My new Polarising Filter

I finally decided on which filter to get and bought one on Ebay. I decided to go for the Kenko Pro 1 DMC circular polarising filter. I did some tests with and without the filter...

This is the photo without the filter, the settings are at F/5, 1/800 and ISO 400.



This is the photo with the filter. The settings are the same.


The sky is still a bit bright but there was quite a lot of cloud cover.
Here are some examples using the polarising filter with only a few clouds...

Its tricky finding the right combination, I'm going to need more practice at it. This one the building is all right but the cloud is a bit bright. The settings were f/3.5, 1/1000 and ISO 400.


This one the sky is good but the landscape below is a bit dark. Settings: F/8, 1/320 and ISO 200.

The confusing task of spot metering...

I always see people talking about 'metering' in articles. I knew that there were four metering settings on my camera (evaluative, spot, partial and centre weight)but I just usually leave it on evaluative which is the 'auto' setting. Generally metering is the way to find the best exposure but the evaluative one doesn't always find it.
I had a read various articles about the other types of metering and decided that spot metering looked quite handy for certain situations such as those where the subject is dark in a back-lit situation. At first I thought it was going to be simple: spot meter on most important part of the subject to take the exposure, press the auto exposure lock (AEL) to keep that exposure, recompose and take the shot with the stored exposure. If the exposure isn't right do the above again, but take the reading of the exposure from a different source.
So I headed outside with Massimo the cat so replicate the scene used in one of the articles I read...two kids, backs to the sun, kids came out too dark, he took a reading off one of the kids faces, took the photo again and wallah! The photo was perfect.
Unfortunately it didn't seem to want to work for me...



This first picture of Massimo was taken using the 'auto' evaluative meter. Looks pretty good, not too over or under exposed in full sunlight.




Then I moved around into a spot where it was shady but the sun was back-lighting the picture. I tried the same thing and it did this (above) and it also did the same for spot metering off anything that gave a reading of more than 1/640. The aperture was f8 and ISO was 400 for all the pictures.




For readings around 1/500 or less this is what it looked like. Massimo is fine but the background is way too overexposed.

I tried adjusting the exposure compensation and still nothing.


So how do you get a picture of a subject that is at the right exposure with the background good too? Hmm... looks like I might need to do a bit more research on that.

Next I went into a fully shaded area. The aperture was still f8 and the ISO was still 400. I took a photo of a flower...





The initial picture was taken with a reading from the flower of 1/125. That was slightly dark. I looked at the histogram and the peak was to the left indicating that it was under exposed(the peak should be in the middle).




This one was taken with a reading from one of the light green flower pods and was 1/500. It too was underexposed with the histogram showing even more to the left.




The next was taken from a different part of the garden from a darker spot which was metered at 1/40. It came out relatively well and the histogram says that the peak is slightly to the left but nearer the middle. It looks almost overexposed to me though.




And the final one was metered at 1/8 and was taken from the dark dirt. It is way too overexposed and the histogram is off the richter scale over to the right.

SO..what have we learnt? Readings off LIGHT things = a darker picture and readings off DARK things = a lighter picture. In other words a higher reading eg: 1/500 = a darker picture and vice versa. SO you have to find the average.

Or just use the evaluative meter.

Some sites about metering...
Spot metering used in different shots
A detailed description on spot metering
Exposure
Using a grey card to get a reading
Metering modes

New lens

Well here I am at long last, after the difficult task of choosing a zoom lens.
I spent at least 3 WHOLE days researching and talking to people on the Canon forum after narrowing my preferred lens choices down to 2. At first I was sure I was going to go for the 70-200 F4 USM "L" lens, but then I changed my mind to the 70-300mm IS, then I changed it back, then someone threw in another possibility (the 55-250mm IS) and the evidence for that being a better lens than the 70-300, so I did more research and changed my mind between them a few more times and finally decided that I would go into Camera & Camera to have a look at all three.
So I went in there and had a look. The guy that served me in the shop was really helpful and his recommendation was that I get the 55-250mm as in his opinion it was just as good as the other two but less than half the price. So in the end I bought it.
Which is good because now I have more money to spend on other things like filters and a new camera bag.

Hot air - part two

Well here I am back from the Hot Air Balloon festival in Hamilton "Balloons over Waikato" where I learnt a few things about taking photos at night, and of air balloons.

Here's what I learnt from this experience:
1. I majorly need to get a zoom lens. There was little I could do with my 18-55mm. I have two in mind that I'm trying to decide between but which one??
2. Expect the unexpected-and don't expect something to be a certain way...I was expecting to be able to get close to the balloons at the night glow, but there were barriers up and it was impossible to get close to them as there were so many people.
3. Just because someone has used a particular shutter speed and aperture in a photo or the rules say so, doesn't mean it's going to work... I had a list of settings to try but I didn't have much luck. keep fiddling around and if you find a good setting DON'T change it to another and then forget what the other one was!!
4. I need to study up more and practice night time photography. I had studied up a lot on night time photography of lights but I think I need to do a bit more research on the topic. I also need to study up on what to do if it's a foggy morning...
5. A tripod is probably a good idea (if possible).
6. And DON'T EVER take someone with you that is stressed about an assignment they haven't finished. You'll never hear the end of it.

Right, now for the photo's...


Balloons at night-Brightened up a bit in RAW



Balloons alight



A foggy morning by the lake...balloons were being set up behind me...(HDR)



Launching...



Jack in a box...up up and away!
f10 1/40 ISO 320



Let loose...



Spectators watching a bright balloon launching
(HDR tone-mapped with slight desaturation)



Inside the green and pink balloon before launch

Hot air...

Well, I have been invited to an interesting event tomorrow night... An air balloon festival! So that will be fun to try out some nighttime photography and the following morning they're off again, so we'll be getting up early to see them. So how do I photograph air balloons? Especially the ones at night? Time to google...

Outdoor night scenes usually include large areas of darkness broken by smaller areas of light from buildings, signs, and streetlights. Pictures of outdoor scenes are quite easy to make because good results are obtainable over a wide range of exposures. Using short exposures emphasizes well-lit areas by preserving the highlight detail, while the shadow areas are dark because of underexposure. Long exposures help retain the detail of the dark areas, while highlight detail is lost because of overexposure.

Therefore: A wide range of exposures can be used.
Short exposures = detail in light areas
Long exposures = detail in dark areas

If you do not have an exposure meter or cannot get a good reading, bracket your exposure.
Focus carefully; depth of field is shallow at the wide apertures required for existing light photography.

So...Use AEB (1/2-2 stops)to retain detail in less bright areas.
Wide apertures are required for night photography with existing light (eg: lots of lighted up air balloons)and of course depth of field will be shallow.

I have a handful of apertures and shutter speed combos to try based on various photographs of lights at night by other photographers so I will just try to experiment.

Wish me luck and hopefully I'll be back here on Sunday with some good photos!

Flash o_0

Yesterday I got my new Flash :) It was a lot bigger then I expected and looks a bit top heavy on my camera! The batteries have been charging all night and half the day and now all I have to do is learn how to use it...
I know my camera settings pretty much off by heart now but that took a while for it to all be ingrained into my memory. So..now it's time to get my head around the Flash. At least the manual isn't too long, but even then there's still a lot more I will need to learn from books or the internet. I'm still learning things about my camera too.
Here is a good site I found on the Canon users photography forum which I will be reading in the next few days...
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/

Until next time.....

Macro Photography

Yesterday I decided to have a practice with my macro lens outside in the garden. Here are some of the shots I took...