Manual Exposure and buckets of water

I had a student with me the other day who was really keen to get to grips with the 'M' (Manual) exposure mode on his Nikon D60. She felt - with some justification - that having the ability to set the camera's exposure herself would enable her to get better photographs. Well, I explained that this would not necessarily follow as there are many other elements that go into creating a good picture. But I did tell her that an understanding of, and familiarity with, the manual settings on any camera would certainly mean that she would have more control and, eventually, she would be able to interpret a scene in her own way. This can often lead to better pictures.

The problem was that as she had kept the camera on a program mode for most of her photography in the past, she had little understanding of shutter speeds and aperture settings and the way they must work in harmony.

I tried very hard to explain in the simplest possible way that, for instance, an exposure of 1/125sec at f11 lets into the camera exactly the same amount of light as an exposure of 1/25osec at f8. This was part of the age-old problem that f numbers do not work logically for normal people. The fact that big apertures mean small numbers and small apertures mean big numbers is enough to confuse anyone.

And then I remembered a really old chestnut of an explanation...

With much theatrical acting, I placed an imaginary and very full bucket of water on the table in front of us. This, I said represented the correct amount of light to expose our picture correctly. The water was not sloshing out (over-exposed) nor was the bucket half full (under-exposed), it was full to the brim. Just right.

There were two ways of filling that bucket with a hose pipe (more acting) - I might use a big wide hose pipe (wide aperture) and fill the bucket very quickly (fast shutter speed). Or I could use a very small diameter hose pipe (small aperture) and trickle the water in very slowly (slow shutter speed).

Either way, I got the same amount of water in the bucket (or the same amount of light in the camera).

It worked like a charm - the penny dropped and from that moment my student understood a concept that had been totally confusing her. I do like simple.

I've posted a fair bit about using manual exposure in the past, so you could try these pages if you want to learn more...

http://philipdunn.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-use-manual-mode-part-2.html

http://philipdunn.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-use-manual-mode-part-1.html

Canon Ixus 960IS

My little Canon Ixus 700 has expired. I suppose it was my own fault, I put it in its soft case and attached it to my belt before donning old waterproof clothes and tackling a heavy outdoor job in torrential rain. After a couple of hours it was just as wet inside the waterproofs as it was out. My little camera drowned quietly in bed. The lens steamed up and refuses to come out to play, and it now raises only a pathetic bleat when I switch it on. I’ve tried taking out the battery and drying the camera out it in the airing cupboard, but to no avail.

Once I certified it as dead I immediately set about finding a replacement. It had to be just about the same size and weight as the old Ixus 700, but higher on pixels. Eventually I chose another Ixus – the 960IS.

It has been on my belt now for just over a couple of weeks and I am, so far delighted with the camera.

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I really got chance to try it out the other day when I visited a Bloody Island in Mahon Harbour, on Menorca. I was there to explore new locations for my photography holidays in Menorca.

The camera behaved beautifully and did everything I could have wished. Even interior shots in very difficult light conditions proved no problem with judicious adjustment of the exposure compensation control in the ‘M’ Manual mode. This ‘M’ is not a true manual mode as it does not enable you to change the aperture or shutter speeds – it’s a sort of half-way house. But if you can work within the limitations, it is perfectly adequate for many situations.

One of the secrets of getting outstanding quality with these small cameras is to keep the ISO as low as possible. When the ISO is raised to the maximum 1600 on this Ixus 960IS, the results are, to be kind – noisy. However, there are some situations when in order to get a picture with any sort of atmosphere (avoiding flash), that noise just might be a price worth paying.

So far I’m pleased with the Ixus 960IS and its 12 Mega pixels are providing me with some excellent quality images.

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The camera was bought from Amazon for £222. Postage free.

Top photograph

The IS (Image stabilisation) has worked well – this shot was hand-held at 1/4sec. ISO200 and it is very sharp. I ave desaturated the colour in Photoshop because I think bw adds to the interest of the picture

Photograph 2

The Canon Ixus 960IS

Photograph 3

The Ixus 960IS has coped very well with the wide range of light strengths in this situation. I simply set the Exposure Compensation value to minus 1.5 to achieve even results and not ‘burn out’ the stronger light through the doorway

Photograph 4

Exactly what a compact camera is good for – giving you the ability to capture those fleeting moments without the hassle of carrying a heavy camera. This shot was snapped from a boat as it left Bloody Island, Menorca

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Photography tuition by the sea

My students Tony and Dave with RNLI Lifeboat man 'Tattie'

It’s been a busy week here in Bonnie Galloway. Quite apart from having several hundred photographs to sort and catalogue, I have had students with me for the last two days as well.

On Thursday pals Dave and Tony came for a shared day’s tuition. Dave has been to me before on one of my weekend workshops. This time he and Tony wanted to take things several steps further by doing a mini ‘assignment’ that would present a challenge. They felt they wanted to be ‘pushed’ a little, and could I arrange something.

I spoke to the local RNLI lifeboat secretary and got permission to take Dave and Tony along to the lifeboat station down the river here in Kirkcudbright Bay. One of the lifeboat crew members was able to join us for the morning and he proved to be not only great fun, but a willing and interesting photography subject.

