Shownotes:
Sam from SmugMug gives me a lesson on the Canon 5D Mark II, and shows me how to take my shooting to the next level. You can see Sam’s photography at sams.smugmug.com. My favorite photos are from his Moab Gallery. Follow along with my effort to get the most out of the 5D Mark II at cali.smugmug.com.
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February 4th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
hi Cali cool video im watching it now
February 4th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Now I’m really itching to get an SLR.
February 4th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Cali,
As always brief 508 was great and Sam gave you some very good advice on the 5D — with one exception. He advised you to set your camera to shutter priority mode, (Tv which incidentally stands for “time value” in case you didn’t know,) and to set the shutter speed to 1/200 since that is the maximum sync speed on the 5D. I have to disagree with him on this one. The 1/200 shutter is the FASTEST you would want to set it because the flash isn’t capable of syncing at any faster speed. Therefore if you set it to 1/320 for example, there is a good chance that at least part of the image would be dark because the flash didn’t fire at exactly the same time that the shutter was open.
Secondly, the faster your shutter speed is set to, the less ambient light (the light that exists “naturally” before you add light from the flash,) you will get in your photo. What this causes is that your subject will appear well exposed but everything in the background will be very dark if not black. Sometimes you might want that type of effect but usually you will not. If you set the shutter to something slower like 1/60, then you capture much more ambient light and you will have a well exposed subject with a well lit background to match.
Best of luck with that great photographic tool!
Todd
February 4th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Great one, very informative. I got my first SLR a long time ago when I was in junior high. I jammed my head full of stuff about shutter speeds and apertures and proceeded to take that Canon AE-1 with me everywhere, like it was my wallet, for the next couple of years. And that was back in the film days when every shot cost something. One of the great things about DSLRs is that you can experiment with the different settings all day and it costs you no more than if you left it untouched.
February 4th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Hey Cali, this was an amazing brief! Hope to see more on photography. I have fun playing with my camera. Will play with the aperture and shutter speed today….
February 4th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Interesting show, I would recommend starting at Manual though. It’s important to understand the relationship between your shutter, aperture and sensor sensitivity/film speed to obtain an appropriate exposure. There’s plenty of times where the camera will get it wrong because it doesn’t understand your vision to the photo, this is where you have to know why it did what it did and to be able to fix it. Aperture and shutter and even the program mode are excellent tools and should be used, but not till you get the basics of exposure imo. It’s important to realize that no matter how high tech or fancy the camera is, it’s just a tool to be used by the artist, which is you.
I would suggest photo exercises and challenges on a regular basis to help you learn and expand your knowledge. I run through challenges every so often just to help myself refresh what I know as well as stress my skills and creativity.
February 5th, 2009 at 4:14 am
Checking out @CaliLewis new GeekBrief 508 at SmugMug – http://tinyurl.com/dfdsvw
February 5th, 2009 at 4:19 am
Geekbrief: GBTV #508 | 5D Mark II 101: Shownotes:
Sam from SmugMug gives me a lesson on the Canon 5D M.. http://tinyurl.com/dfdsvw
February 5th, 2009 at 4:23 am
A new GBTV is up: GBTV #508 | 5D Mark II 101 http://tinyurl.com/dfdsvw
February 5th, 2009 at 5:56 am
Nice, Digital Photo 101. Actually, your enthusiasm on the Canon had sparked me to buy a digital cam … although not as nice as yours.
I haven’t done much with photography since college, and back then, we were dealing with film. Much easier now to experiment with different exposure settings, so we can see the result right away.
February 5th, 2009 at 6:51 am
I’m glad to see I am not the only one who picked up on the “set your shutter speed to 1/200 whenever you have a flash attached.”
This is just plain bad advice. It totally limits your creative control and puts you right back in snapshot land.
Todd W. gives a good explanation above about a technique called “dragging the shutter” to allow more of the ambient light to hit the film (sensor). You can get very interesting and creative results with a very slow shutter and the pop of a flash.
This is also where you want to experiment with first and second curtain sync. First curtain sync means the flash fires when the shutter opens all the way. Second curtain sync means the flash fires just before the shutter is about to close.
If you take a photo of a moving car and use first curtain sync the flash will pop and “freeze” the car and the car will continue to move and will streak away from the “frozen” image. It will look a bit odd. If you use second curtain sync the car will be moving and streaking and then the flash will pop and freeze the car and the streaks will look more like the cartoonist effect of drawing lines after an object to illustrate motion.
