SETTING UP YOUR D-SLR POSTCARDS FROM LAHORE LET’S PHOTOGRAPH A WRISTWATCH
T here it is in front of you – that shiny box with your dream toy –a new D-SLR! You are all excited to start using it. Holding off the urge to use it immediately, you follow the advice of Smart
Photography and read the user manual or at least the Quick Start guide. So, you now know the basic controls. Next, you want to take a portrait or perhaps a close-up photograph of a flower. How do you setup the various parameters of your D-SLR to get the best results? Unfortunately, this will not be explained in the manual. Using the so called scene modes (those little icons on the mode dial) means handing over all the control to your D-SLR. It is like buying a Ferrari and driving it at 50kmph – meaning that you are grossly under-utilizing your wonder toy. Is there a way out? Yes! Smart Photography, knowing your problems brings to you this short guide to help you setup your camera quickly. However, remember that this is not a substitute but rather a supplement to your manual. First let us look at the various parameters that you need to set. Once we are done with this, we can look at the specific settings based on the type of photograph you would like to take.
Shutter speed: The most fundamental requirement is that your picture must be sharp. Apart from correct focus, this can only be assured with a certain minimum shutter speed called the ‘hand-holdable shutter speed’. The rule of thumb for this is - the shutter speed should be equal to or faster than the reciprocal of the effective focal length of your lens. (The effective focal length for Canon’s APS-C size sensor cameras is 1.6x the marked focal length; the effective focal length for Nikon’s APS-C size sensor cameras is 1.5x the marked focal length; for full-frame models, the effective focal length is the same as the marked focal length). As an example, with an APS-C sensor camera, if you are using a lens of focal length 50mm, the shutter speed must be 1/80 sec (Canon) or 1/75 sec (Nikon) or faster. So, if you are using a focal length of 10mm, will a shutter speed of 1/15 sec do? Unfortunately, no! Regardless of focal length it is very difficult to handhold a camera steadily at shutter speeds slower than 1/60. Hence, you must always use a shutter speed which is the faster of the two - either 1/60 sec or a shutter speed as per the thumb rule.
Aperture: This is the size of the hole in the diaphragm of your lens and is defined by f/ numbers. It is important that you remember this topsy-turvy convention in photography– small (that is, narrow) apertures are represented by large f/ numbers and wide apertures by small f/ numbers. When you focus on a subject, not only will it be sharp but there will also be a zone of sharpness that starts little before the subject and extends beyond the subject. This zone is called Depth
of Field (or DOF). Wide apertures give your images shallow DOF and narrow apertures give deep DOF. Thus, you need to adjust the aperture based on the DOF you want.
Release mode: Also called Drive mode by some manufacturers, this will dictate how the camera behaves when you press the shutter release. In the single- shot mode, the camera takes a picture and then stops even if you keep the shutter release pressed. In the Continuous mode, it continues to take pictures, one after another so long as you keep the shutter release pressed.
Exposure Modes: These are set up with the mode dial (Picture 10). There are several modes available including the so called “Scene” modes. However, to get the best out of your D-SLR, I suggest you use only the Aperture Priority or the Shutter
Priority modes. These are indicated by the letter A and S on the mode
dial). They are also called Av and
Tv by some manufacturers (Canon for example). The A (or Av) mode allows you to set the aperture and the camera sets the shutter speed based on the available light. In the S or Tv mode, you can set the shutter speed and the camera in turn sets the aperture. Aperture Priority ( A) and Shutter Priority ( S) modes are often called “semi-automatic” modes. Both have their uses as you will see.
Exposure Compensation: Many experts may be telling you differently but modern cameras do a better job than us photographers in determining the exposure! However, an important point for you to remember is that all camera meters are calibrated to medium tone. So, a camera will err when a scene is
not medium toned. Examples are high key (predominantly light tones, Picture 2) and back-lit scenes as well as low-key (predominantly dark tones, Picture 3) scenes. Without appropriate compensation all these will be rendered in medium tone. In Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority modes, you cannot alter the exposure by changing the aperture or shutter speed respectively, since when you alter one of these the other will change in step to keep the exposure the same! To change exposure, you must use the exposure compensation button (Picture 4) which is present
on all D-SLRs. You can use this button along with the command dial and give the compensation in either positive or negative direction. You can also specify how much compensation (in stops), you want to give.
Metering mode: While several metering modes are available, just use one that is most versatile – called
Matrix or Evaluative. This works fine 95% of the time and when it does not, you can use exposure compensation to get the desired result.
