ScubaLiz's PhotoBlog

Lesson #2 - Metering Patterns

2008-07-24T23:16:41Z

More homework from my photo course. Here the assignment was to photograph the same subject in program mode but using four exposure patterns - 1st, matrix mode (I think it's called evaluative if you're a Canon user); 2nd, center weighted; 3rd, spot metering, and 4th spot metering with +1 exposure compensation. Yes, I read my camera manual and thought I understood the differences - but I didn't. I didn't get it till I spent an afternoon shooting everything four times (once each way). Here's the set I submitted to my photo course, please excuse the standard tourist view of Memorial Arch in Valley Forge Historical Park, but bonehead that I am, I found this quite illuminating!

Valley Forge National Park

2008-07-23T00:10:56Z

A few photos from Valley Forge National Historic Park. These are actually some of the outtakes from my homework assignment. ;)

How NOT to get your homework done....

2008-07-21T22:10:07Z

Had some homework to do for the online photo class I'm taking, so I decided to head over to Mill Grove and try to get it finished. However, it was a beautiful but HOT day, and I got a little sidetracked, and this is what I came home with - none of which fulfilled my homework assignment... ;)

Things you do for your mother....

2008-07-21T21:43:26Z

My mother is working on her family's genealogy, and good daughter that I am (sometimes!), I took her to a cemetery in search of some ancestors' graves. Didn't find everyone we were looking for, but did find the graves of my great-grandparents and a few great-uncles, including one apparently killed in the Korean War (which we hadn't previously known). I am reprieved for a few weeks before I have to do this again... Sheesh! ;)

Seashore

2008-07-20T20:58:34Z

A few beach scenes taken last month in North Carolina.

Seagulls

2008-07-19T15:50:20Z

Took these photos last month in the Outer Banks. I just LIKE seagulls, what can I say? ;)

Lesson Learned: ISO vs Shutter Speed

2008-07-16T23:31:49Z

I'm taking an online photo course (in my free time - yeah, more accurately when I should be sleeping!), and one of the first assignments was to shoot three photos, one at ISO 100 with no flash, one at ISO 1600 with no flash, and one at ISO 100 with flash for comparison. Easy enough, but what really surprised me was the very minimal difference between ISO 100 with a longer shutter speed, and ISO 1600 with a shorter shutter speed. Sure, if I enlarge the two I can see more grain in the ISO 1600 shot, but the practical difference is minimal, and would be unnoticeable in a standard sized print. The flash photo is clearly better than either (aided by the fact that I always use a speedlight with diffuser, not the on-camera flash), but still, the high ISO version would certainly be a good alternative. Am I the only bonehead who didn't realize that???? ;)

More Squirrels

2008-07-16T22:39:27Z

I can't help it - I LIKE squirrels! Which is a really good thing, because they seem to have adopted my deck as their favorite hangout..... ;)

ISO 1600.....

2008-07-14T22:56:25Z

So I had to take some photos of a benefit concert for a charity's newsletter, and the performance was a two man cabaret style act - in the dark! The performers were lit only by a couple of small spotlights. I didn't want to use flash and disturb the audience, besides, flash wouldn't appropriately convey the intimate quality of the performance. The answer? I let the D80's Auto-ISO feature blow the ISO up to 1600 - and here's the best of the results. Think it worked?

On my deck...

2008-07-13T23:19:12Z