Things to Watch out for When Buying Camera Kits

As we've had more than a few people starting out ask, and sometimes buy, the questionable camera kits found online this article might help clarify a few things for any first time DSLR buyers. For most cases, with a few exceptions for the larger stores, you get the right camera with little or no warranty and an assortment of poor quality accessories. For the purpose of having an example to this point I’ll be using a recent eBay purchase from one of our readers.Grey Market ProductsFor a first time buyer noticing the word import buried in the details of a really good sale is not going to be something they’re looking for usually. Generally for some of the stores it’s often hidden well enough it would be easy to gloss over without knowing the implications and some stores don’t mention it at all. Imports are commonly referred to as grey market, a product imported from another country for a lower price then resold here bypassing proper import channels such as Canon USA and Nikon USA. While the practice is somewhat shady it’s completely legal and most of the time, but not always, the camera is the same as what you would get from an authorized store such as Amazon.

Note: If you've already made your purchase and wondering if your camera is legitimate call the manufacturer, they can lookup your camera by it’s serial number.

What does this mean for you? Officially you don’t exist meaning no support, repairs, and especially no rebates. Now in reality Canon COULD refuse to honor warranty in the USA but past experience suggests that they don't really care and if you have a warranty card with matching serial numbers you SHOULD be fine. There are two COULDS AND SHOULDS in there - it is a risk during the warranty period getting repairs. Basically this means you're assuming the risk that while they may fix your camera if it breaks under warranty, while unlikely there is the chance they won’t being grey market, which Canon and Nikon repair service can be expensive.Not all stores are equal and if you've been a fan of this site for awhile you’ll see we do post grey market deals from time to time. The benefit of larger companies offering grey market products such as Adorama, B&H, and some of the more legitimate eBay stores is that while you do get a modest discount you also get a decent warranty through their stores for service. You are getting your money’s worth with their warranty over smaller companies and in this case while its not the manufacturer directly they're going to be the best option if any issues pop up.For other smaller stores such as those found on eBay and Amazon its best to do a bit of research on the sale. First check if the store is an authorized dealer with the links below, they might say they are an official dealer but it’s worth a check. I've had a couple different people send in messages for help that bought cameras from an authorized dealer just to find out they are authorized, but for Canada or another country. If its not authorized locally that usually means its not a unit local to your area and technically grey market. The internet is a good source of info make sure to read the reviews, check online, and you can always ask us for help. When it comes to a grey market on eBay a SquareTrade warranty is not equal to a manufacturer warranty and while better than nothing they can be very difficult at times dealing with warranty issues.

Canon USA Authorized Dealer List | Nikon USA Authorized Dealer List

Yes grey market can be a good deal but for a first time buyer you're still better off buying from an Authorized dealer. For our reader it was unfortunate but the listing did show it was an import and lacked a warranty, albeit far down in the details and easy to miss. When you buy grey market its like buying a used car from someone in that you assume all the risk yourself. Starting out this also means you’ll have trouble with support as any questions or issues you have with your camera could be turned away.Included Parts and AccessoriesYes you’re getting a DSLR but before purchasing and when you get the camera you should check the included accessories listed with the camera against the manufacturer’s website. If you think you purchased from an authorized dealer the first hurdle would be the correct warranty card for your country, without it getting your camera fixed can be difficult. Checking the listing for issues can solve a lot of problems but after getting your camera its worth that double check for the correct manuals and manufacturer batteries as with some previous cases these items have been removed or replaced with inferior items.Check the kit lens! A lot of these cameras were bought body only so make sure you’re getting the proper lens. The Nikon D5300 should come with a new VRII 18-55mm lens which in the readers case was swapped for the older VRI lens that ships with the D5200, a lens which is not recommended if possible due to its photo quality. Take the time to check your lenses, a D5300 uses AF-S lenses and not AF except for manual focus. Kit lenses for the Canon Rebel line should be listed as STM.One of the issues you can have buying a unit of this kind is the battery charger, fortunately in this case the readers was swapped for a US charger but reading online about this listing not everyone got that luxury. The camera was meant for another country so it’s not a big surprise you're still out money for a charger in Nikon’s case, for Canon $4-6 for a 2 slot non-polarized power cord to plug in the charger. Unfortunately for someone starting out unless they can find one at a local store you’re stuck waiting for one in the mail with a nice shiny paperweight after that partial battery charge dies.“Free” ExtrasThere's no such thing as a free lunch, if your kit comes with 3000 items yet still costs the same as an authorized camera from B&H things don’t exactly add up. A memory card, cleaning cloth, bag, and maybe an extra battery makes a decent starting point. Starting out most of the accessories they offer are nice and shiny but they are also cheap items, most of these are less than $10, with negligible quality in most cases. While I won’t cover all the accessories in the kit I’ll hit a few of the frequently asked ones and provide alternative options. While the recommended options might be a bit more expensive the quality is worth the price to get good items the first time.

