My First DSLR - Canon 600D

Non Wheels Discussions

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Porsche_Maker (Porsche_Maker) 2011-12-06 02:21:58 +0500 #341

@khurram_aziz

Why dont you check for P&S with Panasonic LUMIX as they are equipped with nice Leica Glass and worths to purchase.

ifoo_786 (ifoo_786) 2011-12-06 02:55:30 +0500 #342

Do experiments with your camera and your ideas then one day you will become a great photographer !:)

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-07 04:54:07 +0500 #343

I am leaning towards S95/S100 due to their soap like size. Pocketability is the first concern!

Thanks!

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-08 10:22:28 +0500 #344

One can take Low Key or High Key portraits "anywhere" using flashguns...The key for low-key portrait is to use faster shutter / narrower aperture to allow less light and lit the subject using flashgun. The faster shutter should remain in flash-synch range! The key for high-key portrait is to lit the subject "normally" using the smaller flash (flash with lower power) and blow-out the background with bigger flash. If you have just one flashgun like me; we can use the on camera's built-in mini winni flash or can use some other light source (lamp etc) for the subject :-#

On the weekend I will ask our model to give some time for sample shots! For the time being enjoy these related videos...

//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91gU93J2Q8k
...
//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUvkWkxFb2M

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-09 17:26:02 +0500 #345

The pictures were taken in normally lit room!

Low Key Portrait | High Key Portrait by khurramaziz, on Flickr

Exposure: For Low Key; 1/200 @ f/11 and for High Key; 1/25 @ f/2.2
Focal Length: 50mm Both
ISO: For Low Key; 100 and for High Key 400

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-10 05:37:45 +0500 #346

For the Low Key; using the "Mini Reflector" modifier from the Flash Modifer Kit
For the High Key; the "Globe" modifier works best; placing it behind the subject on a tripod/stand; as it not only spreads the light equally to the background but also soften it; I didnt liked the bright white background of naked flashgun
For the High Key I was using +1.33 Flash Exposure Compensation and to warm the subject a bit used a lamp
For better High Key; you need three light sources the built-in flash caused the shadow on the background and this can be removed by either directing the light source so that it cast the shadow at place thats not in frame (not possible with built-in flash) or use the light source to lit the area where shadow is being cast!

Low Key is fun; its easier than High Key; just mount the reflector modifier and you are good to go. Adult subjects like it as with 45 degree lighting it gives posing 3/4 like result!

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-10 07:01:11 +0500 #347

You dont need an expensive off-camera flash for Low Key; you can use the built-in flash as well; here is the sample shot!

Low Key Portrait /w Built-in Flash by khurramaziz, on Flickr

Exposure: 1/200 @ f/11.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 100
Post Processing: I had to play a bit with Blacks / Fill Light / Recovery and Exposure sliders in Lightroom to get the desired look!

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-12 04:29:23 +0500 #348

Video of a great song with Low-Key lighting; especially for @vg; who has started doing video experiments (Y)

//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOGaugKpzs

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-12 04:50:42 +0500 #349

Split Toning replaces the highlights to one color and the shadows to the other. Generally its considered Black & White only tool; but infact its equally good for color.

A Split Toning try; just for fun!

Split Toning by khurramaziz, on Flickr
Exposure: 1/30 @ f/8.0
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 800

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-13 09:53:45 +0500 #350

I have read it at quite a number of places that increasing ISO increases the flash affective range (even the built-in one) and its remain; learn it by heart thing. The two questions that arises are; what should be the ideal ISO using flash and how the heck increasing ISO increases the range. The answer of first question is "it depends" and second one is in "Guide Number"

Canon cameras work brilliantly at and under about 1000 ISO; i-e if manually defining the ISO; you are good till 800. So when needed; even with flash; you can go upto 800; the lower the better approach remains there though! The battery power required for flash is also contributing factor; if we increase ISO from 100 to 200; we need half the battery power; resulting faster recycle and more shots per battery change. 400 ISO is therefore considered perfect starting point; ideal for close-up shot (portrait etc)

Guide Number is the number the flash has; it varies from one flash (model) to other. Wikipedia defines it as

The guide number for an electronic flash measures its ability to illuminate the subject to be photographed at a specific film or sensor sensitivity and angle of view. A higher guide number indicates a more powerful flash

Mathematically GN = distance × f-number; its a number the flash unit has in meter or feet at particular ISO. For instance 430EX-II; the flash unit I have has 43m @ 100 ISO ; meaning it can illuminate upto 43m if using with f/1.0 @ 100 ISO; and if with f/2.0 the range will be; distance = GN / f-Number; i-e 43m / 2 = 21.5m. More Maths coming up in follow-up post

Pop Quiz: Do you know the Guide Number of your camera's built-in flash? (Go Google it )

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-14 09:35:34 +0500 #351

The modern flashguns feature the capability of “zoom with the camera”; such flashguns concentrate the light when we are zooming in at the camera. Vendors advertise the Guide Number at the narrowest settings; i-e 430EX-II has 43m GN at its maximum zoom. The flashguns having zoom feature usually have fixed number of zoom steps and they chooses the most relevant step automatically (in TTL modes) for instance 430EX-II has 6 steps and 580EX-II (the top of line from Canon) has 8 steps. Here’s the side by side Guide Number comparison of these two:

