http://www.PaulineThomasPhotographic.com/

Digital Camera Masters, London (2026)

16/08/2021

From auto to manual - Part 4 – Putting it all together

When in manual mode you have total control over the shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

Now you have the low down on the exposure triangle and how the aperture, shutter speed and ISO work together to give you the best exposure, it’s now time for you to make that move from auto to manual. Here is how you do that.

To get started, put your camera on ‘M’ for manual mode. You can then set the value of either the aperture or shutter speed first depending on what your priority is whether it be your shutter speed to capture action or aperture for the depth of field. If you will be shooting action, then set the shutter speed first, then adjust the aperture and ISO accordingly. If the depth of field is the priority, then set the aperture first and adjust the shutter speed and ISO. The exposure metre on your camera can help you to decide what adjustments to make so that your image is not over or underexposed. When the arrow on the exposure metre is in the middle at 0, it indicates that the exposure is at the right setting. If the arrow is moving towards the plus sign, it means that the exposure will be overexposed, if it moves towards the minus, it means that your picture may be underexposed. With this as a guide, you can make any relevant changes to correct your exposure. It's as easy as that!

12/08/2021

From Auto to Manual – Part 3 - Aperture (A or AV)

The aperture is the opening in the lens where light passes through to the sensor of your camera, making your picture brighter or darker. It also controls the depth of field (the element that will give your image a blurry background or keeps everything in focus.). It is defined as F stops which varies between F1.2 up to F5.6 on average on lenses. On camera the aperture can go as high as F22 or even up to F32 in some cases.

The lower the F stop number, i.e F1.8, (shooting wide open) the wider the opening will be in the lens letting more light into the sensor therefore, giving you the maximum amount of light and a shallower depth of field. On the higher end of the scale, i.e F5.6, the opening is smaller, letting less light in and having more of the background in focus.

The further away the background is from the main subject in the frame, the less sharp that part of the image will be, giving the background a burry look while the main subject will be sharp and in focus.

I don’t want to overload you with too much information at this point, but give you time to absorb this information and to try it out on your camera. In my next post we will look at ISO and what role it plays in the exposure triangle.

11/08/2021

From auto to manual – Part 2 - Shutter speed (S or TV)

In short, what shutter speed does;
o Adds or takes away light
o Freezes movement i.e a bird in flying, sporting activities, bands on stage etc.
Slow shutter speed captures the image IN motion, fast shutter speeds FREEZES action.
o Slow (long) shutter speed (1/5-1/20) adds more light to the sensor.
The shutter speed also adds or takes away light from the sensor, therefore, setting your shutter speed at 1/500 will give you less light in your sensor, but can feeze movement and not give you a blur in your image. On the other hand, a speed of say 1/30 will bring in more light but will not be fast enough to capture moving objects.

There are two things that can cause camera shake or motion blur which prevents you from getting sharp looking photos. Camera shake happens when the shutter speed is too slow and you are holding the camera instead of putting it on a tripod. you risk the chance of getting a blurry looking photograph.

Motion blur (anything that is moving in the frame will look blurred) occurs when you take a photo of a subject that is moving, and the shutter speed is too slow. Because a long (slow) shutter speed takes a longer time to process, any hand movements during that time can cause your photo to looked blurred.

09/08/2021

From Auto to Manual – Part 1- Exposure Triangle

One of the biggest challenges I faced- as all amateur photographers do, is moving on from shooting in automatic mode to manual mode. But after I took the bull by the horns and decided it to stop playing it safe, with a lot of practice and much frustrations, I eventually mastered it!

I know it is a bit daunting understanding what all the different buttons on the camera does and what their functions are, so I will run through them briefly to give you the heads up and give you a better idea of what you need to accomplish, then leave you to practice.

Firstly, let me give you the low down on exposure and what the exposure triangle is about. Lighting is the most important aspect of photography and there are 3 elements in photography that will enable you to get the right lighting for your photographs; the aperture, shutter speed and ISO. A combination of these 3 elements is what gives you the right exposure for your photographs.

03/08/2021

I took this photo of Chatsworth House on a day trip to Derby. Chatsworth house is a stately home where the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire lives. Various films have been shot there - Pride & Prejudice, The Duchess, The Wolfman and other BBC series.

24/07/2021

WHAT LENS?