	Nikon 70-300 F/4-5.6 AF LensThe big extra in this kit that doesn't fit is the Nikon 70-300 AF lens. The seller did list all the camera bodies that did and didn't auto focus with this lens, they just didn't mention the D5300 isn't one of them. Having no auto focus for this telephoto would be a bit of a pain and isn't something a first time buyer is going to know. $159 lens by itself so with the older kit lens above and a grey market body it’s not hard to fit it under the budget of an authorized D5300 price. Nikon 55-300mm AF-S Amazon | B&HCanon EF-S 55-250 STM Amazon | B&H
	UV FilterUnless you live in a desert or dealing with touchy kids you don’t need a UV filter  just get a hood for your lens. The majority of these filters in kits are such low quality that it will affect the quality of your photos because you're putting extremely cheap glass in front of your good glass. Recommended Hoods and Polarizers for Common Lenses
	TripodActually my Dad has the exact one from the listing, it came with a spotting scope, not a DSLR. Unless you absolutely have to use this it’s just a pain to use compared to a decent tripod and its plastic build is not something to hold up to much abuse. Unless you're Toby and lose a Tripod leg getting a good tripod is something that's going to last you through multiple camera bodies and many years of work.For a decent budget tripod get the Dolica 62”, it might cost more in the short term but long term it works better and you don’t have to worry about it breaking. Later on when you get more established and want something a bit more light & portable for hiking and moving about you can always pick up a MeFoto travel tripod. Dolica 62” Proline Tripod (Review) AmazonMeFoto Travel Tripod (Review) Amazon | B&H
	Memory CardIf you buy a kit from Amazon or B&H depending on their current sales they sometimes throw in a Sandisk card for free. Unfortunately the listing doesn't say particularly what you get so it’s up to them, as for reviews its a grab bag situation, our reader received a non listed generic and Sony. If you need to pick any up you’re better off getting a couple 16-32GB cards over one 64GB card so not all your photos are in one basket. Sandisk Extreme 16GB Amazon | B&HSandisk Extreme 32GB Amazon | B&H
	Padded Cases and BackpacksBags are definitely one of those things that is up to the person. Like the SD card above both Amazon and B&H among others occasionally offer a free bag of better quality. While these kit bags would certainly work there are much better options available, just make sure to get one with a bit of extra room for additional gear purchases or you've got to go bag shopping all over again. Lowepro (Bagfinder)•  SlingShot 202AW Amazon | B&H•  Photo Sport Pro 30L AW (Review) Amazon | B&HVanguard (Bagfinder)•  Sydney (Review) Amazon | B&HThink Tank (Link)•  Sub Urban Disguise 20 (Review)•  TurnStyle 10 (Review)•  Retrospective 20Timbuk2 - options for those that want a custom bag (Link)Kelly Moore - makes purse styled bags (Link)Pacsafe - bags built with security options (Link)
	FlashIf you're starting out and it’s available use the built in flash until you get a grip on how to use the camera. At that point, get a Yongnuo flash, a good product the first time saves money in the long run. Otherwise spend more money and get the manufacturer brand which does the same thing for twice the cost. This one in the kit is a $13.95 flash and for the reviews it has in a sense standing outside with a flashlight duct taped to the top of the camera might be preferable. Yongnuo Flashes - Making sense of the 468 II, 568 II, and 565
	Cleaning AccessoriesDespite everything your lens can take a lot of abuse and even crack slightly without damaging your photos quality so you don’t need a lot of cleaning supplies. A lens wipe and cleaning solution work well, or if you're Toby a shirt. For dust inside the camera a rocket blower is handy to get it out but not needed right immediately. Carson lens wipe in pouch Amazon | B&HGiottos cleaning solution Amazon | B&HGiottos rocket blower (small) Amazon | B&HIf you’d like to save a buck there’s the Giottos cleaning solution kit Amazon | B&H
	Card ReaderYou can’t really complain about a free card reader but you do have to be iffy about quality as the listed unit is not even USB 2.0 making your card load at a snails pace. While they all do the same basic function some card readers do have a tendency to wear out a SD faster than others so its better to choose a quality reader. Transcend USB 3.0 Card Reader Amazon | B&H
	Close-up lenses “Macro on the cheap” While we do get Macro questions quite frequently, and yes technically these would work, just like the cheap UV filter you are putting more poor quality glass in front of the lens. If you're starting out in photography managing what you have and learning to use the camera properly is better than playing with gimmicks. If you're dead set on going macro checking out Toby’s macro photography options below is your best bet. Macro Photography Options
	BatteryWhile not included in this seller’s kit it’s recommended you get an extra battery. For every battery you do get quite a few shots but having more than one as a backup or a long trip is a good investment. In colder climates especially the battery will die faster as the cold will sap the battery life. Fortunately for us 3rd party battery makers have stepped in so we’re not paying $40 for a battery. Photive Brand LP-E8 For Canon T5i/700D AmazonWasabi Brand EN-EL14A For Nikon D5300 Amazon