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 197pt; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=263><COLGROUP><COL style="WIDTH: 59pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 2889" width=79><COL style="WIDTH: 69pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 3364" span=2 width=92><TBODY><TR style="HEIGHT: 15pt" height=20><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; WIDTH: 59pt; HEIGHT: 15pt; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl68 height=20 width=79></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; WIDTH: 69pt; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl68 width=92>430EXII</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; WIDTH: 69pt; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl63 width=92>580EXII</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 15.75pt" height=21><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt solid; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 15.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl69 height=21>Zoom (mm)</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt solid; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl69>Guide No (m)</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt solid; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl67>Guide No (m)</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 15pt" height=20><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #75923c; HEIGHT: 15pt; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl70 height=20>14</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #75923c; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl70></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #75923c; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl64>15</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 15pt" height=20><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d99795; HEIGHT: 15pt; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl71 height=20>24</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d99795; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl71>23</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d99795; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl65>28</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 15pt" height=20><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #75923c; HEIGHT: 15pt; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl70 height=20>28</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #75923c; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl70>26</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #75923c; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl64>30</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 15pt" height=20><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d99795; HEIGHT: 15pt; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl71 height=20>35</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d99795; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl71>32</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d99795; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl65>36</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 15pt" height=20><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #75923c; HEIGHT: 15pt; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt solid" class=xl70 height=20>50</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; 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The zoom steps are in 35mm equivalent and if we are using Crop Sensor cameras like 550D/600D or 7D (1.6x Crop Factor) the 50mm on Camera is not 50mm of flashgun; the flashgun has to consider this factor as well i-e more maths

Now if I am using 50mm lens; and want to use f/4 @ 100 ISO; the affective Guide Number of 430EX-II will be…50 x 1.6 = 80mm; i-e 38 GN (70mm step) and our affective range with f/4 will be 9.5m.

So if the subject is @ ~5m; we can use 1/2 flashpower? if @ ~3m; we can use 1/4 power? and if @ 1m-2m we can use 1/8 power? For faster recycle and low battery usage; bumping ISO from 100 to 200; we can use 1/16 power? and bumping it further to 400 we can use 1/32 power? Not so straight forward; the answer is in "Inverse Square Law"

Canon's only Mark II flashes do calculation for Crop Sensor in TTL
As long as we are in TTL (ETTL or ETTL-II or whatever) we dont need to even bother about this all; its all done for us "magically"

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-16 07:36:19 +0500 #352

As per Wikipedia:

In physics, an inverse-square law is any physical law stating that a specified physical quantity or strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical quantity.

The intensity (or illuminance or irradiance) of light or other linear waves radiating from a point source (energy per unit of area perpendicular to the source) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source; so an object (of the same size) twice as far away, receives only one-quarter the energy (in the same time period).

Here's how Mark Wallace; a very good tutor; explains and shows it in action:

//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk9cTa3UthM

I liked the correlation established between Inverse Square Law and Depth of Field in this video!

//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL6VH5mfRvE

You want amazing looks with high contrast lighting; shooting groups or want to isolate/include backgrounds; understanding "Inverse Square Law" really helps.

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-16 07:45:03 +0500 #353

Holidays are coming up (in this part of world just for kids :-#) and winters are good time to take group photos (Zara tohr shor hoti hey sub logo ki) and wedding season starting as well...so lets do some homework and preparations to avoid getting photos where closer subjects are properly lit and others are not

As per Inverse Square Law; the light source should be farther to the subjects so that we get wider flash exposure, needed for the group photos. We need a large room to place the light behind the camera. We can use the black paper to reflect back the popup flash light to the main flashgun for triggering! Here's how Mark Wallace explain and show the things in action

//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9JYvlq3xhk

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-16 07:57:27 +0500 #354

As per Inverse Square Law; if light source is closer to the subject, its illuminance decreases rapidly giving higher contrast across the subject surface. Here's a sample shot of such look; the flashgun was placed near to the subject!

Higher Contrast by khurramaziz, on Flickr
Exposure: 1/30 @ f/11.0
Focal Length: 135mm
ISO: 400

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-17 08:19:25 +0500 #355

Different lighting

An Apple a Day, Keeps the Doctor Away! by khurramaziz, on Flickr
Exposure: 1/30 @ f/11.0
Focal Length: 135mm
ISO: 400

versatilegenious (versatilegenious) 2011-12-19 16:33:05 +0500 #356

make your mind heres a good deal just for one day

Amazon.com: Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD: Camera & Photo

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-20 08:31:20 +0500 #357

Thanks @VG but that 229$ S95 deal is / was for US only and my contact is in Canada :S

As per dpreview preview and its forums; the initial lot of S100 appears to have some quality issues (lens softness) My contact is traveling to Pakistan by end of Feb; I have decided to wait patiently and buy late for this very reason. If it hits the shelves of local stores mean time; will prefer buying it with local warranty!

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-21 05:11:21 +0500 #358

Phone Cameras are usually equipped with LED flash, some with dual LED flash and some with Xenon flash. Suppose LED being used has constant illumination; then dual LED flahes will have how much more reach? 1.4 times! (Now you do the maths )

The benefit of Xenon flash is; first we can trigger Speedlites/Speedlights with the Optic Slave unit :-# and second they have better and faster illumination and camera can use faster shutter speed thats useful to shoot some moving subject with flash!

Camera Nitty Gritty - part 2 has sample images!

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2011-12-23 10:40:20 +0500 #359

Cropping is generally considered "sin"; but with todays high mega-pixel cameras its an option that can help sometime! In Lightroom while cropping; you can press "X" to rotate crop aspect; from 3x2 to 2x3 and vice versa.., I have found this very useful with kids pictures!

Umm-e-Hani by khurramaziz, on Flickr
Exposure: 1/60 @ f/5.6
Focal Length: 135mm
ISO: 100

khurram_aziz (khurram_aziz) 2012-01-03 08:25:20 +0500 #360

I am in love with "Cloudy White Balance"...not only the 600D works great 99% of the time with this setting, even my crappy N97 works best with this!

Anyone know how I can "set" Cloudy White balance as default in N97?