ISO Control: Often you may want a narrow aperture to get a deep depth of field (DOF) or a faster shutter speed for stopping action. However, narrow apertures and fast shutter speeds both cut down the amount of light entering the camera. If the ambient light is not sufficient then you may not get the aperture or shutter speed you want. If this is the case, you can increase the sensitivity of the camera to light by increasing the ISO to get the needed aperture and shutter speed. Increasing the ISO will reduce the image quality by adding noise but this is a price you need to pay to avoid blurry pictures! Many cameras now also offer what is called an Auto ISO mode. When you use this mode, the ISO will be set automatically by the camera to keep the aperture or shutter speed you want. ISO can be set by using the dedicated ISO button or through the shooting menu (Picture 5).
AF (Autofocus) Area: D-SLRs have several AF points. You can choose any AF point (Manual AF point selection) and the camera will focus on the
area that is overlapped by the chosen point. You can also ask the camera to choose an AF point automatically. While this may be okay for a grab shot (like in street photography) the camera may choose an AF point other than what you want! So, be careful if you are using this mode. When you are photographing action, you need to keep the AF point on the moving subject. There are several modes available that help you to track the subject and also change the AF point itself. These modes are called by different names like 3D Tracking,
Auto Select AF, etc.
AF (Autofocus) Mode: This defines the way the autofocusing mechanism works. Most cameras offer three AF modes as follows:
AF - Single: Here the AF is activated by half pressing the shutter release. Once focus is achieved, the focus locks. The shutter will only release if the focus is achieved. It is best suited for static subjects.
AI Servo, also called AF - Continuous: This mode is for moving subjects. Here the camera will focus continuously, tracking the moving subject so long as you keep the shutter release half-pressed. It is important that you remember that the shutter can be released whether or not the subject is in focus. This could occasionally result in out-of-focus images.
AF- Auto: This mode is capable of automatic switching of AF mode. Here the camera switches the AF mode from AF-Single to AF-Continuous if it detects subject movement.
Picture Controls: Also called Picture Styles, these are presets that control parameters like contrast, saturation, brightness, etc., when processing JPEG image files. The usual presets that camera manufacturers provide
are Standard (general purpose), Vivid (for vibrant colours), Neutral (for accurate rendering of colours and for post-processing), Landscape (for bright colours with emphasis on
green) and Portraits (for accurate skin tones). You can choose the appropriate one through a dedicated button or the shooting menu.
White Balance: This deals with neutralizing the colour of the light source to give correct colours. I suggest that you use the “Auto” setting and leave it there. You can set the White Balance for a specific light but if you change the light source and then you forget to change the White Balance you could get bad colour casts which will be very difficult to remove.
Note: Auto White Balance has its limitations and may not work perfectly under every lighting condition, though for most beginners – who anyway shoot during daytime – the AWB works decently.
File format and File Size: These two together define the image quality. I strongly recommend that you always use Raw format though it involves an extra processing step. Raw format records a lot more information than JPEG and it is invaluable when photographing images with high brightness range. Raw format also allows accurate White Balance correction. If you do not want to process Raw files in immediate future, then use Raw + JPEG mode so that if and when you want to process Raw files, you will still have them. Also, use maximum number of pixels your camera can record (after all you have paid for it). This is called the “Large” option. Choose also, the least compression for JPEG files. This setting is called “Fine”. Together, “Large + Fine” give the best image quality. Only if you are running out of space and/or if you want to photograph rapid action, you should record image with smaller
number of pixels (called “Small” option) and higher compression called
“Basic”. Remember that Small+Basic gives a small file size at the expense of image quality. So, use this only along with Raw option. Also, size and compression options are usually applicable to JPEG image files only. Those are the parameters that you need to set. With that introduction you are now ready to setup your D-SLR. The first step is to decide on the type of photographs you want to take - is it portraiture, night/low light photography, close-up / macro, sports, action, wildlife, landscape, etc. It is not that you need to limit yourself to one or some of these. What is important is that you need to appreciate that the camera settings needed to optimally use your camera for each of these is different. Hence, you need to setup your camera accordingly. For each case we will look at the important characteristics that make a good photograph of that genre and then detail the camera settings to help achieve them.
Portraits: In a portrait, the subject must be sharp and the background must be blurry (less sharp) compared to the subject. To achieve this, it is necessary you use an aperture of f/4 or wider to get a narrow DOF. When you talk to a person you look at his or her eyes. For the same reason and since a portrait communicates with the viewer, the eyes in the portrait must be the sharpest (Picture 6). To achieve this you need to choose “Manual AF point selection” method. This will enable you to select an AF point of your choice. After this, make sure that the chosen AF point overlaps the eye closest to the camera. If you leave the AF point selection to the camera (Automatic AF point selection), it may select an AF point which may not overlap the eye. This will cause the camera to focus on a place other than the eye, thus ruining the portrait. Another important point in portraiture is the capture of expression. You will agree that a natural expression of a person when he is relaxed is much better to look at than a stiffly posed portrait. Also,
natural expressions change rapidly. So, you need to use continuous frame advance where images are captured by the camera so long as you keep the shutter release button pressed. Later you can always delete those images which are not good. As you can expect “Portrait” Picture Control/Style will be most suited for portrait photography as this gives best skin tones.