 The best answer is do your homework to get a authorized, warrantied camera, and if you get stuck send us a message on Facebook as we are happy to help. In this case it comes down to who are you buying the camera from and are you getting what you think you are paying for in the sale versus what actually arrives. Grey market can potentially mean a good sale but it creates issues down the road for getting service or repairs from the manufacturer. When it comes to accessories even small $10 items add up, when there are 18 of those and another lens yet the price is the same or lower than Amazon it’s time to ask questions. While this deal in particular wasn't a complete loss, it wasn't what the person asked for, which is shady at best and a warning for others.As for our reader, everything in the listing came in as described which is what he expected after messaging our page. Everything works and now he's picking up the basics but if I wrote this a bit earlier they probably would have went a different route.

Buy from an authorized dealer, you get a proper warrantied camera from a reputable source while supporting future Digital Photo Recommendations work in the process.B&H | Amazon | AdoramaPhotorec.tv DSLR sales page

Frozen Bubbles

Prep

• Get warm clothing on its cold out! With record lows like these you can develop frostbite staying out too long so bundle up. NWS Frostbite Chart
• Transition the camera from hot to cold and back in a Ziploc bag to prevent condensation.
• Keep extra batteries inside your coat as the cold drains them faster.
• Watch Toby’s Quick Tips for Snow Photos. Youtube

Location

• Just like in the summer bubbles don't like being on dry, dirty, or pointy surfaces so plan accordingly.
• Watch the wind as anything more then calm will make this much harder as the wind tends to rip them as they freeze.
• While technically anything under freezing temps will work if it gets under -10F°/-23C° they tend to shatter and above 12F°/-11C° they are more likely to pop before completely freezing. Although slower ice growth does give the chance for some in-between shots.
• Morning and night for colder temps, higher humidity, and you get nice golden hour light.

RecipeNo need to go buy bubble mix! Its easy to make bubble solution with household ingredients and it works great. The formula is 9:3:1, nine parts water to three parts soap to one parts sugar. By adding sugar it makes the bubbles thicker, last longer, and hold up to the cold better. For better consistency let it sit overnight.