Sam also suggests moving to manual mode right away and I have to agree with him. Put the camera in manual mode and leave it there for a while. You will then begin to see the relationship between aperture/shutter/ISO and how they combine to obtain a properly exposed image. It takes a while to get your head around it but when you do that’s when the magic happens. It will also help you understand what the camera is doing in Tv or Av mode and when one or the other may be a better choice or when leaving the camera in manual mode is the way to go.
Photo exercises or assignments are a great idea to force you to practice.
Once you begin to understand the controls of the camera and use them to your liking you begin to make pictures, not just take pictures. That’s when the journey really starts and it never ends.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:13 am
OK, so this is about the HAT!
Tell the truth, is this really one of the new european bike helmets?
February 5th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Using the green square is so lame, I didn’t expect that from you Cali.
TV and AV are even on point-and-shoots you don’t have any excuse for not knowing what they mean and what they do, you’ll find a tone of tutorials on youtube.
I think the people that have a DSLR and have the mode dial set to auto either have tons of money or want to show of.
You are not learning anything on auto, don’t fool yourself, you are learning o TV, AV and when you’ve learned enough change the mod dial to manual.
February 5th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Cali,
Cool video!! I was wondering what lens are you using with that 5D Mark II?
Thanks!
February 6th, 2009 at 12:57 am
http://tinyurl.com/dfdsvw great overview of SLR use for early beginers
February 6th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Love the photography stuff!!! keep it coming. I’m trying to chose between the D80 & D90 and if I ever decide these photo tips well be a great help.
Love the show!!!
February 6th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Cali, I’m sorry if this comes across sounding a little critical of you (and Neil) but all I could think about when I watched this video was, “why the heck does she have a Canon 5D Mark II if she has no clue how to use it?!” It actually kind of irritates me when I see people with the latest and greatest “stuff” when the only reason they have it is because it IS the “latest and greatest” but yet they have now need for it and/or have any clue how to use it properly. Cali, seriously… You spent almost $3000 to use that 5D in a way that a $100 point & shooter would have been perfect for. There’s a saying among photographers, “great equipment doesn’t take great photographs, great photographers do”. I’ve seen some great photographers take some amazing shots with nothing more than a $200 point and shoot camera (Greg Martin comes to mind). I’m an aspiring photographer (going to be pro someday) and I had to plan, budget and save for months just to afford my new Canon 50D and here I see you with a professional camera and you’re only using it as a “point & shooter” and it kind of bothers me. Do me (and other struggling photographers) a favor and sell that 5D to someone who will actually use it for everything it can do and then just get yourself a simple point & shooter… A Canon PowerShot SX10 would be perfect for you…
I don’t mean to sound like a jerk and I love what you and Neil do so please don’t get offended.
Dean
February 6th, 2009 at 11:34 am
@Dean
As you progress in your photography, you’re going to have to get rid of that irritation and just let it go, there’s just too many people out there with expensive gear that they don’t have a clue how to use, some just have too much money and want “the best” of everything, some just want to learn and buy way beyond them but at least they try very hard and in some cases succeed, others just want the next new gadget. The point is that if you get irritated by everyone doing this then be prepared to be irritated for the rest of your life because it’s not going to stop.
I look at it as a good thing, it just verifies why people pay for my skills and vision.
February 6th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
That was quite a colorful interview. What is that crazy thing on the wall?! :)
February 7th, 2009 at 6:44 am
Cali, you have the same lens as me! Sweet!
February 10th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Hey Cali,
Please don’t think all photographers are manual snobs or snooty folks who think you have no business having that fancy new camera. I really enjoyed this video, and I’m so excited for you! I know I’m going to enjoy watching you learn how to use that new baby of yours. I do think shooting in full manual is a good exercise, but it’s not the perfect way to learn for everyone. If you ever make your way out to San Diego, let me know, and you can crash one of my myFUNcamera classes where you can learn even more about that awesome camera without being talked down to while hanging out at the beach with a bunch of fun folks!
Enjoy that new camera, and if you need tips on lenses, let me know!
~Carey
February 10th, 2009 at 11:11 am
To answer those questions about why I got the Canon 5D Mark II….
My job is to help people feel comfortable with technology. There are people who watch GBTV who are kind of interested in photography but maybe they’re intimidated or just don’t really make the effort to learn how to take better photos. The Canon has inspired people all across the board, and it’s the perfect tool for helping people take advantage of either the cameras they have or new ones and get the most out of it.
Regardless of how much we know about a particular subject, I think it’s important to make sure we don’t alienate those who know less.
February 10th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Well said, you classy lady, you!
Keep rockin’ on that camera!!!
February 11th, 2009 at 12:17 am
your show is great I 1-10 your show is a 10.
February 28th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
@richardwardman Check out this video, not specifically for your Nikon, however really good general stuff advice; http://is.gd/ldjE