Category: Photography Blog

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The white balance

The white balance

Do you know what the white balance is? But you should, because after the three exposure values ​​( exposure time , aperture , ISO ), white balance is the most important in photography. The other values ​​deal with the brightness of the picture, this deals with the color.

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1 The white balance in digital cameras

2 Shoot RAW for better white balance

3 Adjust the white balance manually

4 When do I hire something?

5 The gray card

We need the white balance to compensate for the different light colors. You have probably already noticed yourself, the sunset or a lightbulb is very orange, we go into the cellar and turn on the neon tube, the light is very cold. Our brains can do that and that color difference doesn’t look that extreme.

The white balance is supposed to compensate for this and the aim of the white balance is to make white look white.

This color temperature is given in Kelvin and is very easy to remember with fire. The hotter the fire, the more bluish it becomes. Same with white balance. The hotter / higher I set the Kelvin number, the bluer the picture becomes.

The white balance in digital cameras

At the same time we had to change the camera film to change the white balance. Today a simple adjustment of the camera is sufficient. In many situations, the camera should give a good result with an automatic white balance. It automatically searches for the whitest (most color-neutral point). The camera finds this in most situations and can, if necessary, switch to the brightest point of the image if no suitable neutral point can be found. This point is then used as a reference to correct the color of the image.

Of course there are situations in which the automatic white balance just cannot work. If you photograph sophisticated subjects that do not offer neutral colors, for example, a color cast occurs. This is the case, for example, at night or with a picture that only consists of bright colors.

In all normal situations, the automatic white balance (also AWB) delivers great results. At least for normal demands. But I’ll get to that in a moment 🙂

Shoot RAW for better white balance

The RAW format offers something incredible. Because your camera does not apply color correction until after the photo has been created, we can change it in RAW format. The RAW format is a file that, uncompressed and unchanged, contains all of the information that the camera can capture. The white balance is set, but can be changed without loss in image processing with a RAW file. This does not work with a JPG (except for minimal changes).

Is RAW the solution

Isn’t the solution just to always shoot in RAW and do everything in image processing? Definitely NO. Although I have this option, I almost exclusively take photos using completely manual white balance. The pictures already look good in the camera and I can assess them directly and show them to the customer without editing them beforehand. Everyone gets a much better idea of ​​the result.

Adjust the white balance manually

Like the exposure, the white balance can of course also be set manually. I already said that the automatic does a great job, so why a manual white balance? This is especially important if you want to keep a constant visual style in a report. All images always have the same color scheme and do not change constantly because the camera is of the opinion that the color should now be 1000 K colder.

Furthermore, the coloring can be controlled much more finely. Each camera has its own color scheme. With 100 cameras, different models and manufacturers, you can set everything exactly the same (same exposure / AWB) and still get different results. This can be counteracted by manually setting the white balance. An example: If I take photos in a park at sunset and use the AWB, my pictures are significantly more yellow than with manual 5500 K. That’s why I take photos on 5500K to make the pictures look the way I would like them to. The closer I get to this result, while taking pictures, the less work I have in image processing.

When do I post something?

  1. If you are at the beginning of your photography and have not yet understood the concept, put the Karma on AWB and you will get 90% good results.
  2. As soon as you already know something better and want to experiment a little, you can apply the defaults or the completely manual value to different situations.
  3. If you want to film, you should definitely work with a manual white balance so as not to change the color in the middle of the film.
  4. If you want to get the most out of your pictures, deal with white balance in the long term and learn how to apply it to different situations.

The gray card

Now it is getting more professional, because with a gray card we offer the camera a neutral surface with which it can determine the white balance much better. We can say how the white balance should be measured and from where, and get a much more precise result.

