Week 4: Using my Camera

Week 4: Using My Camera

This week I learned about Exposure Modes and how to apply ISO, aperture, and shutter speed for a purpose.

Exposure Modes P, S, A, M

There are so many individual settings possible, and some are probably not useful to me. I learned the purpose of the M, A, S, P modes is to allow the photographer to choose a manual option, and allow the camera to activate the most appropriate automated settings. This is meant to simplify getting the best shot. 

P: Programmed. For point and shoot photos

S: Shutter-priority auto:  Use this to freeze or blur motion. I choose the shutter speed, camera selects aperture.

A: Auto Aperture Mode. Use to blur background, or to bring both foreground and background into focus. In this setting, I choose the aperture, the camera chooses the best shutter speed.

M: Manual:  I select both shutter speed, aperture.

These photo examples show the result of changing f-stop and shutter speed at a set ISO. Thinking about this week's readings, metacognition is the difference between taking a picture and photographing. My learning process is all about tasks, strategies, and goals. In order to make the photo with enough light, but not too much I have to think and plan to apply the concepts I'm learning together in the correct proportions. I have to constantly check myself as I read for understanding. 
Additionally, as a beginner, I feel there is so much to learn. I could easily overwhelm myself with the volume and complexity of so many great resources. As a strategy to prevent this, I'm using each week's blog as a way to pace myself, and net expect too much of myself. Image Source 

How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time!

I don't have the experience or perspective to understand when to use each exposure mode. So I checked in with an experienced photographer for more info.

Spyros Heniadas is a fantastic photographer. He answers photography questions through his vlog at selfhelpphotographer.com. He posted this video about how to choose the right aperture, shutter speed and ISO in Manual mode. It was super helpful as I considered how to capture shallow or great depth of field.

Spyros talked about making decisions about which settings to use based on the lighting and your subject. The content is both a production (if-then statement.), and a script. This video is full of sensory information, but I really just want to focus on the decision tree he talked about. Here's a summary of the options he mentioned regarding aperture. This chart will help me review the reasons for each decision until they're incorporated into my own schemata for aperture.

My Camera - Week 3

Nikon D3300 DSLR

Check out this awesome feature tour video.

This week I'm tackling two types of learning for this project. First, I'm taking my new camera with me to kids practices and events. This camera has a great built-in user guide. I'm going through this whenever I have a free moment. I've learned quite a bit about the interface. I've even been able to apply what I learned during week 1 about ISO sensitivity. This aspect mostly procedural knowledge. Second, I found some fantastic professional blogs and online photography journals that address lighting and composition.  I guess you could say I'm taking advantage of "the intellectual wealth in social and cultural spaces and groups," as described by Lev Vygotsky. This aspect is primarily conceptual knowledge.

Here's a summary of this week's learning:

• Reading my camera's user guide
• Setting ISO sensitivity for the lighting and action
• Utilizing manual focus
• Compiled a list of my favorite photography resources including:
• The Slanted Lens
• diyphotography.net
• Practicing taking photos of my son playing soccer to snap the photo at the right moment, not before or after the action. Still learning, but here are a few of the better shots.

Practice with Manual Focus

Photo 1. First shot

Photo 2. Focus in foreground, blurred background.

Photo 3. Practice with focus on foreground

Practice Catching the Action

Cameras & Features - Week 2

Last week I learned the basics of DSLR cameras. This week I'm looking at specific functions I'd like to have in a camera. I'll research and compare a few cameras to see which one best meets my requirements and make a purchase.

What am I looking for in a camera?

• User-friendly

I've had opportunities to use a professional quality Canon and Nikon. While I say "use" that's really not true.  It might be more accurate to say I've 'held' a few nice cameras, and utilized the automatic point and click functions to take photos. Really using a camera is dependent on a solid understanding of the concepts I wrote about last week, as well as the camera's settings, features and processes. Because of this, I'm looking for an entry-level DSLR camera with a user-friendly interface. This includes well-organized menu options that you can access in one or two clicks.

• At least 18MP
• Video capabilities are at least 1080p video, 3fps, external microphone port

I'd eventually like to use this camera to create training videos. The external mic port is a necessity for this. 3 fps is ok, but I'd like to find a camera within my price range that does a little better.

• Affordable

Models That Match My Criteria

While reading camera reviews this week, I took note of three cameras that take great photos (at least 18MP), video, and were recommended for entry-level photographers like me. The Pentax K-S2 for $596, the Nikon D3300 for $439, and the Canon T5 is available for about $385 (Prices differ depending on where you look, so I've shown the Google shopping price).

Let's start with that.

Compiling this chart gave me additional insight into the power of visual charts and tables. They cut right to the facts, enabling us to easily accumulate declarative knowledge, and add detail of our schema of a factual object.
After I read and processed a certain depth of info I felt comfortable choosing which features were most important to me and which I could do without. When I thought about what I knew about each camera, it seemed like I understood each camera's strengths and compromises. At that time, I think I had constructed a schema for "what I want in a camera." (hahaha This is interesting because it's not a real object, it's a concept that I created. Reminds me a bit of Plato's theory of pure forms and their manifestations.)

Here are some other resources that helped me accumulate a sufficient depth of fact and opinion into my schema for each camera.

• Fun and informative YouTube video review
• Side by side iconic comparison winner, runner-up
• Compare D33oo to the Pentax
• Pentax details

Stay tuned to find out which camera I choose.