So!

It sounds like you all enjoyed the first Foto Friday. I did too! Though I have to say it takes a bit of time to put these posts together. As long as you keep giving me good feedback (And questions! So I can keep learning!) then we will just keep plugging along.

Let’s jump in, shall we?

Composition: The Rule of Thirds

Here’s the technical deal when it comes to the Rule of Thirds.

Picture that there is a tic-tac-toe grid when you look through the viewfinder. Do not picture a tic tac. Tic tacs have nothing to do with photography. Unless maybe you like to chew on them so that you don’t bombard your subjects with stinky breath.

Anyways.

The Rule of Thirds basically states that you should place the subject of your photo along one of the lines in your “grid” or at one of the points where the lines “intersect” (This grid is imaginary; you won’t see it in your viewfinder). Basically? Just place your subject in one of the “thirds” of that imaginary grid (top third, bottom third, left third, right third).

Stated even simpler? Place the subject of your photo off-centre. Do not put the subject of your photo in dead centre. It’s not bad if you do, but the photo has better depth if your photo subject is in one of the thirds of your frame.

I now take photos using the Rule of Thirds without even thinking about it. When I was thinking about this post during the week I had to make a concentrated effort to take a centered photo so y’all could have a visual for all of that above mumbo jumbo.

Here’s a photo of Nathan playing in the sand.

Not a bad photo, really, but wait until you see the difference when I place him off to the left. Like so.

See? Doesn’t the photo just look better?

No? OK. What do I know? I’m just an accountant. Maybe I should go crunch some numbers or something.

Another example of a photo taken using the Rule of Thirds is this one from a few weeks ago. It’s one of my current favourites of Miss Emily.

Can you believe that I did not do any editing on this photo? Her eyes really are THAT BLUE. I kid you not.

Sigh.

Onwards! Now to play with the settings on your camera!

ISO - What could those initials possibly stand for?

ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization (Um? Then shouldn’t it be IOS? I’m just sayin’...)

That still doesn’t tell us what ISO means to you and your photo taking. The ISO number on your camera basically sets the image sensor’s sensitivity to light. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive your camera is to light. The higher the ISO? The greater the sensitivity to light and the less light that is needed to make a picture.

Here is it in simple form. For dummies like ME.

A low ISO settings provide higher-quality images. However, because the image sensor is less sensitive to light, your camera shutter needs to stay open longer to let enough light in to make a photo. On a bright sunny day, it won’t be a problem as that plethora of light will make for a snappy (and snazzy) photo. Indoors, however, is a different story.

Let’s do a photo tutorial! Then maybe I’ll actually make sense! Here’s hoping.

We’re going to stay at the same dial setting as last week. Your camera should be set to Av (Aperture Priority) mode. I usually leave my f-stop at one of the lowest settings. That way, my kids are in focus and the background is blurry.

On my Canon, I then hit the “ISO” button on the back of my camera. The options for ISO on my camera are 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600. I set the ISO to 100 and took a photo of these sunflowers (from our garden!) that were on my table.

There was a two-point-five second time span where the shutter stayed open. This was the result.

I could have used my tripod, but that would defeat the purpose of this tutorial. I had propped my arms on the table and did my best to stay still. Apparently I have a bit of a shake to my hands, which has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH MY DIET COKE CONSUMPTION.

My right eye has been twitching lately, which also has absolutely nothing to do with the mass quantities of caffeine coursing through my veins.

Back on track!

I then changed the ISO to 400. There was a point-eight of a second time span where the shutter stayed open. Here is the result.

See? Not so shaky, and in better focus. Also? Kind of cool, in my humble opinion.

Then I switched the ISO to 1600. High ISO = Really sensitive to light = you can take photos in low light (With no flash!) that might actually BE IN FOCUS!

Like this one. (There was a one-sixth of a second time span where the shutter stayed open. Super fast! Less time for shaking hands to blur the photo!)

Sunflowers are so pretty.

To give you a frame of reference: I took these photos right after the sun had set, so there was still natural light outside but it wasn’t really bright sunlight.

The downside to using the high ISO numbers is that you can get “digital noise”, which means your photos may not be as crisp as you would like them to be. This happens more when it is a lot darker and your lighting possibly consists of household lights after the sun has set.

For most everyday shooting, you’ll want your ISO to be at 400. Like above, you may want to bump up the ISO when shooting indoors.

The great thing about digital cameras is that you can play with this stuff, and it doesn’t costs a thing!

Unless you are like me and develop six months of photos at once. OUCH.

OK! Feedback time! Did any of this help you? Is the excitement about using the manual functions growing…or are you about ready to go back to the automatic settings? (Don’t do it!)

Foto Fridays is all about the Feedback. Well, maybe not all about it, but it sure makes my day. Plus, your feedback will help me decide whether to start pondering next week’s post…or whether I should do something about my toilets.

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