Some write that you can have a sheet of white paper or just any white surface. I advise against that. Every surface has a specific color. The wall was painted in eggshell and not in white and it doesn’t work anymore. Who tells you that the sheet of paper is 100% white? Your own eye may even be wrong here. A gray card can help here, but the result will only be perfect with experience and you can get it by trying out 😉

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Shooting Action Shots in Low Light Conditions

Shooting Action Shots in Low Light Conditions

I enjoy getting out to sporting events both indoors and outdoors with my digital electronic camera. Just recently I went to view tennis and took a couple of hundred shots over the day.

Recently I have been getting a few demands to please help with quick action shots inside your home. I remember when I too was frustrated with not having the ability to get a reaction from expert photographers about this situation. They were constantly so elusive with how they conducted themselves out on the field and what they did to get a certain result.

Now I’m going to tell you about how to master this. Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news?

Okay, the good news is that yes, it is possible. Bad news is that you do require a good electronic camera with manual controls to do it. Now because you have currently read this I am assuming that you have either a point and shoot camera or a DSLR. In either case, it’s better than an inexpensive electronic camera that does nothing.

Okay good, so we got that developed.

The trick is this: the factor fast action shots look blurred is generally because they are taken in level of low light, such as an indoor basketball arena for instance. What occurs is the electronic camera, if left on automobile, instantly changes itself to low light levels, which means a slower shutter speed. A slower shutter speed takes place the cam requires time to get in as much light as possible due to this low level of light. Its great from the electronic cameras point of view, but really, it’s annoying and frustrating.

So what can be done about it?

Well firstly, boost that shutter speed. You may observe a boost in digital sound however it will only be slight so do not worry about it. After all it’s most likely worth it for that ‘golden’ picture you are trying to get.

It’s going to be hard getting more light into the cam, since usually you’ll be too far for the flash to work properly anyhow. This is why your shutter is the very first factor to consider.

Something that might help further is this: Shot one, take the shutter at a specific speed, then shot the second, increase the shutter speed one notch, shot third time then increase it again, and so on and so forth. If you have the persistence and inclination, write down on a note pad exactly what shutter speed shot 1 was at, what shot 2 was at, and so on.

So unwind and deal with what you’ve got. Increase the shutter speed or increase the light.

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The Differences between Snappers and Photographers

Differences between Snappers and Photographers

On the one hand, this article is not intended to be a doctrine set in stone. On the other hand, it should be more about the technical details in photography that the snappers may not even know about, but which are valuable techniques for the careful photographer when it comes to the photographic implementation of an idea. What are the classic differences?

Table of Contents

•        My friend, the clicker

• The best image quality of a lens

•        Do not stop down too much: diffraction blur

•        Do not choose the ISO value too high

•        Use a tripod

•        Types of light in photography

•        Turn off the autofocus, avoid a blurry foreground

•        Correct exposure: expose on the shadows

• Use the measured value memory of the camera

•        Use the white balance correctly

• Distortions and Converging Lines

•        Use of artificial light

• Develop a concept

My friend, the snappers

The expression  “camera snappers” (following from the German designation of “knipster” means someone who just presses the shutter release without any great consideration), yet often pretend to be a “serious photographer”

I have a good friend who has been the owner of a modern digital single-lens reflex camera that is quite usable in terms of quality. Since the 1980s, such cameras have had a “P function” (automatic program) or, even better, an “auto function”. You don’t have to worry about anything anymore, the camera will fix it. At first I think that’s really good! Because how cumbersome is dealing with physics when you just want to make good pictures. The snappers have a clear advantage here. In detail, however – and by “detail” I mean looking at a large print and not the preview on a small screen and on the other hand reproducibility – you will not infrequently be able to detect certain technical errors that can be circumvented by mere specialist knowledge. Specialist knowledge, which, for example, do not acquire professional photographers for free and initially spend a lot of time on a certain degree. There are some classic differences here with regard to the operation of the photographic apparatus.

