Problem when you forget tripod

Shooting in low light without a tripod or a fast lens

          In dim light, it is tough to get a shutter speed fast enough to handhold your DSLR camera. You can try tuning up your ISO and using  a wider aperture, but that only takes you so far. When all else fails, lean up against the nearest  wall, keep your elbows in and shoulders relaxed, take a deep breath, exhale half of it, and press the shutter gently. Repeat as necessary and hope one of the shots will be steady enough. Of course, if you are shooting a moving subject, the slow shutter speed might make your subject blur, though the background should be sharp. About the only way to save this is to tell everyone it is “an artistic effect”.

Want to try high dynamic-range imaging, but forgot tripod

     Since you have to combine multiple frames to create an HDR image, it is best to use a tripod so the DSLR camera will not move between frames and the images will lay perfectly over one another. But if you are without a tripod, see if your DSLR camera will shoot a high-speed burst in aperture priority and bracket mode. You will capture a series of images with varied exposure, perfect for HDR conversion. While you are at it, set bracketing sequence of DSLR camera to shoot underexposed, then normal, then overexposed to make your images easier to browse.

3 ways to control White Balance

          You could go forever without adjusting white balance – left on Auto, your DSLR camera will usually get it right. But sometimes you want to be in charge. Here are 3 ways to take power over white balance.

1. Use a preset white balance. These settings are simple to understand and can be useful when shooting under multiple light sources, which can fool Auto. Use Tungsten (usually denoted by a light-bulb icon) indoors under incandescent lighting – it makes the colors in photos less yellow (i.e., cools them down). The Fluorescent setting compensates for greenish artificial light, warming up your shots. Cloudy and Shade settings will also warm up cool, blue tones.
2. Create a custom white balance. If even a preset won’t do it in mixed light, make your own setting. Photograph a neutral gray under the light in which you’ll be shooting, and select this frame in the CWB mode. Your DSLR camera will “correct” it to neutral gray and apply the same correction to ensuing photos. Result: cast-free color.
3. Fix it in postproduction. If you don’t want to bother making adjustments while shooting, or if you got it wrong, there’s always hope. In adobe Photoshop, use the Gray dropper in the Levels command or the one-click white balance tool in any RAW converter to click on any area that’s supposed to have neutral color. The rest of your photo’s color will fall in line.

EV

     EV stands for the nondescript term “exposure value”. In plain language, an EV is a chunk of light equivalent to a full f-stop, or a full standard shutter speed, or any combination of the two adding up to a full step.

     Unlike shutter speeds and f-numbers that have geometric progressions, EV steps march along in ordinary whole numbers: EV 1, 2, 3, 4….. And unlike those wrong-way f-numbers that are big when the aperture is small and vice versa, EV numbers are logical: big to represent bright light, small for dim light.

     For EV readings to make sense, though, you have to state an ISO rating-the sensitivity of your film or imaging sensor. ISO 100 makes a good benchmark. At ISO 100, EV 16 is beach under blazing sun, whereas EV 0 is dark enough that people have great difficulty reading, and most DSLR camera AF systems give up.

     Another nice thing about EV is that it gives you a quick, accurate guide to the range of lighting in a scene or studio. A range of EV 4 to EV 8 is 4 stops.

     That’s another great thing about EV: even the fractions make sense. With EV, 0.3 is 1/3 stop, 0.5 is ½ stop, 0.7 is 2/3 stop. Period. So from EV 4.3 to EV 8.3 is 4 stops.

     If EV makes so much sense, why don’t DSLR cameras use it for exposure settings? Actually, most of today’s DSLR cameras do, for exposure-compensation control. Want the picture a stop darker? Just dial in -1 EV.

     Accessory flash units almost always use EV.

     And handheld lightmeters often provide EV readouts. We use EV reading meters in the Pop Photo Lab to set light levels for things like AF tests. It is easy with EV.

Vertical Grip

     One of the accessories that you will get offered when you go to buy a DSLR camera is the battery/vertical grip, but what’s so special about them? As the name implies, they serve two purposes – to provide extra power and to give you a vertical grip.

     Most vertical grips should allow you to use two DSLR camera batteries simultaneously, effectively doubling the power available and therefore your shooting time too. The advanced ones will also accept a choice of battery types. Often a tray of AA batteries is a cheap method to make sure you always have back-up power ready on a shoot.

     The second feature of a vertical grip is to make DSLR camera shooting with the camera in the upright position more comfortable and easier to operate. With the vertical grip attached, the overall feel of the DSLR camera improves in both standard and upright shooting positions so it will improve your camera’s handling. This coupled with the extra power makes them a solid choice for the enthusiast photographer.