• Bottled water helps if your tap is hard water
• Dish soap works great such as Joy and Dawn
  • Soap labeled Ultra need two to three parts more water
• Sugar
  • Okay - White Sugar
    • Use two parts instead of one
  • Better - Karo Light Corn Syrup
  • Best - Glycerin
    • Available at your local grocery, drugstore, or Amazon

Tips

• Blowing to form the bubble traps hot air and makes it freeze slower. If you're having trouble getting them to freeze if its warmer wave the wand instead to trap cold air.
• Ask for help, one person shooting and another handling bubbles is easier than doing it yourself. Take the kids! It makes for a group activity and you get some fun photos with them playing.
• Don’t let the bubble hit your lens, at these temperatures it will instantly freeze and is hard to get off without warming it up.
• Clean off any excess foam from the solution, with it being so cold the bubble mixture has a tendency to foam and freeze up which lowers chances of big bubbles.
• If your having trouble with getting them to freeze, try placing the bubble on something metal as it makes for a nice surface to get one to stick while conducting the cold better.
• Finally, lots of patience, not every bubble perfectly does what you want and even less will freeze right.

How-to Install Magic Lantern on a Canon DSLR

I walk you through the install of Magic Lantern on a Canon T5i(700D). Add some neat and powerful features to your DSLR with just a few minutes of work.Download Magic Lantern: http://www.magiclantern.fm/downloads.htmlDisclaimer: Magic Lantern is not approved nor endorsed by Canon in any way, and using it will probably void your warranty.We are not responsible for any damages to your camera.

Monitor Calibration: X-Rite vs Datacolor Spyder & how-to

Short Answer: The X-Rite ColorMunki Smile can be a bit aggressive & warm with its calibrations but mostly works for what you need on a budget. If you want something a bit less aggressive the Datacolor Spyder4Express is a better option although you’ll need the next model up from Datacolor for multiple monitors if you use their software. Using free third party software you can get a better reasonable calibration from both but especially the smile.Why Do you need color calibration? If you are editing your photos and doing anything beyond hitting an automatic fix, you are trusting the monitor to be true to life. One of the ones I normally hear from people is that their prints came out quite dark or an off color and they want to immediately blame the print lab. One of the reasons, but not the only one, is what they see on the monitor is off in color and brightness. Your average monitor on full brightness displays at 200 cd/m² which is fine for normal use, near a window, or outside but for editing it has to be around 60% of that for a decent print.If you’re using the monitor to edit photos it needs to have the most accurate colors possible and while the monitor is calibrated at the factory over time it needs recalibrated. While the monitor ages very slowly the screen deteriorates which can throw the overall color off its optimal setting. If you look at an old LCD you can notice a slight yellowing to it because the chemicals used to create blue light are the most susceptible to this effect leaving a stronger red and green presence making yellow.As an example these are two photos that on screen look identical but as you can see are quite different. On the left being my desktop that has been calibrated with a white photo and the right being my laptop set to its default which is more of a cooler blue tone. For the laptop to have the same image as the desktop the photo has to be made significantly warmer which would affect prints and posting/sending it to anyone else.The ColorMunki Smile from X-Rite (Amazon) tries to fix this issue by creating a color calibration file for your computer. Without getting too technical it creates an .icc profile that acts as an index for the computer telling it the correct colors to send to the monitor. This is accomplished by using the Smile on your monitor and letting it display a baseline of colors for it to take the differences it monitored and come up with a calibration to negate the effect making the display true.Most of the monitors I’ve tested over the last couple weeks the results were positive with usable results. That is to say not all of the monitors did manage to make a correct calibration and the X-Rite software is not a magic bullet. The software tried to aggressively warm the monitor on displays that were cooler (mainly laptop displays) or were originally quite off. For one of my own monitors that errored testing the software, it was warm enough that I ended up switching to the profile only when editing.X-Rite’s solution is to install their baseline icc profile as a default and the software will tend to be less aggressive. It still edges on being slightly warm but will give you a much better result if you are having any issues. While packaged with the ColorMunki Display it is left out from the Smile but you can download the file below. Right click on the file, click install, go to color management in the control panel, add the icc profile, click it and select it as default, restart, then re-calibrate.Download the .icc profileAs I mentioned above if the monitor is off a fair bit the software can be a bit aggressive trying to fix the problem and in more than a few I tried it actually ended up with a warm result. For laptops and some monitors this is mainly due to the temperature being set for 9300K instead of 6500K which is great for videos and documents but overall a bit blue. While you cannot directly change the output of the monitor in this case you can alter the graphics card color setting for a less blue to get a better result at the cost of some brightness (see dispcalGUI below). Also if you use a USB display adapter they are not connected to color management for it to use .icc profiles so this will not work.As for ambient light, if you have a strong yellow lamp or light in the room the Smile does not have a ambient light sensor which in that case a Spyder4Pro or ColorMunki Display would be a better option.As for the instructions, which in terms of documentation leaves a bit to be desired.

