotts.livejournal.com]

It's a guideline for composition in paintings, photography etc. basically to really make your photos pop and to learn how to place things off-center without there being awkward/unwanted negative space. It's a great, great rule to follow if you want to spice up your photography a little bit and get away from the standard having the subject focused in the middle thing~

Basically you just visualize a graph similar to this (http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/Michael_Fodor/Photo_School_-_Rule_of_Thirds/ruleofthirds.jpg) over your composition and make sure that the subject is placed along the lines or intersections!

Some good examples (with the graph on the photo!)
- one (http://z.about.com/d/photography/1/0/g/-/-/-/rainbow.jpg)
- two (http://photohub.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/rule-of-thirds.jpg)
- three (http://www.secondpicture.com/tutorials/photography/rule_of_thirds.jpg)
- four (http://thinkdan.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/eagle.jpg)

It can be frustrating at first and AS ALWAYS with rules, there are exceptions. Just experiment!

Nadine//Claw

[trickery.livejournal.com]

The rule of thirds involves mentally breaking an image into thirds vertically and horizontally. The end result is four lines that you should try to place points of interest in a photo. Having items of interest along these lines helps viewer naturally interact with a photo since their eyes are drawn to those spots anyway. It's especially helpful for avoiding awkward shots of people and bland landscapes. The main things to keep in mind when using the rule of thirds are where points of interest in photos naturally are and where are you placing these points along the gridlines. Here's (http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds") a link that is more helpful than I am.

Edit: Oh hi, Nadine. XD

Elisabeth/Slytherin

[end1essly.livejournal.com]

Oh, coolness! I've heard of something like that, but it's nice to get such a detailed description! thanks! :3

[wingsofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

Long exposure time is one of the biggest tricks to goo nighttime shots. In low light conditions, you need to have a longer exposure time. The best way to accomplish this is usually by increasing your shutter speed, which gives the film a longer exposure time to the light. Usually, doing this requires use of a tripod (or extremely steady hands) to prevent the image from being blurry.

Of course, if you have a point and click camera that can't play around with settings much, a good flash is a good idea, but flashes only have a limited range. It's better if you can tweak your camera's settings for a longer exposure time. For film shooters, using film with a higher ISO is helpful, too.

Lena//Ravenclaw

[wingsofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

You beat me to this one! I haven't used it much in Photography, but I try to apply it to my graphics/icons whenever I can!

[gringotts.livejournal.com]

Well, depending what of but usually the secret is long exposures! Get a tripod or something sturdy for your camera to rest on and set up a slow shutter speed because essentially, you're going to need as much light as possible so having your aperture remaining open as long as possible means that it allows more time for light to get into the camera so that your photo won't end up pitch black. You can also raise the ISO, but that will give you grainy photos.

A tripod is definitely essential though otherwise you will have a blurry photo.

If I was too technical or you have any questions, feel free to ask bb <3

Nadine//Claw

[clzair.livejournal.com]

Are digital cameras better at taking certain kinds of pictures than film cameras, or is the difference all in the editing capabilities?

Claire//Hufflepuff

[gringotts.livejournal.com]

You're welcome :D It's a great rule and once you get the hang of it you'll be applying it to EVERYTHING. It can even help you with your font placement on your tags!

[end1essly.livejournal.com]

Yo Kaitlin!

How do you get that fancy schmancy infared prettiness on your photos? This is more of me being curious than anything, lol :)

Olga//Puff

[clzair.livejournal.com]

What exactly is different about a Polaroid camera from just a regular film camera?

Claire//Hufflepuff

[clzair.livejournal.com]

Is it possible to get a digital camera image in film form and develop it the same way you would develop a roll of film?

Claire//Hufflepuff

[gringotts.livejournal.com]

F-stops and aperture are KIND OF talking about the same thing! The aperture is measured in f-stops so.. the more stops, the smaller the opening. So the aperture is the diameter of the opening but the f-stop is the aperture divided by the focal length, that's the reason for the numbers. IF THAT MAKES SENSE.

Nadine//Claw

[gringotts.livejournal.com]

The film speed is referencing to the film's sensitivity to light. If you were shooting in low light conditions at a concert or outdoors. So if I was to photograph an outdoor party with a film camera and it was 10pm, I'd want to be using a film that has a higher ISO, anything over 400. The downside is that the higher the ISo, the more grain.

Nadine//Claw

[gringotts.livejournal.com]

A few thousand dollars ;) Kidding.

A point and shoot is like driving an automatic car. An SLR is like driving a manual car. With the point and shoot, there isn't much you can do settings wise, its exactly what the name suggests - a point and shoot. Some point and shoots have macro settings etc. so you can get great close ups, and SOME of the higher end point and shoots (such as the Canon Powershots) have complete manual capabilities like an SLR where you can set your shutterspeed, aperture etc.

An SLR gives you complete control over how you want to set your photo up. There are automatic settings like on a point and shoot, but there are additiona settings on top of that. Full manual where you control everything, there is a setting where you set the aperture and the camera sets the shutterspeed and vice versa etc.

Nadine//Claw

[wingsofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA I know, right? I would love a digital SLR, even though I probably don't need one, but they're so expensive.

[gringotts.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel! When I started getting in photography I wanted an SLR sooooo bad but I couldn't afford it. I ended up buying a Canon Powershot and learning how to use an SLR from that since it had the awesomeness of a point and shoot plus all the handy dandy SLR settings~

[wingsofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

I used to have a Pentax K1000 a LONG time ago, but I've never really had a good digital camera. I'm going to have to get one someday.

[trickery.livejournal.com]

What's the difference between shutter speed and ISO? I sort-of understand shutter speed, but only on a really basic level, and the ISO definition I found mainly talked about being used for faster shutter speeds.

Elisabeth/Slytherin