The plan was to treat the morning as an assignment for an imaginary magazine editor who wanted a photo essay on the station and the lifeboat man. After they had got over their initial nervousness, both Dave and Tony did a fantastic job. They managed to find a couple of really good ‘key’ pictures and then set about gathering a whole range of really worthwhile peripheral, or detail, pictures. These included everything from the crews’ lifejackets hung in a row on the wall, to the winch that pulled the boat from the water into the boat shed, the inscribed plaques listing the number of rescues and rescued people, and shots of the boat’s powerful engines. By the end of the morning, they both managed to put together a really comprehensive photo essay, and everyone had a great time doing it. We went through the pictures together and did critique comments and advice during the afternoon

Today I have had Phil with me. He came up from Yorkshire for the day. Although he had taken up photography only 10 months ago, the moment I saw some of his work, it was obvious that he has a really good eye for a picture. He was less confident about composition and the workings of his camera, though. But we could soon help with that.

We spent the morning indoors as the rain lashed the windows and I went through each aspect of the camera controls with Phil. After lunch the sun broke through and we set off to my favourite little beach and cove. The light was truly spectacular, and the place presented a perfect situation to work on composition.

Phil was in seventh heaven shooting away happily. Whenever he had a query I would explain a few shortcuts and tricks. By the end of the afternoon, he was fully converted to the idea of the Manual ‘M’ settings on his little Canon 400D and wondering why he every bothered with the auto settings. I think we might be seeing more of Phil in the future

So another busy week comes to an end – have fun with your camera over the weekend.

Above: My student for today - Phil, at work on the coast near my home here in Galloway.

Below: One of the photographs I took during the afternoon - the light has been spectacular.

How to photograph moving water - part 1

I had a great day yesterday with Yvonne and Phil who came all the way up from London for a day’s tuition here in Scotland. We spent most of the morning going through some basics on their cameras – with Yvonne keen to understand more about white balance and how to use the manual exposure mode on her Nikon D40.

The weather was good and after lunch we had the choice of either photographing one of the many coves just along the coast, or another of my favourite locations – a beautiful and delicately intricate waterfall that drops out of the Galloway hills not far from my base here in Kirkcudbright.

As Yvonne was keen to try out her skills with moving water – we donned our wellie boots and headed to the waterfall.

You can hear the roar of the waterfall well before I can see it. It’s very well hidden – a real fairy dell. The water drops about 40 feet down a sheer face, it’s stream splitting into several channels which tumble over blackened, mossy rocks. The fall was once used for industrial purposes, and some cast iron pipes still mar the pristine quality of the scene. These can be used as subjects in their own right, or, with careful framing be cut out altogether.

I suggested a simple shooting plan to give the shoot a sense of purpose. We did not rush in to get shots of the water right away, but stood well back and took a good look at the whole scene before me. There is no need to rush in these situations. Waterfalls do not run away, nothing is going to change except the light, and on an overcast day that is unlikely to change much, so take your time and consider each shot. I prefer an overcast day because it helps reduces contrast between the white water and black rock, and if the sun does shine through the trees it can soon create over-exposed hot spots.

We started by taking pictures that included lots of foreground. The green mosses made a startling foreground, so too did the branches of the dead trees.

A good solid tripod is essential if, like me, you prefer to create that mystical, fairy-like, movement in the falling water. You need very slow shutter speeds to do that, about 1sec for maximum effect with a small waterfall, and here overcast weather helps again. The less daylight there is, the slower the shutter speed you will be able to use.

In my DVd on Light and Composition (available from my website), I showed you how to look at the world in rectangles, and introduced you to an imaginary ‘Rectangle Monkey’ who always helps you think and see in rectangles – that’s the way the camera sees. Photographing a waterfall like this is a good time to adopt that way of thinking, because the actually face of the waterfall as it drops down the cliff is really quite two-dimensional, and it is a simple matter to divide the waterfall up into interesting rectangles – starting with the overall view and then framing different interesting areas in both horizontal and vertical rectangles.

CORRECT EXPOSURE
To find the exposure using Manual (M) exposure mode is simple. Knowing I need a slow shutter speed, I just set a very small aperture, f22 and point the camera at the subject (I prefer centre-weighted metering for this type of subject). Then I slow the shutter speed down until the exposure scale in the viewfinder tells me I have the correct exposure. At ISO 100 this gave me a shutter speed of around 1sec; perfect for the moving water effect I was looking for. You do not need fast ISO settings when the camera is on a tripod and you want to use a slow shutter speed… keep it low for best results and better quality.

The pictures here were taken by me on a previous visit to the waterfall – yesterday, I was far too busy helping Yvonne and Phil to get their photographs.

Lower photograph of the waterfall

I started with a simple wide angle shot of the scene, taking in lots of that wonderful green moss in the foreground with the waterfall away in the distance. One of the less appealing aspects of this view can be seen – the end of an old water pipe, just off centre in the picture. There was no way of avoiding this from this angle. A couple of clicks with the cloning tool in Photoshop will soon sort it.

Top photograph

I used the rushing water in the stream beneath the fall to make a lively, moving foreground that injected a real feeling of depth – the third dimension – to the composition. With the wide-angle lens I was able to stand right in the middle of the stream. Here’s when those wellie boots really come in handy

Also pictured above are Yvonne and Phil, my students for the day - they came up from London for their photography tuition

In part 2 I'll explain more about composition - and white balance