Street/Candid: This needs rapid action on part of the photographer to capture what many call the “decisive” moment. You will probably not have time to choose the AF point or carefully compose (Picture 7). You should be ready to execute a grab shot. For this it is best to have the AF point selection in ‘auto’ and a moderate aperture (like f/5.6) for adequate DOF to compensate for any focusing errors. Since you will not be sure whether the subject will be static or moving, you can use AF - Auto and continuous release mode to capture action. Use a fast enough shutter speed of around 1/250 to freeze action.
Action / sports / wildlife: Examples of fast action are birds-in-flight, speeding animals like deer running, cars moving at high speeds, running athletes, etc. In all these cases you need a fast shutter speed of at least 1/1000 to freeze action (Picture 8). Since you will be probably using a telephoto lens of focal length of 300mm or greater, this fast shutter speed will have the double benefit of preventing handshake. One point working in your favour is that action photography does not require large DOF. So, you can use a wider aperture and this will help you to use a faster shutter speed as well. If your lens is not fast enough to give the shutter speed you need, then you need to raise the ISO. Due to these reasons it is best you use Shutter Priority or Tv mode with Auto ISO. You will also need to capture images continuously and the AF system should track the moving subject. Hence you should use continuous release and AF - Continuous mode. Also, large file sizes slow down the camera. So, in case you are using Raw + JPEG, you can choose a Small JPEG with Basic compression since you also have a Raw file for maximum quality. However, if you are using JPEG alone, you must still use Large and Fine options to record with highest image quality.
Landscapes: A photograph when viewed on a monitor or as a print is “flat”, having only two dimensions – width and height. However, our eyes
see the world in three dimensions – width, height and depth. Hence, in landscape photography it is important that you create an illusion of depth. This is done with the help of an optical property called “perspective”. Due to perspective, objects that are close to our eyes appear large compared to objects that are far away (Picture 9). Hence, this property can be used to create the feeling of depth by keeping a foreground object in the composition. Since you now have objects that are near and far and since all of them have to be in sharp focus, you need a large DOF. So, use Aperture Priority and set a narrow aperture (f/8 to f/16). Recall that narrow apertures allow less light to reach the imaging sensor. If the ambient light is not high enough, this will force you to use a slow shutter speed which is not hand-holdable. The best solution is really not a camera setting but to use a tripod as this will allow a slow shutter speed and yet get highest image quality. However, if you can’t use a tripod then the solution is to increase the ISO. You can use auto ISO setting or set ISO manually high enough to get a hand-holdable shutter speed. Remember that high ISO will reduce image quality but in this case you really don’t have an option. Landscapes often have very high brightness range (sun-lit areas and shadows). It is also expected that landscape images should have maximum details. For these two reasons it is best you use the Raw format.
Close up / Macro Photography: This genre of photography involves high magnification (Picture 10). In these cases, the shutter speed as suggested by the thumb rule does not suffice. It is better to use as high a shutter speed as possible (around 1/500 or higher). Also at high magnifications, DOF will be miniscule (only a few millimetres). Hence, you need to use narrow apertures like f/11. These two requirements– high shutter speed and narrow aperture – demand that ambient light is very high. If this is not the case you need to use a high enough ISO or use a tripod. Night / Low Light Photography: First disable your flash! A flash is good only for about 10 to 15 feet and will work great if the subject is small and is within that distance (like a person in a room). However if you are photographing a monument at night or in general a night scene (Picture 11), the subject is bound to be more than 10 feet away and flash is just useless! Use Aperture Priority and set the widest possible aperture (lowest f/ number) available on your lens to allow maximum light. Even then you are likely to get a shutter speed that would be slow to handhold. The best “setting” is to use a tripod or failing which, the alternate solution is to use a high enough ISO to get a reasonable hand-holdable shutter speed. This may force you to use a very high ISO (much higher than what you would use for landscape or macro shot) thus degrading the image. Night and low light images often have very high brightness range (pools of bright light with several dark areas) and it is best to use the Raw format. Confused with so many parameters to set? Don’t worry. Table 1 gives the needed information in a concise form and will serve as a handy reference. Treat the contents as guidelines rather than rules.