Tuesday, October 28, 2008

What Is Telephoto Lens?

Do you ever notice the huge and long lenses used by the photographer during the Olympic or soccer match? Those are the telephoto lenses and they have very long focal length and is use to capture image that are too far away.

Thanks to these telephoto lenses, you can now capture your favorite soccer player in action without being on the field. Besides using the lens for sports, telephoto lens is also use for capturing wildlife. This is because you don't know how friendly the wildlife subject is, so it is better that you keep your distance.

Since telephoto lenses are huge and heavy, it will be even heavier if you were to hold it with your DSLR camera. How long can you stand before you get tired and ruin the perfect shot?

It is wise that you use a tripod to stabilize your DSLR camera with telephoto lens to get a good picture. Compact tripods are light and cheap nowadays and easy for travelling. It certainly won't burden your luggage or wallet.

Some photographers also advise that when you are using a telephoto lens, you should apply some pressure on the lens to avoid camera shake.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

What Is Noise?

Noise in photography is basically the grainy effect you see on your pictures.

This usually happens when you increase the ISO of your camera. This is because as you increase the ISO, you are increasing the light signal. However, when you increase the light signal, you also increase the electrical noise in your digital camera.

However that also depends on your camera performance. DSLR camera will have less noise compare to compact digital camera at the same ISO level.

Why is that so?

This simply is because DSLR has a larger image sensor.

There are a lot of light sensors on your image sensor. When you are taking picture, these light sensors will produce electrical noise and transfer the noise to the neighbors.

Now, imagine that these light sensors are pack together in the image sensor. So, if you have a big image sensor, these light sensors can be loosely packed. Since there are more spaces between the sensors, the sensors are less likely to contaminate each other.

That is why a DSLR with a larger image sensor will have less noise than the compact digital camera with smaller image sensor.

Then how do you remove noise from the picture?

Digital camera manufacturers nowadays have built in an algorithm to reduce noise when it happens. However, the algorithm can only work so much. Then, you will need a noise reduction software to remove the bothering noise from your picture.

Hope that clear some of your question noise. Do leave a message if you need more information.

Have fun photographing,

Michael Wong. :-)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

What is ISO?

ISO is about the image sensor sensitivity to light in digital camera and film sensitivity to light in film based camera. So, the higher the ISO, the more sensitive the image sensor and the film is. And the more sensitive the image sensor and film is, the more likely of you to take pictures in low light condition.

Lower ISO number will give better quality pictures. This is because the higher ISO number you go, the more likely you will introduce noise to your picture. You just don’t want to ruin your ideal picture with something you can adjust.

Then, why do you need a higher ISO?

High ISO is usually needed when light is low or indoor photography. One of the examples when you need high ISO is when you are photographing your children blowing the candle in a dimmed environment.

Maybe you will think of using flash. But your subject might end up too white for the background. Unless you are using a DSLR camera which you can disperse your flash.

Have Fun in Photography,

Michael Wong. :-)

Sunday, October 19, 2008

What Is Focal Length?

Focal length in photography is simply a measurement of the distance of a far subject to the photosensor and it is usually specified in millimeter (mm). When you are focusing on a far subject the lens is moved nearer to the sensor and opposite if you are focusing on something near.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

What Is Depth of Field (DOF)?

Depth of field (DOF) is simply the part of the image that appears to be sharp. Usually, the images in front or at the back of the depth of field will appear to be blur. So, if you want to increase the sharpness of your picture, you need to increase your depth of field.

However, there is no standard usage for depth of field. What you think should be the depth of field might not work for other photographer. This is because different photographer has their own taste of enhancing their photos.

There are a few factors that determine the depth of field. But usually, depth of field can be determined by:

1. The aperture (the f-number) – the smaller the aperture (the larger the f-number), the more depth of field.

2. Focal length – wide angle lens will have stronger depth of field than telephoto lens.

3. Distance – the further the camera from the subject, the more depth of field you will get.

Have Fun in Photography,

Michael Wong. :-)

Friday, October 10, 2008

Wide Angle Digital Cameras...

Have you ever tried to fit in the beautiful background of your subject and you can't? It is really frustrated that you need to choose between sacrificing part of the background or the subject. Either way, something is just not right with the final picture.

Today, with the help of wide angle lens, you no longer need to sacrifice anything to get a satisfying picture. Now you can get everything into that frame and show everyone your masterpiece. And to make more people enjoy photography, manufacturers have bring this fun feature into compact digital cameras too. If you are starting with photography, you got to get an affordable wide angle digital camera.

Before you go and get the camera, you need to get the basics of how do wide angle lenses work and is it necessary in your compact digital camera.

As the name suggests, wide angle lens take in much wider angle of view so that you can capture more of the surroundings. With the help of this feature, you can still keep the front subject as the focus of your picture and make the picture more interesting with the background.

The wide angle of the digital camera will have shorter focal length and it usually ranges from 24 – 35 mm.

Wide angle works with the angle of light entering the camera lens. Imagine that you need to squeeze 30 peoples into a frame. If there is not enough space for you to back up, you will need to sacrifice part of your subjects’ limbs. Even you can back up, your groups might be so small that you can hardly see their face expression. But as the angle is widen, it allows more details to be focus on the digital photosensor. Now, you can just gather your group and snap the picture. If your lens is wide enough, you can even take in some surroundings to enhance the moment.

If you want to know how much scene you can take into your frame, you can look at the focal length (the number of mm of a lens). So, the smaller the number, the wider you can get.

Since you got the wide angle digital cameras, taking close up picture can be a breeze because with the short focal length, you can now stand close to your subject and still get its full size.

Maybe manufacturers understand that consumers nowadays spend a lot of time hanging out with their friends and family. There will be occasions that the consumers would like to take a group picture with ease without spending a lot for high end digital camera. And to cater on that need, wide angle compact digital camera was born.

Now, if you are looking for a digital camera, remember to factor in the wide angle feature. It wouldn't cost you an arm or a leg but you sure will have a lot of fun with it. :-)

Have Fun in Photography,

Michael Wong. :-)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

What is Face Detection doing in digital camera?

To put it in more general explanation, face detection is a technology that the digital camera is able to detect human faces in a frame.

It is known that the digital camera will use an algorithm to detect faces and show a preview on the LCD screen. When you press the shutter button halfway down, the digital camera will pin-point the faces in the frame with a rectangle. It calculates the distance of the subject with the camera and adjusts the flash. What you will get then is photograph with more natural looking people. So, you are free from all the overexposed or dark pictures.

However, you shouldn't rely entirely on face detection in digital camera because you still need good lighting and keep an optimal distance with your subject. Please don't blame the technology that you fail to capture a picture that is out of your camera zoom and terrible lighting.

As helpful as the face detection technology may sound, you need to know that sometime it is build in as default in digital camera and sometime it is selectable by the user. And the number of faces a digital face detection camera can detect varies from manufacturer to the cost of the digital camera.

Still, if you are a beginner in photography and want to have fun with it, a digital face detection camera is what you need.

Have Fun in Photography,

Michael Wong. :-)