Photography - Your basic queries answered

[Hellwrath]

Veeresh - Thanks for the link!
I would study and try to learn from there!


One basic question (sorry for my ignorance):
Do we need to have exactly the same frames with different exposures? i.e. for HDR Tripod is a must? 

Thanks!

If you can get frames that are almost similar, it should be fine. There's an option in Photoshop (as highlighted in the video) which aligns the photographs. Depending on how badly they are mis-aligned, you'll have to crop a bit.

Hello experts,

I have a sb700 and was looking for ways to avoid harsh shadows in situations when one can't bounce off the flash either from the walls or from the ceilings. I tried using the SW-14H diffusion dome that comes with the speed light, but for closer subjects (say 4-5 feets), the shadows were still harsh. Any alternatives or DIYs to look at? Thanks.

Soft shadows is usually because of bigger (apparent) size of the light source. When you bounce the light off a wall or the ceiling, the wall/ceiling acts a big source of light and that's why you get soft shadows. So, if you want soft shadows, you'll have to find a way of making the light source bigger. Just diffusing an on camera flash will not help you much..

[nishchaya]

if you want soft shadows, you'll have to find a way of making the light source bigger. Just diffusing an on camera flash will not help you much..

Thank you Hellwrath. Any DIY suggestions that can be used with on-camera flash? I saw things like lightsphere, but they neither excited me nor they are cheap.

[Hellwrath]

if you want soft shadows, you'll have to find a way of making the light source bigger. Just diffusing an on camera flash will not help you much..

Thank you Hellwrath. Any DIY suggestions that can be used with on-camera flash? I saw things like lightsphere, but they neither excited me nor they are cheap.

Not really sure. I think other members might be able to help you out here as I am not really into on camera flash.

[amitk26]

if you want soft shadows, you'll have to find a way of making the light source bigger. Just diffusing an on camera flash will not help you much..

Thank you Hellwrath. Any DIY suggestions that can be used with on-camera flash? I saw things like lightsphere, but they neither excited me nor they are cheap.

I made something like this using cardboard and aluminum foil and used it with Vivitar S1 Macro lens which is little longish with 1:1 extender.
http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-flashes-lighting-technique/146183-diy-ttl-macro-flash.html

The orientation is horizontal for Macro

However if you are not doing macro fabricate a similar tube in vertical orientation with elongated cut at the to work as diffuser.

PS : IMHO don't use Pringles or any other box to keep weight minimal on fragile pop-up flash , use a thin cardboard / drawing sheet with Aluminum foil and cover with foam at the end.

Will try to post pic of my DIY tube in evening

[nishchaya]

e]
I made something like this using cardboard and aluminum foil and used it with Vivitar S1 Macro lens which is little longish with 1:1 extender.
http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-flashes-lighting-technique/146183-diy-ttl-macro-flash.html

Thank you amitk26. While this could be a good solution for the pop-up flash, wouldn't something like this create even more harsh shadows if used with an external on-camera speed light since it would concentrate the whole amount to light to a lesser area? I am not looking for DIYs for my pop-up flash, but for my speed light sb700, mounted on the camera body. I guess I didn't put my question clearly. Sorry for that.

[amitk26]

e]
I made something like this using cardboard and aluminum foil and used it with Vivitar S1 Macro lens which is little longish with 1:1 extender.
http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-flashes-lighting-technique/146183-diy-ttl-macro-flash.html

Thank you amitk26. While this could be a good solution for the pop-up flash, wouldn't something like this create even more harsh shadows if used with an external on-camera speed light since it would concentrate the whole amount to light to a lesser area? I am not looking for DIYs for my pop-up flash, but for my speed light sb700, mounted on the camera body. I guess I didn't put my question clearly. Sorry for that.

Similar approach can be used with on camera dedicated flash as well.

Actually it depends on how you have fabricated the tube take a drawing sheet / think cardboard and paste crumpled aluminum foil on one side.

1. If you want to diffuse on camera dedicated flash , Roll the sheet with wide diameter looking like a loud speaker cone and cover front with white foam / muslin cloth.

2. If you want to concentrate like a substitute for ring light , keep a moderate diameter and cut the opening oblique near to filter ring of the lens, so as to increase surface area to avoid harsh shadows

[nishchaya]

1. If you want to diffuse on camera dedicated flash , Roll the sheet with wide diameter looking like a loud speaker cone and cover front with white foam / muslin cloth.

