zy » Aperture

dSLR Noob Guide: Christmas Tree – Making it lively

zy — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:59:19 +0000

How to make your Christmas Tree look good in pictures?

You will need:

My Setup/Settings

Stable Tripod
Impossible to shoot handheld, or with a lousy tripod.
Mode: Av – Aperture Priority
Focus: Auto Focus
Aperture: Smallest aperture possible.
Shutter Speed: Let the camera determine this.
ISO: Lowest possible
Mine will go down to ISO100.
Image Stabilizer: Off
Discussed at Stable Tripod + Image Stabilizer (IS) = Blur
Lens: Up to you

f/3.5 1/3s

f/8 1.3s

f/22 13s

zy — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:50:49 +0000

To shoot fireworks, I highly recommend:

My Setup/Settings

Stable Tripod
Impossible to shoot handheld, or with a lousy tripod.
Remote Cable Switch
Reduce camera shake.
Mode: M – Manual
Other mode won’t work well.
Focus: Manual Focus
It is nearly impossible to focus a firework before it goes off.
Aperture: f/8 – f/12
Most lens are at their sharpest at about f/8.
Shutter Speed: 2 – 8 seconds or B – Bulb Mode
This depends on your composition. Totally up to you.
ISO: ISO200 – 400
The least important setting. Set according to your exposure.
White Balance: Daylight
Quality: JPEG
You will want to shoot as many fireworks possible. RAW files wont help much here.
Image Stabilizer: Off
Discussed at Stable Tripod + Image Stabilizer (IS) = Blur
Lens: Wide angle
You can always crop the photo.

Samples:

Canon Rebel XSi, Canon EF-S 18-55, f/8, 5s, ISO400

Canon Rebel XSi, Canon EF-S 18-55, f/8, 6s, ISO200

Canon Rebel XSi, Canon EF-S 18-55, f/10, 6s, ISO200

zy — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:40:50 +0000

Aperture is the opening of the lens allowing light to travel through.

Aperture:

f/2.8 is bigger than f/11.