I saw your web site and thought you might be a good resource for a recommendation. I am new to photography (I know next to nothing) and I want to at least learn the basics. I just purchased an S90 and I want to learn how to use it. My problem is I know zero about photography. I was wondering if you were aware of any potential web resources I could use to learn elementary photography. Any pointers or web resources you might recommend are greatly appreciated.
Here’s my reply…would you have any other tips for him? Please share them in comments below!
Scott Kelby is the most prolific author in the photography business: http://www.scottkelby.com/ Kelby has a 3-volume book series about digital photography – they’re very good. Check Amazon.com or your local library (many libraries have Kelby’s books).
I’ve not had much experience with printing photos on canvas – but recently decided to give the folks at Snapfish a try – due mostly to their Flickr integration.
I ordered an 8×10 canvas of this photo – and I was delighted with the result. This photo was post-processed using some of the techniques learned from Trey Ratcliff’s texture tutorial – and it truly looks superb on canvas!
I’ve made this photo available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. You can’t use this image for any commercial purposes (contact me if you want to) – but feel free to share/remix it as long as you provide attribution back to me here on my blog.
Here’s a beautiful late afternoon shot of the Golden Gate Bridge taken from Baker Beach in San Francisco. This photo was shot using a Canon PowerShot S90 and post-processed in PhotoMatix Pro.
Meeting Trey and some of the other photographers was great fun – see my earlier post. By the way, I’m the guy on the right – Trey’s the guy on the left. You can barely see my tiny camera (Canon S90) on top of my tripod!
I’ve also been interested in Trey’s use of textures in some of his HDR photos. His textures tutorial details the process he uses – based upon a set of textures he’s captured on his travels around the world.
I’ve put together two examples of this texture technique – based on the same image – shot on New Years Day 2010 from Fort Point in San Francisco. These aren’t HDR – but they were shot using the Canon PowerShot S90. The first is blue, the second is gold!
[Update: Feb 5, 2010: Here’s the Flickr group Stuck in Stanford with photos from the group that walked with Trey Ratcliff last night.]
Late today, in a light drizzle, about 50 photographers joined ace HDR photographer Trey Ratcliff for a photowalk on the Stanford campus. Trey’s website StuckInCustoms.com is the best resource for HDR photography on the planet. His new book, A World in HDR, is equally great. It was great fun to meet Trey and hear some of his tips for shooting HDR in the real world.
The weather was just mild enough for us to enjoy ourselves – and perhaps the best time was had by all inside the Stanford Memorial Church where we spent the bulk of our time. Here are twoshots of mine taken inside the church using my Canon PowerShot S90 shooting HDR. These were post-processed using Photomatix Pro, Photoshop CS4 and the Topaz Adjust and Noiseware filters.
A friend has asked how I’ve been setting up my Canon PowerShot S90 to take the HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos I’ve been sharing.
Here’s what I’ve been doing:
Put the S90 into Aperture Priority mode by setting the mode dial to Av. By shooting in Av, you ensure that the camera isn’t adjusting the aperture (which could cause focus issues) but, rather, only shutter speed.
Select a fixed (not Auto) ISO (see p. 76 in the S90 manual). In daylight, choose 80 or 100. You want a fixed ISO so that the camera isn’t trying to adjust ISO between shots.
Select Large format JPEG or RAW (see p. 72 in the S90 manual). (I find the Large JPEGs are the easiest to post-process while purists say to shoot in RAW. The S90 does a superb job of processing in-camera, so just choose Large JPEG when you’re getting started.)
Turn on Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB mode – see p. 93 in the S90 manual). Chose the middle option – “Takes 3 different shots at different exposures”. While still in that setting, press the DISP button and turn the dial to select +/- 2 stops. This ensures that the camera takes 3 shots: one properly exposed, one underexposed by 2 stops, and one overexposed by 2 stops. These three photos are what Photomatix Pro then uses to create the HDR image.
Now, the S90 is ready to go.
For best results, mount the S90 on a tripod to prevent any movement as the three shots are being taken. If you don’t have a tripod, you can try handheld HDR – just try to brace your arm against a support to minimize any camera movement. When you hit the shutter button, the camera will take the 3 shots – about a shot per second. After 3 seconds or so, it’s done.
I post-process in Lightroom – using it to import the photos from the S90. I then use Photomatix Pro and just point it to the 3 shots in the file folder to begin generating the HDR image. Once the image has been generated and tone mapped, I save it back into the same folder and then import that image also into Lightroom – telling Lightroom to just add it to the catalog but not to copy it as the image is already in the folder.
I’ve continued to be very pleased with the HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos I’ve taken using my relatively new Canon PowerShot S90 camera. See my Canon S90 HDR Flickr set for some recent examples of some of the photos that I’ve been shooting!
For my S90 HDR shooting, I’ve been using a lightweight Manfrotto tripod that, frankly, I was about to get rid of because it’s just not substantial enough to support my Canon 5D Mark II. But, as it turns out, this tripod is absolutely perfect for shooting with the Canon S90! I’ve been getting a bit of a kick out of walking around with this tripod – with this little tiny camera mounted on it!
If you’re looking for an entry-level digital camera that shoots RAW, includes auto-bracketing suitable for HDR, and almost disappears in your hands, be sure to checkout the S90 – it’s an awful lot of digital camera in a tiny package – and continues to amaze me!
Twice a week, I ferry the family dog to a session of “doggie day care”. The round trip gives me about 45 minutes in the car to listen to anything I want. I could just listen to the news on the radio – but that often puts me in a cranky mood. So, I look for something better.
Increasingly, of late, I’ve been using that travel time to listen to photography-related podcasts on my iPhone (plugged into the Aux input in my Honda Civic Hybrid). These podcasts have proven to be quite interesting – and have introduced me to some things I otherwise might not have learned about. They are MUCH more fun than listening to the often depressing news of the day!
Today, for example, I listened to two podcasts by Frederick Van Johnson. He’s the host of the ”This Week in Photography” podcast – which I sometimes listen to – but I am finding his individual podcast interviews to, frankly, be more focused and interesting than the group chat that takes place on TWIP.
On today’s drive, I really enjoyed his podcast interview with Michael Corsentino – who, as it turns out, is a master at marketing his wedding and portrait photography simply by his choices about client presentation.
Yesterday, while driving over to Oakland for a client meeting, I was fascinated by Dave Warner’s LensFlare35.com interview of Jasmine Star. Dave knows how to ask the right questions – his 1:1 photography podcasts are another favorite of mine!
If you’re into photography like I am – and have the time to listen – be sure to check out the rich treasure trove of great photography podcasts available on iTunes!
Yesterday, a day with some dramatic clouds here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I took the opportunity to head up to San Francisco and shoot a few HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos using my Canon PowerShot S90 – here’s a link to the slideshow – and below is one of my favorites taken at the Palace of Fine Arts.
, is equally great. It was great fun to meet Trey and hear some of his tips for shooting HDR in the real world.
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