2. If you want to concentrate like a substitute for ring light , keep a moderate diameter and cut the opening oblique near to filter ring of the lens, so as to increase surface area to avoid harsh shadows

Thank you. That was very informative. I shall certainly try that.

[Chillum Baba]

Will try to post pic of my DIY tube in evening

Waiting for that

[Beyond Legacy]

@nishchaya 
Do check this out too - http://super.nova.org/DPR/DIY01/
A nice DIY for diffusing

[amitk26]

Will try to post pic of my DIY tube in evening

Waiting for that

Sorry heading to airport so next week after return

[ranjanpriyesh]

Hi All,

I am having Canon 550D and in order to click self portrait I need to have a remote control through which I can trigger the shutter button without touching my camera.

While searching on net, I came accross two things -
1. Shutter Release Cable (http://www.flipkart.com/yongnuo-rs-c3-camera-remote-control/p/itmd2h9szwjhca75?pid=ACCD2H9RGTC4YFHG&ref=c991253b-a98e-460a-9c8d-91c15c61c925)
and 2. Remote Control (http://www.flipkart.com/yongnuo-rc-6-camera-remote-control/p/itmd2h9rzffczgzy?pid=ACCD2H9R4WCXFBRR&ref=c991253b-a98e-460a-9c8d-91c15c61c925)

What is the difference between these two?
I want completely hands free solution.

[Chillum Baba]

Shutter release cable is just an extension of your shutter button away from the camera via a cable. Length is around 1 meter.

YONGNUO RC-6 Camera Remote Control works thro infra red technology. If you set your camera on 10secs and use this while standing infront of the camera, it would solve your purpose of self portrait. All you need is point to the IR sensor infront of the camera and click, and wait for 10 secs and pose.

[lightwave]

and wait for 10 secs and pose.

Some remotes even let you click instantly without the wait. Canon RC-6 or other third party remotes do that.

[ranjanpriyesh]

Thanks Professor !!! 

[umeshrw]

Answers to 1,2,4 questions can be found in any basic photography book.
Answer to 3 is in link below. I would encourage everyone to read it.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml
For question 5 there is no specific answer . It all depends upon your liking and the type of photography you do.
If you like shallower depth of field and shoot wide pics , need Higher iso performance then full frame is preferred. But if you need reach with teles, and want to spend less half frame is good. Although D600 ff will change the price part of equation. And these days even half frames have decent iso performances. So it is again camera and need specific.

[umeshrw]

Here again I have one question. We use WB to get neutral colours in our scene. Now can the White Balance shift in camera can be used to correct colour cast keeping the WB on Auto WB?

Anyone would like to shed some light on this please.

I presume you are talking about colour tuning preset shift along with awb. Colour tuning preset changes only green - magenta casts. so the correction is limited only to those tinges.

[mobike008]

How to identify the shutter count in a Nikon D5100? I mean where is this option to see how many clicks the camera has done?

[DeathKnight]

How to identify the shutter count in a Nikon D5100? I mean where is this option to see how many clicks the camera has done?

Find the last pic you clicked in Adobe Bridge > right click pic > click "File Info..." > select "Advanced" tab > expand down "Schema" > find the shutter count after "aux:ImageNumber:"

"File Info..." can also be found in PS under "File" menu

This actually gives the shutter count when the selected pic was clicked 

[GIGY]

How to identify the shutter count in a Nikon D5100? I mean where is this option to see how many clicks the camera has done?

Find the last pic you clicked in Adobe Bridge > right click pic > click "File Info..." > select "Advanced" tab > expand down "Schema" > find the shutter count after "aux:ImageNumber:"

"File Info..." can also be found in PS under "File" menu

This actually gives the shutter count when the selected pic was clicked 

I tried using an app called shutter count for android phones and it works nicely regarding data from 5100

[matbhuvi]

1. Any tips to focus manually in low light situation where camera struggles or refuses to focus?

Yesterday, i was taking portraits of my family in dusk with orange sky as the bg. The subjects looked almost black in view finder and live view. I am using fill in flash and the test image showed that they will be properly exposed. But, it was quite a challenge for me to focus accurately for the group photo. The kit was Nikon D3100 + 35mm F1.8 + Promaster flash.

2. When using FF lens in crop sensor, will we get a 1.5x additional zoom?. Will the magnification of a 200mm FX lens will be similar to a 300m DX lens?