1. Leave the monitor on for 30 minutes minimum and don’t let it go on standby
2. Reset the monitor to its factory default
3. Plug the sensor in
4. Run the Smile software* and press start on display
5. Place the sensor on the screen in the box below
   1. It has to be flush with the screen, this may involve tipping the monitor back
6. After pressing start it will go through a series of colors for testing
7. Click done or calibrate another monitor

*As a note if you’re using Windows 8 or 8.1 your better option is to download the updated software vs using the packaged version. If you're on a budget the Smile is a workable solution. It sells for $69 frequently on Amazon Gold Box and for the most part does a decent job. In terms of software for another $20 you can go with the Datacolor Spyder4Express and have a few less issues. In comparison for your average when it does work correctly X-Rite software usually is warmer than the Datacolor software. The main drawback for some of the Spyder4Express is that it’s default software while somewhat limited the same as the Smile does not handle multiple monitors.Fortunately with both units if you would like to use them as a sensor only you can go a bit more advanced for a better result with the free software below.While they are expensive for a calibration I provided a link below in which you can rent a Spyder3 Print which does have that capability as well as making print calibration profiles. At least for laptops, unless you want to haul your desktop and monitor in, you can check with your local camera shops as sometimes their camera demo days sometimes have monitor calibrations for free using one of the pro models.Rent the Spyder3 from BorrowLensesBuy the X-Rite ColorMunki Smile From Amazon or B&H PhotoVideoBuy the Datacolor Spyder4Express From Amazon or B&H PhotoVideoDispcalGUI using Argyll CMS can solve a lot of the issues with the Smile having warm results. It is compatible with PC, Mac, and Linux for those wanting to avoid the stock software. In terms of sensors the Spyder4Express is relatively the Elite model bar a ambient light sensor and the software. The Smile is in the same respect as an older pro iProfiler model rebadged with dumbed down software. Compared to the previous two though the software is a bit more complicated to run.Compared to the Smile software the main benefit you gain from this is being able to set a monitor white point using monitor settings, something the more advanced products have. Compared to the default X-Rite software this leans towards a cooler result that for some monitors that I tested was preferable and you have the ability for a bit of fine tuning. For laptops this allows my above point of using the graphics card settings to account for a better calibration as well.Monitor calibration files are not permanent so you can try this software without causing any permanent issues to either device. You will however need to switch the driver back to the original to use the previous software again.Download DispcalguiWindows Instructions: (full instructions can be found on http://dispcalgui.hoech.net/)

1. Same as before you need to warm the monitor for 30 minutes and reset the settings
2. Plug the sensor in
3. Install the Argyll Driver
   1. If you're in windows you need to disable driver enforcement
      1. Windows 8/8.1: Bring up settings from the charms menu (menu on right). Click settings, power, hold down shift, and click restart. When the menu comes up select troubleshoot->advanced options->startup settings->restart. After reboot press 7.
   2. Run the software and select tools->Install Argyll CMS Insturment Drivers
   3. If you already have installed the previous software or it picked up the driver you need to check Launch Device Manager.
   4. Press OK
   5. If you did open device manager select the device under x-rite at the bottom. Right click and press update->browse my computer->let me pick->select Argyll driver->next and close.
4. If you have installed the previous software you can grab the calibration data from it to improve dispcalGUI. Select Tools>Import colorimeter corrections>Auto.
5. Choose your settings. In this case select photo at the top then adjust for 6500k. If you have an older monitor selecting drift compensation does seem to help. For some monitors selecting 2.4 gamma is a better option but that is up to experimentation.
6. Click Calibrate and Profile
7. Attach sensor to screen as previously
8. Start measurement and manually adjust your monitors color until all three bars are in the center and the text turns green. The final bar is for brightness, the goal of this would be somewhere close to 125cd/m².
9. Click stop measurement then continue
10. Finally, Install Profile