At first, I couldn’t really understand what the big deal was about lenses; what was so prime about prime lenses and what difference they made. Photographers would always emphasise how it is the lens that makes a difference and I would always wonder what the point was in buying a good camera if it is the lens that was so important. Well, I finally got it! I came to realise why photographers would spend an arm and a leg on lenses.
MY UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE
It was when I was doing my experimental film project for my assignment at university that I really researched lenses. As I decided to utilize my own camera for my project, I thought this would be a good time for my lecturer to give me the low down on what lens I should use to shoot what. I already had in my possession the 18-55mm kit lens that came with my camera and two others that I had purchased; a 35mm F1.8 prime lens and 50mm F1.8 prime. Not only was my project experimental, but I was also experimenting with my camera and lenses. This was really an education for me. I asked my lecturer how to get the best quality video from my equipment and he dutifully informed me that I should use the prime lenses as they are sharper than the zoom lenses and to shoot in manual not automatic focus. It was my first time actually shooting in manual, shhhhhhhh, don’t tell anyone. Following his instructions, I ended up with a not bad looking video, even cinematic looking in places.
You can watch the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HGHuqXUE7s let me know what you think, or maybe not.
The difference between prime and zoom lenses
ZOOM LENSES
To be precise, the focal length in zoom lenses varies and gives you the flexibility of shooting anywhere between wide angle around the 15mm-35mm mark and distance. You will find that most kit lenses will come with focal lengths of between 18-55mm.
PRIME LENSES
Prime lenses have fixed focal lengths, they do not vary from length to length but they are set at one focal length. Different lenses are used to give different focal lengths and come in millimetres i.e 15mm, 35mm, 85mm etc. the higher the number in millimetres, the larger the magnification.
Standard lenses standard lenses range between 50mm and 70mm. A 50mm focal length is said to be the equivalent to what the human eye sees, they are mostly used for portraits.
Wide-angle lenses are normally between 15-35mm, the smaller the focal length i.e 16mm/12mm, the wider the field of view or the more you can put into the frame.
Telephoto lenses are between 200-300mm. They are normally used for landscape photography & video.
Fisheye lenses normally around 15mm or less, and as a wide-angle lens you can get more into the frame. They are good for tight spaces.

23/07/2021

How I became a photographer and videographer?
In 2012 I started a music management degree and one of the modules on the curriculum was video production. I enjoyed it so much that my interest in video and film grew to the point where I wanted to transfer to film production. It's not that I didn’t enjoy the music management programme, it’s just that I had now developed a greater desire to do video productions after the course whetted my appetite. As I had gone so far into my second year, I was advised by my lecturer to complete the music management programme then do a masters in film production. I was on the fence about spending four years studying, but I really wanted to learn how to make films professionally and concluded that having the additional degree would do me no harm, so I followed through.
On completion of my 1st degree, I went on to do a masters in film production where I learned much about the camera. I would spend endless hours on YouTube watching tutorials and practicing my craft. I also practiced in real life doing videos for friends and family and other students at my university, to the point where I put out advertisements for paid jobs and I have done a few wedding videos and mini documentaries for people. I was still learning as I took on jobs. It took me a while to start shooting in manual, I even had to do a short course on how to use my DSLR in manual, but it was worth it as I started to see the difference in the quality of my work.
Although I had learned much about the camera and producing videos, I felt that I needed to learn more about photography itself so I enrolled on a digital photography course to get myself up to speed and fill in the gaps. Since then, I have developed o much in various genres of photography and specialise in portraiture and food photography and I have even written a booklet to help beginners in photography, a book that I needed when I started out. So, I have come a long way since then. It may have happened later in life for me, but it’s this time in my life that I am ready for it as I have embraced it passionately and can keep focused, which is something that never used to come to me so easily.
So now you can join me on my journey as I share with you what I have learned and give you tips and guidance on how to take some awesome pictures and videos.
P.T

14/07/2021

My camera

I originally went to buy a Sony A7 camera when I wanted to upgrade from my Sony a37, unfortunately or should I say fortunately they did not have them in stock at the time. I say fortunately because when I made a comparison with the two cameras, I found that there is not much of a difference between the two of them except the price. The A7 is a full framed sensor camera with CMOS sensor and costs about twice the amount of money as the A65 that I eventually bought which has the same CMOS sensor the same 24 megapixels and films in full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. The only major difference is that the A65 is a cropped sensor and not a full framed sensor. Not a big deal to me.
The sales assistant sold me on the A65 and assured me that it would serve my purposes which was to be able to do high quality videos on it and to have a better resolution with the 24 megapixels than was on my A37 which only had 16 megapixels. I’ve been happy with it ever since, only thing is that I now need to start looking for a 4K camera!

10/07/2021

What to look for in a camera

Most DSLR’s are virtually the same, the brand name is sometimes the only difference between them, they all do just about the same thing. When looking for a camera to buy, first and foremost, you need a camera that has Interchangeable lenses, this allows you to change lenses according to the nature of your shoot. This means that you can vary the types of photography that you can do.
What to look out for is how many megapixels the camera has, you wouldn’t want anything below 16 megapixels, the higher the megapixel the better. Megapixels makes a difference to the size and quality of prints that you will be able to do, meaning that when you enlarge a photo it doesn’t look pixilated.
Another important factor is the type of sensor the camera has, check if it is it a cropped sensor or full framed sensor, you will notice the obvious price difference between the two. To simplify it, a full framed sensor has a larger sensor size than a cropped sensor and is the same size as the traditional 35mm film cameras. Full frame cameras normally perform better in low light; however, this does not mean that cropped sensor cameras are inferior and cannot produce good quality pictures, they can perform just as well with the addition of prime lenses and a good aperture on the lens. My cropped sensor camera performs well in low light when I use a 50mm F1.8 aperture lens.
If you are planning to upload your photos and videos directly to social media from your camera, you will need to buy a smart camera, which is basically a DSLR with built in WI-FI.
If you are planning to do videos, check that the camera has a video button on it and a jack for an external mic.

10/07/2021

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