In any case, my friend, the snappers, works as follows: He points his camera at the subject and looks at the display of his digital camera via live view. Now he turns any cogs until the displayed “live image” appears as he imagines it and then clicks. When I observe this way of working, the hair on the back of my neck easily stands on end. It’s almost as if a cook simply added sugar to the pot if the finger test was too salty. Concretely screwing maybe if there is an insufficient shadow drawing (I don’t think he knows what this is) he simply high the ISO value or opens the aperture without being aware of the consequences. If he is happy with it – very much! I certainly don’t want to take the fun away from him. But there is another way. And with a view to reproducibility and attention to detail, you should know a few basic things about photography:

The best image quality of a lens depends on you

A lens is a light collector: a lens system absorbs all the ambient light that it “sees” and bundles it into a focal point. The aperture can be used to “sort out” the area of ​​the light rays that hit the technically most unfavorable surfaces of the lenses – and these are their outer areas. Consequently, you should go for the best possible picture dim.

Every lens achieves the best image quality technically if it is stopped down by two to three values ​​(English “stops”). A stop is a doubling or halving of the amount of light let in when taking a photo.

For the most precise representation you should use a lens whose light intensity 1: 2 is stopping down to approx. F / 5.6, provided that you do not get into trouble with too high a depth of field or too long an exposure time, if the ambient light is already too dark for a correct exposure or if there is blurring threatens (here the photographer naturally uses a tripod).

Especially zoom lenses and especially the cheap “kit lenses” I would always stop down by at least two f-stops. However, high-quality and correspondingly expensive lenses often leave no questions asked when it comes to precise imaging performance in the corners of the image and with a 100% crop view.

My friend, the snappers, will never know at which aperture he is taking pictures. However, consciously working photographers know that, on the one hand, they naturally control the depth of field with the aperture (this is well known even under snaps) and, on the other hand, they can use the maximum image quality of their lens.

Do not stop down too much: diffraction blurs

However, if you stop down too far, a phenomenon called “diffraction blur” occurs in full format do not stop down to aperture 22, because here the aperture is already closed so far that the incoming light has to squeeze through the aperture blades – like through the doors of a Japanese subway or just bends over: There is a uniform blurring. So this is where  dog chasing its tail. Photographs can supposedly depict all the details from front to back, but there is the problem of diffraction blur. On a 30 × 40 cm print, such images will lack a certain degree of sharpness, whereas everything still looked okay on the small laptop screen. If necessary, I stop the lens of my crop DSLR camera (smaller sensor than the full format) down to a maximum of f/11. Then there is a visible diffraction blur.

Do not choose the ISO value too high

Digital cameras have a notable advantage over analog cameras: You can adjust the ISO value (i.e. the sensitivity) for each picture. With an analog camera, this can only be changed by changing the type of film (i.e. by inserting a different film).

Basically, the lower the ISO value, the finer the detail will be. I myself always work at 100 ISO whenever possible. This is how I achieve the maximum image quality in this regard. Above I briefly mentioned the auto function of the digital camera. In this mode there is no way to intervene with regard to the two factors influencing image quality, aperture and ISO value. The best imaging quality is obtained by choosing the lowest possible ISO value and stopping down the lens by about three f-stops.

Use a tripod

I just mentioned the tripod briefly. I almost always use such a device as long as I can transport my tripod according to the situation, because:

Every photo from the hand is blurred – the only question is whether you can still see it.

Imagine you are exposing at a fast shutter speed (exposure time) of 1/250 second. It is really a very short moment. Do you think you can shoot such pictures out of your hand with confidence? Maybe nothing seems to be blurred because the photos are all sharply focused on the small display of the digital camera. Yet, this is a mistake mistake! Because even within this 1/250 second there is hand movement while taking the picture, even if only a slight one. But the more you enlarge the corresponding images, the more you enlarge even the smallest of blurring – and at some point they become visible. However, I want maximum quality and therefore always use a tripod if possible, even with the short exposure times. Even a simple cord tripod can increase the sharpness of the images.