Want to see more of Roy's work? Follow him on Facebook or InstagramRent the Spyder3 from BorrowLensesBuy the X-Rite ColorMunki Smile From Amazon or B&H PhotoVideoBuy the Datacolor Spyder4Express From Amazon or B&H PhotoVideo

Adobe Lightroom 5.7 Update - Now Available

Scroll down for download linksNew features

• Support for the ability to add or read feedback provided on Lightroom web.
• Ability to import images from Apple Aperture and Apple iPhoto libraries into Lightroom.
• Fixes for bugs introduced in earlier versions of Lightroom 5.
• Camera support for additional new lenses and cameras.

Lightroom 5.7 includes support for new cameras including

• Nikon D750
• Canon 7D Mark II
• Canon G7 X
• Powershot SX60HS
• Sony A5100
• Iphone 6 and 6 Plus

A handful of new lenses

• Canon & Nikon Mounts of EF Zeiss Otus 1.4/85 ZE
• SIGMA 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM C014
• SIGMA 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM S014
• Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8
• Voigtlander SL 40mm f/2 Ultron ASPH
• Voigtlander SL 40mm f/2 Ultron ASPH close-up Lens
• Nikon AF-S 20mm f/1.8G ED
• Nikon AF-S 400mm f2.8E FL ED VR

Lightroom 5.7 is a free update for existing Lightroom 5 users. New customers can download Lightroom as a 30-day free trial, or as part of Adobe's Creative Cloud subscriptions that start at $9.99 per month for the Creative Cloud Photography Plan, which comes with Photoshop, Lightroom mobile and more.Adobe is also running a Black Friday promotion for Creative Cloud Complete, which includes Photoshop, Illustrator, access to Adobe's cloud, the ProSite portfolio website, Typekit desktop and web fonts and 20 GB of cloud storage for $39.99 per month or $15.99 per month for students and teachers. The promotional period ends Nov. 28.Want to know more about Lightroom? Watch my FREE Lightroom Video Tutorials Download Lightroom 5.7 from AdobeMac – http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5852Win – http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5853

File Submission for Oct 28th

On the most recent Image Critique- October 14th 2014 I announced that the next submission would be special!Listen up! For the next several critiques we will work our way through the images submitted this week. We will not accept new ones until all the images have been critiqued. If you submit an image it will get critiqued. But please make sure you read over the following

• You are limited to ONE (1) image- make sure you pick an image you want critiqued and is more than a snapshot.
• The image must be at least 1920px on the short side. It can be bigger but not smaller.
• The image must have metadata (focal length, aperture, shutter speed etc) - if there is no metadata (i.e. panorama or shot with manual lens) use the caption box to write out any info)
• The filename must include your name.
• The image must be submitted by 10/25. We will be back from Italy on that day and starting the critiques the following week.

Leave questions as comments below.Upload Files through dbinbox.com

5 Reasons you should own a prime lens

Photo Assignment #3 - Show Motion & How-to Panning

We are nearing the end of photo assignment #3 (this was announced a few podcasts ago)- Your task is to show motion, but no flowing water. Assignment #3 is due by 12pm EDT 6/30/14 - paste a link to your flickr/500px as a comment or watch for the call on Facebook. We recently had a brainstorming session on Facebook with some of the options including panning with cars (or planes) in the example below, people walking, kids running and oh so much more - be creative, think outside the box :)  Panning is one way to show motion and I thought I would give you some quick tips.Panning is the act of moving your camera with a subject - see example above.  The trick is to find the right shutter speed that blurs the background but still lets you get your subject in sharp focus. It will take practice and your keeper rate when shooting panning shots is going to go down.

