MyFunCamera

NEW Pocket Guides

I’m SO EXCITED to show you the NEWLY DESIGNED and UPDATED myFUNcamera POCKET GUIDES!
(get a free one HERE if you buy a raffle ticket!)

They’re BIGGER
They’re BETTER
There’s MORE INFO
The pictures are updated
They’re more sturdy

I LOVE ‘em!

You can buy a set at myFUNcamera.com (down there under the Zenfolio info on the left), or you can get a FREE one if you buy a raffle ticket for my son’s soccer team! HERE’S THE RAFFLE INFO!

A “Tough Love” email Q&A (warning: this is long)

I often get emails asking for advice, and I try to answer everyone (sometimes it’s hard and takes way too long, but I try!).

The email that I got on Sunday was very similar to many of the emails I’ve gotten before: asking questions about beach photo sessions, equipment, business, clients, etc. I thought about my response for a VERY long time before typing it up & sending it.

My answers weren’t all butterflies sparkles & sunshine, which is why I thought so much about it before sending it. Anyone who knows me well will tell you: I’m honest. Sometimes brutally honest. I think it’s the best way to go. What you see is what you get with me, and if I give you advice, it’s my honest no-sunshine-up-your-booty attempt to help you improve. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. We’ll both move on.

I thought posting my response up here would give good insight into my beach sessions, and my business.

So, here I am, in all of my meanie glory:
Continue Reading…

Email Q&A: a question about lenses & those f/#s

I just got another very good question about lenses.

Here’s the email:

Hey Carey!

… I have a quick question about the more costly lenses. When you get a higher quality lens (like your favorite 70-200mm), can you retain the 2.8 f-stop when you zoom? I have a cheap-o 70-200mm and when I zoom, my aperture narrows. Other than the amazing glass in the more costly lenses, do I get to zoom to 200mm and still shoot wide open at f 2.8?

Thanks!
Carol Anne

Here’s my answer:

Hi Carol Anne!

Great question!  When you buy a lens, it will say something like f/2.8 (like my favorite 70-200mm) or f/4-5.6 (like THIS one).

When a lens has ONE number after the “f/” that means you can use that setting no matter how wide or tight you zoom the lens.

If you see a lens that says something like “f/3.5-5.6″ with two numbers, that means you can use the lowest number (for faster shutter speeds, more light, and better background blur) only when you’re NOT ZOOMING the lens in tight.  Once you start zooming in, you can’t use that low number any more, and the lens will switch to a higher f/#.  When you zoom as much as possible, the lowest number you’ll be able to use will be that 2nd number on the lens.

Why??  Cuz it’s difficult to make a zoom lens that can maintain a wide aperture no matter how much or how little you zoom.  Better glass is needed.  Better mechanics and optics inside are needed.  They’re harder to make, and that means $$$, so those lenses are more expensive.

Rock on!

~Carey

POCKET GUIDES!

Are you overwhelmed by dials and settings on your camera?

Do you find yourself pulling out your camera to take some pictures, wanting to use some creativity, but you end up resorting to “AUTO” mode because you just don’t know where to start with settings?

The myFUNcamera pocket guides are for you! No long explanations, no theories or fractions, just quick help when you want some on-the-go advice about camera settings.

I made these pocket guides to help folks remember which settings to use in different situations.
There are tips for indoor, outdoor, and action.

If you don’t have any in your camera bag, think about getting some!
You can go to myFUNcamera.com and see them there on the left side.

Have fun shooting!!

~Carey

PS: If you’re a pro photographer, these are great for giving to folks who say “how do I use my SLR…?” I’ve heard many wedding photographers call these pocket guides their “Uncle Bob repellent”

Mother’s Day picture idea

I’ve been doing these since Mat was in pre-school, so that’s….(counting on fingers..so much for that Math degree) 6 years now.

These are ALWAYS a HUGE hit with moms & grandmas, especially if you’re going out for Mother’s Day brunch, and mom & grandma get to display their pictures on the table. The compliments & oohs & ahhhs from other people are awesome.

Here’s what you do:
Get a 4×6 or 5×7 wooden frame & remove the glass. Let the child decorate/paint/glitter the frame until it’s a gorgeous work of art that only a kid can create. Also pick up some fake flowers with long stems and cut them so that the flower & stem are about the height of the frame you bought. Remove any leaves from the stem, too.

Take a picture of your child’s hand with the fist pointing right at the camera like this:

The shallow DOF makes the picture look really 3D.
Focus on the fist and make sure you can see the kid’s face peeking out behind the fist.
Shoot in Av mode, and try some low Av numbers. If you go really low (a big wide aperture), that may give you TOO MUCH blur. You want to be able to see the expression on the kid’s face and make out WHO it is, so too much blur may be bad. Check the pic in the back of your camera and raise that Av number if the blur is too much.

Print out the pic to fit the frame you bought.