Imagine you are photographing a big balloon: This picture has no so-called “edges”. It will also be shown in focus with a very slight blurring.
However, photograph a single hair and enlarge it to 18 × 24 cm Even a minimal motion blur will affect the image sharpness. Because the edge of the hair will only be shown sharply by using a tripod, because the camera must be positioned absolutely rigid for an optimal result.

This is one of the reasons (maximum sharpness) why some photographers look wander even in broad daylight with heavy tripod-monsters. While on the snappers shoulder a full-format camera swings on their shoulders to their hand and simply again in auto mode clicks are made, without having to think too much.

Of course, such a tripod is also mandatory for a very conscious image composition that is well thought out to the millimeter, as well as for the absolutely vertical alignment of the camera in order to avoid falling lines (see a little further below).

Types of light in photography

The most important factor in photography is – the light. No, it’s not the camera, not the lens. Just imagine: A hundred years ago, carpenters built cameras, not technology companies. These people had little knowledge of photography (because they mainly dealt with tables and massive cupboards): They only had to make light-tight wooden boxes with gear screws and leather bellows. These were very simple devices. Why are we still fascinated by the pictures that were made with such anachronisms? Certainly: there is some romance when looking at these pictures. However, at that time the photographers knew how to concentrate on the most essential thing in photography: the light. (Because quite a few came from academic painting,

No camera can vary the character of light.

Light exists in many different ways. Now imagine you want to photograph a woolen sweater under an overcast sky: The image will clearly show such a piece of clothing. Now the sky breaks up and the sun comes out: This sun alone creates a prompt hard light: Suddenly every fibre of the sweater becomes visible! Consider the following picture:

 
The snappers simply take photos. The consciously acting photographer only takes photos when the light is favorable according to his imagination – if of course possible. I myself have often returned home frustrated when suddenly bright sunshine prevailed, when I needed a very diffuse and uniformly illuminating one of my plan. Here I wanted to be professional and prefer not to take a picture at all than one that did not meet my expectations. How good it is for the snappers in their modesty.

Turn off the autofocus, avoid a blurry foreground

A particularly noticeable mistake is the ignored foreground. I allow myself to speak of a mistake at this point. Because it can of course also be the case that this should be deliberately set. The snappers focus on the subject. The consciously acting photographer, on the other hand, thinks about from where to, where the focus area should extend and deliberately adjusts the focus point and aperture accordingly. Most of the time this cannot be done automatically.

Correct exposure: expose for the shadows

There is a phrase: Expose on the shadows. Develop according to the lights. This means: Give the camera enough light so that even the darkest picture elements still show detail, but make sure that the brightest picture elements do not appear “eroded” and pure white.

My buddy, the snappers, doesn’t pay attention to anything like that, because he looks at his subject (on the small screen) globally. However, he risks that, for example, the shadows under the trees in the background of his subject lose their richness of detail, because he relies on the simple exposure metering on his digital camera. The result: monotonous black surfaces. A purely technically well-made photography is alive on the other hand, from shades  creates the impression of three-dimensionality. Therefore, one should expose in such a way that even the darkest areas of the image still have a hint of drawing (visual arguments e.g. From Anders Petersen, however, prove the opposite). I myself work basically by constantly looking at the camera’s histogram and checking the brightness of the image. So I also look at my photographs locally (in details and not globally).

The most important control tool of a DSLR: the histogram . Based on this, I can see whether all areas in the subject still have drawings. This can hardly be read correctly from a preview image on the small display of the digital camera, especially not in bright ambient light.

Use the measured value memory of the camera

I prefer to take photos in mode “A” (or AV with Canon): Here I preselect the aperture and the camera automatically determines the “correct” exposure time. It usually does this quite well – thanks to “matrix measurement”. For subjects with a high proportion of very bright areas, however, even the most intelligent metering method tends to be underexposed.