1. Set your camera on the fastest burst rate you have available.  The more shots you take in a panning series the more likely you will get one that works.
2. Set your shutter speed (see table below) and determine your exposure. Avoid situations where your exposure is going to change greatly over the pan- if it is consider using Auto ISO.
3. Pre focus on the spot your subject will be passing through, you can wait and focus on slower moving subjects but anything moving faster than a brisk walk is going to give you fewer chances for focus AND a good series of shots.
4. Determine the point of your subject you will track and use one of your focus points as a guide to keep your camera aimed at the same location. Eyes are great point for tracking, or a wheel - keep your target small!
5. Start(anticipate and start moving before your subject enters the frame) and end your pan in one smooth motion while shooting a burst of images. - This smooth motion increases your chances of getting a sharp shot.  As you move try to minimize your movement, just twist on your hips keeping everything else steady.
6. Don't trust your LCD- Your subject can look in focus on that small screen- zoom all the way in and check at your point of focus.

  Got more tips for panning shots? Leave them in the comments below.  This isn't the ONLY way to show motion - just one that I shared a few tips on.

Photo Assignment #1

You all have been asking and it is something I have wanted to do. In Episode 7 of our weekly photo critique Christina just decided it was time and announced our first ever DPR Photo Assignment!Listen to the announcement/descriptionWatch the whole critique including one of the photos that inspired Christina to issue the assignment How will the assignment work?You need to go take a picture that you thinks exhibits symmetry and upload it to the flickr.com/groups/digitalphotorec use the tag DPRsymmetry1. Images should be uploaded by April 13th by Noon EDT.Our next critique will be picking from the pool of images uploaded to the group and tagged with DPRsymmetry1    

Tips for Sharper Images

I published a video with five tips for getting sharper images with your DSLR. The comments and tips left by the DPR community where excellent and I used those in a second video - both videos are embedded below - sometimes though a quick text list is preferred over a video- here are all of the tips.

Tips for Sharper Images:

Sweet Spot

Don’t shoot wide open(wide open refers to your aperture). Stop down which means close your aperture down from its maximum. Sharpest photos for many lenses are going to occur between f/5.6 and f/9 and this is referred to as the sweet spot.  This sweet spot varies from lens to lens but f/8 is usually a safe bet for the sharpest images with any lens.    Please don't take this tip as a suggestion to only shoot with your prime lens, that might open up to f/1.8 or wider, at only f/8 - use that when you have enough light and you don't care about depth of field. Use your judgement when shooting and find a compromise  - Don't always shoot at f/8 and don't always shoot wide open.

Fast Enough Shutter Speed -

Keep your shutter speed faster than your focal length and keep your shutter speed fast enough to freeze moving subjects. This is a tip that I have talked about before but again and again I hear from readers with blurry images simply because their shutter speed was slower than their focal length.  If you have an image stabilized lens you can cheat a little and go slower but you will need to practice, test and review your shots to see how slow a shutter speed you can reliably hand-hold.  And remember that image stabilization doesn't help with moving subjects.  See the chart below for some suggestions on shutter speeds for moving subjects. These are just starting points and the higher shutter speeds should be used when the subject is moving across the frame as opposed to toward and away from you.

Subject	Suggested Shutter Speed
Walking	1/60 - 1/125th
Dancing	1/160 (Slow Dancing)- 1/250th (Crazy Dancing)
Running	1/200th - 1/250th
Soccer /Football	1/250th - 1/500th
Horses, Dogs Running	1/320th - 1/1000th
Car Racings	1/1000th - 1/2000th

---

Center Focus PointUse your center focus point so you know exactly what you are focusing on. When you let the camera use all the focus points it may poorly determine where it should focus and you will end up with your subject blurry simply because the subject is not in focus.  Switch to and use your center focus point so that YOU know where you are focusing.  How to switch your focus point? Bonus - the center focus point is often more accurate than the surrounding points.   Be careful about recomposing after focus if shooting at wider apertures.

NO IS/VR/OS/VC

If you are using a tripod make sure Image Stabilization is off.  Some IS systems can be fooled when on a tripod and actually compensate for movement that isn't there creating soft images.  Mostly seen at slower shutter speeds.  IS = Image Satbilzation, VR = Vibration Reduction, OS = Optical Stabilization, VC = Vibration Compensation.  See my full glossary of lens terms/acronyms.