Use an Exacto knife to slice a slit at the top & bottom of the fist, then take the fake flower and slip the stem through the picture to make the fist “hold” the flower. Put the picture & flower in the frame. The flower stem sliding behind the fist makes the hand pop out a bit, making it look really 3D.

Here are some of the first few that I made years ago (still sitting on top of my office cabinets here by my computer):

Have FUN!
~Carey

Ask Carey: Camera settings for soccer games?

Yesterday I got this question:

Hi Carey! Can you give me some ideas for camera settings for shooting soccer games? I know you are a soccer expert! Thanks soooo much!!!

Great question!!

First some “don’t”s:
Don’t use the “green box” auto setting!
Don’t use the “running man” auto setting, either.
The camera chooses all your settings for you when you use those “auto” settings, and it may do a good job, but probably not. You want more control than that!

Here are my suggestions for getting great pictures at outdoor sporting events:

First, use a nice lens with a zoom of at least 200mm.
Browse through the LENS category to see my recommendations.

FIRST THING: ISO!!

Use an ISO of at least 200. For sports photography, you want to STOP that action and not have any motion blur (unless you’re going all artsy fartsy, but I’m not talking about that). A higher ISO will let you stop action and still have bright pictures. Shooting action at ISO 100 with a fast shutter speed will result in darker images if the sun is not SUPER BRIGHT.

You can even go up to ISO 400 or higher. Check your pictures in the back of your camera, and if they’re too dark, raise the ISO.

Which setting to use: Av or Tv????
I say Tv for action stuff
*disclaimer* I do not like shooting in M (Manual) mode.
It bugs me, I don’t like it, and even though I know how, it just doesn’t work for me.
If it works for you, cool. I’d prefer to let the camera do some of the thinking for me so I can focus more on composition & following the action on the field.

I used to think, “oh, I’ll shoot action in Av on the lowest Av number I can dial in, then the camera will choose the FASTEST shutter speed it can possibly muster at that Av#.” The only problem with that is that the camera is choosing a shutter speed for you, and it may choose something not quite as fast as you wanted. It may meter so that the whole picture will be nice and bright, but you could end up with “nice & bright” at the expense of a fast shutter… which will result in the dreaded MOTION BLUR.

So, I recommend shooting in Tv mode, where you choose the shutter speed. That way, you KNOW you’re going to get a fast shutter speed and stop that motion.
The higher the number, the faster the shutter. You need at LEAST 250 (1/250sec) to stop action. Higher is even better. You still have to try to hold your camera still, too! Remember: the faster the shutter, the LESS light will come in, so your pictures will get darker as you go higher with those Tv numbers!

When you look through your camera, you see something like this:

(unless you’re shooting a snow drift, you’ll see something other than plain boring white through your lens…duh)

The bottom shows you the shutter speed you chose and it shows the aperture the camera chose for you.

That little scale that goes from -2..-1..0..1..2 tells you if your camera thinks the image is too dark, too bright, or just right, depending on where the little arrow is under that scale. The Av number and the arrow under the scale may blink at you if it thinks the picture is going to be way too dark or too light.

If you’re shooting at 1/500 or faster, you might see a LOT of blinking at the -2 because the image may be too dark. You either need to slow down your shutter speed, or RAISE your ISO. Remember, if you raise your ISO, the picture will get brighter.

I like to shoot sports at ISO 200 or 400, on Tv mode with a shutter speed of 1/250 or faster. I let the camera choose an aperture for me, and I check that meter to make sure it’s not way down at the -2 blink blink blinking away. If it is, I raise my ISO. If the little arrow is blinking that the picture is too bright, I go even faster with my shutter speed (like 1/500 or faster) and I may lower my ISO, too.

Before the game starts, take some test shots, and check them in the back of the camera to see if they’re too dark or too bright, so you can get your camera settings dialed in before the action starts. Just remember, if a cloud goes over the sun, if the sun comes out, or if you venture to the other side of the field, the light may change drastically, so be sure to keep an eye out for blinkees in your viewfinder to be sure you’re not getting images that are too dark or too bright!!

I know this seems like a TON to remember, but it’s really not too bad:
1) Set your ISO
2) Use Tv mode (S on Nikon) and a shutter speed of 1/250 or faster
3) check the meter & the back of the camera to make sure you like what you see.

This is when having a POCKET GUIDE in your bag can really help!!
I made these pocket guides to help folks remember which settings to use in different situations.
There are tips for indoor, outdoor, and action.

If you don’t have any in your camera bag, think about getting some!
You can go to myFUNcamera.com and see them there on the left side.

Have fun shooting those games this weekend!!

~Carey

Sand and Shells for your books and cards

During WPPI last week, I had many requests for the sand and shells I used in my hard cover books that Mpix had on display.
CLICK HERE to see more about the Mpix hard cover books.

I created those sand and shell images by collecting shells from right here in San Diego and taking high-quality (super sharp) pictures of shells and sand. In other words, these aren’t stock images that I found or bought online somewhere.

