EYES ARE THE WINDOWS TO THE SOUL

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

The past six years or so I have been blessed to spend time with Eastern European Romani people (or Gypsies, as they are popularly known as). I am not sure why I am drawn to them, I seem to find a certain measure of self worth in giving of my time to the Romani families that I meet on my journeys.  This blog entry is two-fold; the first is obvious, that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and the second is that the larger the camera sensor, the greater amount of depth-of-field options you have.

If you are primarily a photographer who loves people, you may be best served with a full sensor camera. While these are usually the most expensive types, prices are dropping each year. The Canon 5D MkII has been a popular choice for many diverse photographers due to its great image quality, full frame sensor, incredible video, and light weight. At the time of writing this blog the price for the 5D MkII is about $2,300.

This is one of my favorite shots of my new Romani buddy who I met in Transylvania last summer. I was struck by the indescribable quality of his eyes . . . somewhat haunting! As you will see, the depth of field is so narrow that only his eyes are in focus. This is one of the advantages of a full frame sensor camera. Feel free to leave a comment below, I am always appreciative of extra input for my readers!

Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com
Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

RGB COLOR

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

Before any color space experts get angry at my gross simplification, please be aware that this blog is primarily aimed at those learning photography. So . . . in easy to understand terms, your digital camera has an option of different color spaces. sRGB is the most common, and Adobe RGB is the usual choice for professional photos that will be printed.

Your camera is probably set to sRGB by default, however you may be able to change it to Adobe RGB or other color spaces. If you are not a working professional, you can probably stick with sRGB.

This blog post is an encouragement to utilize sRGB for all photos that will end up on the web. If your photo does not have a color space saved, or is in another color space, it would be wise to change the photo to sRGB prior to uploading it to the web. Open your photo in Photoshop or another image editor, and then save the photo with "save as". There should be an option to choose a color space for the photo prior to saving the image to the hard drive.

The above photo from yesterday was taken in Adobe RGB for professional printing, however for this blog I changed it to sRGB, resized it, and it is now properly displayed for the web.

Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com
Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

DRAMATIC LIGHTING

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

The greatest light in my opinion is dark ominous clouds with a late evening, horizontal blast of warm sun light. The directional sunlight is due to a break in the clouds at the horizon, and this light illuminates the landscape while the sky stays dark. This contrast makes for very dramatic photos!

When you encounter such a scene, make sure your camera is on its highest contrast setting, and try underexposing a little bit. This photo is untouched, straight from the camera. It was shot at a historic village in New Brunswick called King's Landing.


Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com
Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

If you are hoping to get represented by a stock photography agent, it is often wise to wait until you have at least 500 print-worthy photographs.

One type of photo that should be included in an initial submission to an agency are pictures that can work as metaphors. As with my image of the Rubik's Cube, there are many ways this photo could be published. The "pool" of potential clients is quite large concerning this photo, as it can illustrate so many varied written articles and advertisements.

For greater agency sales, look for photos that can appeal to the varied needs of art directors and media buyers around the world.

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 Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com
Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

HYPERFOCAL DISTANCE

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

If you want to get everything in your photograph focused perfectly sharp, try the following:

Set your camera on a tripod, and with Aperture Priority, put your aperture to the highest 'f' number possible (usually f-22 or f-32).

Compose your photograph and lock the tripod head so the camera can't move. Set your camera lens to focus manually.

Now, look at the scene in front of you, and locate the object that is closest to you, and the object that is farthest in the distance. In my example photo, the closest object is the dark green cactus with thick leaves, and the furthest object is the green plant with long thin leaves.

At this point, you will need to mentally divide up the distance into 'thirds'. Locate the object that is one-third distance away from the camera (round prickly cactus in the middle of the frame), and manually focus your lens on that object.

You are now ready to take your photograph, and the image will have the maximum possible sharpness throughout the frame.

Extra hint: wide-angle lenses will always offer more depth-of-field than telephoto zoom lenses.

Email this Blog to a friend!

Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com

Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com