Use the white balance correctly

Often the so-called white balance is set to “Auto”. That’s a good thing, because in most cases the colors are reproduced realistically. 

Distortions and Converging Lines

This point is mostly only relevant when taking pictures of houses or tall buildings. What photographers know: If you move the camera out of the absolutely vertical position, all vertical lines (e.g. buildings) narrow upwards. In concrete terms, this means: Buildings are depicted like houses of cards that appear to tilt backwards.  There are two remedies: On the one hand, you can of course use a real shift lens. On the other hand, the photo can be later be rectified on the computer with image processing. Here, however, there is a problem: The rectification on the computer is always accompanied by a certain amount of cropping. So you lose a bit of resolution. You have to take this crop into account when taking the picture and consequently move a little further away from the subject or use a slightly shorter focal length or zoom setting of the lens so that you will have enough margin on the photo, which later has to be partially cut off again.

The photos of “snappers” are often marked by restlessness, which is expressed by converging lines, careless areas of blur and unfavorable light.

Use of artificial light

Even with the built-in flash, you can skillfully create subtle effects.

Flash units seem to be rather inconvenient for most snappers. They are only used as an emergency solution if it is too dark and a flash would destroy the natural light mood of the picture. That’s true at first, but only if you don’t know how to deal with it.

Have you ever wondered why a dedicated wedding photographer wouldn’t want to part with his flash on the camera even in the most beautiful sunshine? It’s bright enough here. Correct. However, the wedding photographer does not use artificial light as the primary light source (this remains the sun). He uses the flash as a so-called fill light or “fill flash”.
Because what does the sun cause? Well shadow! The high-lying sun creates dark shadows under people’s eyes and creates high and disturbing contrasts within clothing. With a flash, however, such shadows can easily be brightened in such a way that the inexperienced viewer does not even notice that an additional flash has been used. The flash unit also creates a slight brightening effect (people stand out slightly from the background) and a so-called “catch light” in the eyes (a sparkle). The photographer almost always uses a simple clip-on flash, but its light output is somewhat more subtle. As a result, he easily gets exempted people. This effect is not noticeable as “over-flashed”, but provides a certain brilliance in the foreground (well, sometimes it doesn’t quite succeed).

It is clear that the intensity of the additional artificial light source must never be set too high for this! Otherwise it will look as if portrayed people are standing in front of a photo wallpaper.

Develop a concept

So far, I’ve only ever written about techniques with which the tool (the camera) can be operated precisely so that the image results can exactly match the ideas.
But what kind of ideas do you have about photography? An elementary component of “conscious” photography is to think about it beforehand (instead of just snapping around wildly). I often work in series. So I dedicate myself to a very specific topic with my pictures and always prepare the pictures with this idea in mind. Of course, it is important to me that the parameters (a type of light, depth of field, color saturation …) remain the same as possible for all individual photographs. So I keep my handwriting, so to speak at and don’t change anything here.
The photographic topic itself is a broad field: You can deal with documentaries or with a certain milieu, with landscape shots at a very specific time of the day, with interior portraits, etc. The only important thing here is that you don’t snap randomly.

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Do you know what is inside Your DSLR?

Do you know what is inside Your DSLR

You do not require to know anything about internal combustion to run a car, and you truly don’t need to comprehend digital innovation to use a point-and-shoot digital cam, either. Both gadgets are so automated nowadays that there’s not a lot for the driver/shooter to do besides the point the machinery in the best instructions and press the gas pedal or shutter release. Even if you choose to utilize manual controls on a non DSLR, the only things you should comprehend are that this button makes the picture lighter or darker, that one assists freeze action, and this other button alters the method the camera focuses.

If you truly desire to master a digital SLR, you can benefit from understanding precisely how the video camera’s components provide you with a much finer degree of control over your images than the common point-and-shoot video camera. Unlike digital photo photography, where it’s practically impossible to adjust depth-of-field, and usable ISO scores range from ISO 100 to ISO 100 (simply kidding!), the technology constructed into a DSLR does permit you to make a distinction artistically and technically, if you know what you’re doing. And for the average serious professional photographer, that’s what taking photos is all about.