Purchase using this paypal button:

Once your payment is complete, you will get a link to download your purchase.

**CLICK HERE to see instructions showing you how easy it is to use these elements in the Mpix press software. You do not need Photoshop!**

Have fun!
~Carey

How ISO affects your pictures…

Last week, I explained how changing the F-STOP affects your pictures.

This week, I wanted to show you how changing the ISO affects your pictures.

To change the ISO on your camera, find the button that says “ISO” then set the ISO you want by spinning the dial or pressing the up/down buttons to set the ISO. Every camera is different, but it’s pretty easy to do no matter what camera you have.

Here’s how it looks on a Canon 5D:
(click the image to see the larger pic, then use your back button to come back here)

During myFUNcamera workshops, I explain ISO as the camera’s “sponge” setting. The higher the ISO, the MORE light your camera will soak up — like a sponge. The lower the ISO, the less light your camera will soak up.
That means on a bright sunny day, you’ll want to use a lower ISO. If you’re in a dark room where your camera needs all the light it can get, you’ll want to use a higher ISO so your camera will soak up all the light it can.

When you raise the ISO, you’ll see more “noise” or “grain” in your pictures, so there is a price to pay when you raise that ISO.

I took pictures of my family’s “mom’s going away” cards on the kitchen counter using the same camera settings (f/2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/100sec), and I changed the ISO to show you how that setting changes the image.

There were no lights on in the kitchen. Sunlight was coming through the windows, but not shining right on the counter.

Check out what happened as I went through different ISO settings:

ISO is usually the setting that I choose FIRST when I get to a session. I look at the light I have, and the MORE light, the LOWER the ISO I choose. So, as you can guess, since I’m at the beach a LOT, I use ISO 100 most of the time. Indoors, I’ll use ISO 400 or higher.

In general, the LESS light you have, the HIGHER the ISO you’ll want to use. Of course, you can play around with different settings to do artsy fartsy stuff, but less-light=higher-iso is a good general rule to remember.

Have FUN!
~Carey

Back to basics: f-stop/aperture

Here’s a little demo on what the f-stop number does on your camera.

You can use the “Av” mode (A on Nikon) or the “M” (manual) to change the f-stop (aperture):
(click the image for a bigger view, then use your browser’s back button to come back here)

In general, the nicer lens you have, the lower that number can go.

Look on your lens for something that says: “f:2.8″ or “f:3.5-5.6″

“f:2.8″ means you can dial in an aperture as low as 2.8 (nice!)

“f:3.5-5.6″ means you can dial in an aperture as low as 3.5 if your lens isn’t zooming.
If you zoom your lens, you’ll only be able to go as low as 5.6. (that’s a sign of lower-quality lens construction, but it doesn’t mean the lens totally sucks, it only sucks a little)

When you dial in an f-stop number, it will show up on your camera’s LCD screen.
Here’s what that looks like on Canon:

Here’s a look at what the f# does to your images.

I took a bunch of pictures of cards lined up on my kitchen counter.

I used “M” mode so I could keep the shutter speed the same and just change that f/#.

The lower the f/#, the LESS you’ll have in focus, and the MORE light you’ll let in.

If you use a higher number, you’ll get more in focus, but the sensor won’t get as much light.

Check out these images where I changed the f/# on the camera:

You can see how the pictures get darker as that f/# gets higher, but you also get more into focus.

If you wanted the picture brighter with more in focus, you could raise the ISO or lower your shutter speed.

Wanna see a really cool trick!? If you have a Canon camera, there’s a strange little button by your lens that looks like this:

That’s the “depth of field preview” button! If you look through the camera, and you’re wondering just how much is going to be in focus, you can press that button, and the lens will show you how much light the camera will see, and how much will be in focus! It’s darn cool! Especially if you’re doing a group shot and you want to make sure everyone’s in focus!

Enjoy this little “back to basics” lesson, and have fun experimenting with your own camera and lenses!

If this is interesting to you and you want to learn more, you can sign up for a myFUNcamera workshop or private mentoring HERE.

If all of these setting end up swimming around in your head when you’re out there shooting, pick up some of the myFUNcamera pocket guides. It’s a handy reminder for which settings are best to use it different situations.

Next up: ISO! Stay tuned!

~Carey

Private Mentoring available

If your valentine is camera crazy, and you’ve been struggling with gift ideas, think about a private mentoring session.

A private, 2-hour private mentoring session is $450 (lunch included — bonus points if you choose Chipotle).

A digital SLR camera is required, and we can cover whatever subjects you like:
-shooting in tough lighting
-Photoshop
-camera operations
-”portfolio review”
-websites
-marketing, for those emerging pros out there
-equipment and lenses
-whatever you like!

If you purchase your session before noon on Friday (2/13), I can get you a jpg certificate you can print & frame for Valentine’s Day — you’ll be a hero!

Happy shooting!
~Carey