With a DSLR, it’s simple to use depth-of-field to manipulate your images, but you need to understand how digital video cameras work with lenses and their apertures. Like the size of the sensing unit, the sensitivity setting you’re utilizing, and what kind of noise reduction technology is constructed into your electronic camera, and how you select to use it. When you actually dive into how your electronic camera works, you’ll understand that sound decrease can rob your image of sharpness and information.

You’d better comprehend the difference between front-sync and rear-sync shutter settings. Intrigued in utilizing a very long telephoto lens without a tripod or changing to high shutter speeds?

If you’re who I believe you are, you don’t see comprehending digital SLR innovation as an overwhelming job, but as an interesting difficulty. By the time somebody is ready to use all the features of their digital DSLR, he or she is anticipating taking greater control over every element of the picture-taking procedure.

The most soothing thing about digital SLR innovation is that, for the most part, these cameras were developed by engineers who understand photography. Much of the point-and-shoot digital electronic cameras I have used appear to have been designed by a techie who was creating mobile phone or PDAs recently, and then moved over to digital electronic cameras this week. They run like computer systems instead of cams, have functions that no one in their right mind in fact requires, and typically are totally unusable for the kinds of photography for which they are meant. One worrying pattern is towards pocket-sized digital electronic camera that have no optical viewfinder at all. For most of the latest models, it’s essential to frame every image utilizing the back-panel LCD, which, regrettably, washes out in brilliant sunshine, and nearly forces you to hold the video camera at arm’s length, ensuring that powerful image stabilization features are going to be needed to nullify cam shake.

In contrast, digital SLRs are created by individuals who understand your needs. They have, for example, big, brilliant optical viewfinders that provide a reasonable screen of approximate depth-of-field, and which can be utilized under a range of lighting and viewing conditions. The designers of DSLR designs have been developing such video cameras for several years and know from the feedback they get what professional photographers want. Learning DSLR technology will be rewarding for you, because you’ll come to understand exactly how to utilize features that have been created to assist you be a much better and more imaginative photographer.

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Camera Viewfinder Types

Camera Viewfinder Types

Among the key component of a digital video camera is its viewfinder. With a DSLR, the viewfinder is, together with lens interchangeability, among the distinguishing features between the DSLR and non-DSLR cameras. Certainly, other digital cams offer a type of through-the-lens watching by showing the present sensing unit image on an LCD. But, an LCD show is hardly the exact same thing as a huge, intense SLR view in terms of structure, ease of focus, the amount of details provided, or viewing convenience.

View on the back-panel LCD show

These seeing panels, which operate like miniature laptop computer display screens, reveal practically the exact image seen by the sensing unit. The LCDs procedure approximately 2.7 to 3 inches diagonally, and usually show 98 percent or more of the picture view seen by the lens. An LCD may be difficult to view in intense light. Point-and-shoot digital cams use the LCD show to show the image prior to the picture is taken, and to examine the image after the picture has actually been made. A few of these have no optical viewfinder at all, so the only way to compose a shot is on the LCD. In a DSLR, the back-panel LCD is utilized for examining photos that have actually been taken and for previewing using the so-called Live View functions, and for seeing motion pictures as they are taken.

View through an optical viewfinder window

Some non-SLR digital cams have a glass direct view system called an optical viewfinder that you can utilize to frame your image. Optical viewfinders can be basic window-like devices (with low-end, fixed zoom digital cameras) or more advanced systems that zoom in and out to approximately match the view that the sensor sees. The advantage of the optical viewfinder is that you can see the subject at all times (with other systems the view might be blanked out throughout the direct exposure). Optical systems might be brighter than electronic watching, too. A huge drawback is that an optical viewfinder does not see precisely what the sensing unit does, so you might end up cutting off someone’s head or otherwise do some unintentional cutting of your topic.

View through an electronic viewfinder (EVF).

The EVF operates like a little tv screen inside the digital electronic camera. You can view an image that closely corresponds to what the sensing unit sees, and it is much easier to view than the LCD show, but doesn’t have almost the quality of an SLR viewfinder. EVF electronic cameras are generally more compact than DSLRs, and are offered both with interchangeable lenses (such as the Olympus and Panasonic Micro 4 Thirds cameras, or Sony NEX designs) or with integrated superzoom lenses that stretch from 12X to 18X or more (hence removing a few of the requirement for interchangeable lenses).

View an optical image through the electronic camera lens.

Another sort of optical viewfinder is the through-the-lens viewing provided by the SLR camera. With such electronic cameras, an additional element, typically a mirror, reflects light from the taking lens up through an optical system for direct watching. The mirror shows essentially all the illuminate to the viewfinder, except for some lighting that might be siphoned off for usage by the automatic direct exposure and focus mechanisms. The mirror swings out of the way throughout a direct exposure to allow the light to reach the sensing unit rather. Sometimes, a beam splitting gadget is used instead. A beam splitter does what you expect: It divides the beam, reflecting part to the viewfinder and permitting the remainder of the light to strike the sensor. As discussed earlier, an optical viewfinder’s image showed from the mirror is reversed, of course, so it is bounced around a bit more within the camera to produce an image in the viewfinder window that is oriented properly delegated right and vertically. Some digital cams use a pentaprism, which is a solid piece of glass and generates the brightest, most accurate image. Others utilize a pentamirror system, lighter in weight and more affordable to produce, but which provides you an image that is a little less fantastic than that developed by a pentaprism. Olympus has utilized a swinging sideways mirror viewfinder system it calls a TTL Optical Porro Finder on a few of its DSLRs, which has the advantage of permitting a much squatter profile for the video camera, due to the fact that the huge lump of a pentaprism/pentamirror need not occupy the top of the electronic camera. There are numerous other essential elements of SLR viewfinders that you require to keep in mind:.

Live View mode.

The majority of true DSLRs supply no LCD sneak peek other than in Live View mode. Because of the way digital SLRs operate it is not possible to see the image on the back panel LCD prior to the picture is taken. Absence of live sneak peek does not seem like much of an issue initially– after all, the optical view is brighter, easier to focus, and frequently much larger than an LCD sneak peek– until you go to take an infrared image or other image utilizing a filter that reduces the exposure of the through-the-lens view, or obscures it entirely. With an SLR, you’re shooting blind, so Live View can be beneficial when you want to see the image that the sensing unit sees, before shooting.

Vision correction.

All DSLRs have diopter correction to permit near/far sightedness. However, if you have other vision problems that need you to wear glasses while making up pictures, make certain your digital camera lets you see the entire image with your spectacles pushed up against the viewing window. Often the style of the viewfinder, including rubber bezels around the frame, can restrict visibility.

Eye point.

The range you can move your eye away from the viewfinder and still see all of the image is called the eye point, and it is essential to more than simply eyeglass users, as explained above. For example, when shooting sports, you might wish to use your other eye to sneak peek the action so you’ll know when your subjects will move into the frame. Video cameras that permit seeing the full image frame even when the eye isn’t pressed up tightly to the window make it easy to do this. In the past, makers of SLR cams have even offered “extended eye point” devices for sports photographers and others.

Zoom.

The relative size of the viewfinder image impacts your ability to see all the information in the frame as you compose an image. It’s not something you might consider, but if you compare DSLRs side by side, you’ll see that some provide a larger through-the-lens view than others. Bigger is constantly better, however it is likely to cost more, too. Working with viewfinders will show up once again a couple of times later in this book, however if you keep in mind the fundamental information provided in this chapter, you’ll understand most of what you require to know.