Keep your ISO low

The higher the ISO of your images the noisier or more grainy they are going to look and this will decrease the perceived sharpness of the image.  This is one of the reasons I am not a fan of Auto ISO- it can be quick to go higher than you need causing very noisy images.  If you must choose between slow shutter speed and higher ISO go ahead and increase your ISO.  Noise can often be reduced in post process and motion blur can't (although photoshop is working on it)

Additional Tips for better/sharper images submitted by viewers/readers

Make sure your lens(es) are clean.  A quick swipe with a soft lens cloth should do the trick.If your subject has eyes - human or otherwise - those should be what you focus on. This becomes especially important when working at a shallow depth of field(wide apertures).Be careful not to move the camera when you push the shutter button - big movements change composition and smaller movements shake the camera.  Use the two second timer if no tripod is available and hold camera as steady as possible. I used that technique to take this photo or a waterfall without a tripod. Using the 2-second timer allowed me to concentrate and hold the camera as steady as possible with no change when the camera snapped the photo.Use the camera's high speed drive mode - Fire off a series of shots and one is likely to be sharper than the others.  Use this when your subject is moving or you are working at dangerously slow shutter speeds(and have no other options)And keep in mind the the sharpest lens is a good tripod and a good tripod head.  Having a good tripod that can hold the camera rock steady will allow you to shoot at slower shutter speeds so you can keep your ISO down and your aperture up for sharp images.

5 Quick Tips for Sharper Images with any camera and lens

5 Quick Tips for Sharper Images with any camera and lensAll the tips: http://digital.photorecommendations.com/recs/2014/02/tips-for-sharper-images/

Family & Group Photo Tips

I thought I would take a few moments and offer some advice and tips for getting a nice group photo. I mostly had Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays in mind as I wrote these but  apply to group photos anytime. Have some tips of your own? I'd love to hear, leave a comment below.Take the photo soon after everyone has arrived. Don't wait - people will drink, slop food on their faces and generally get more disheveled looking as the afternoon/evening goes on. Maybe this is just my family but timing leads into the next tip...If you all are gathering earlier in the day you should have good light - warm enough to be outside? Light will be the best out there. Gather everyone just inside shade -under a porch, near a pine tree - just make sure the shade is even - you don't want sun spots on people's faces and you don't want people facing into the sun. Chilly outside? Gather inside near a window - basically your popup flash should be last resort so any natural light you can find will be helpful. Not sure if the spot you picked will work well? Practice on a guinea pig...Instead of practicing on the whole group and struggling or feeling pressured, grab a guinea pig for a few moments of practice before you call everyone over. Younger kids that are old enough to stay still for a few are often willing - have them model for you while you get your settings right and after you take a couple of photos spend a moment pixel peeping, use the zoom button to enlarge the reviewed photos and make sure subject is in focus and light is good...I like manual mode where you are in complete charge of the camera. Set the shutter speed around 1/200 of a second - fast enough to make sure everyone is frozen. Now determine your aperture - one small row of people in front of you? You can safely shoot fairly wide(if your lens allows) but if you are nervous f/4 is a safe bet. Big enough group that you are dealing with more than one row of people? f/5.6 is better. Once you decide you aperture you should look at your exposure meter and adjust your ISO to center the meter or expose just to the right of center...Everything all set? bring in the whole group and get them to squeeze together. There is something about photos that emphasizes distance between subjects so what might seem like a friendly gap between two looks like a family feud / canyon in the photo so really get them squeezing and that often encourages some friendly laughter too.Do you need to be part of the group? Self timer is one option and many models will allow several photos to be fired off at the end of the countdown - this gives you options, the general rule of thumb is at least one photo per person in the group. The more you take the more likely you are to have one where everyone's eyes are open and no one is making that weird face. Have a camera with WiFi built in? Use it as the remote but again make sure everything is setup before you slip into the group photo.Got younger kids in the group - I trick them into looking at the camera by asking them if they see the bird in the lens- seems mean as I write it but always seems to help in getting their attention directed toward the camera. Bribes work too and are totally fare game - whatever it takes to get the photo :)Bonus Tips/Suggestions:- Make sure you turn IS (Image Stabilizer) off if the camera will be on a tripod- Get Candids too - don't just do the group photo and don't let everyone pose all night- Snap some photos of the food too

Time Lapse with a DSLR - Canon 70D

Work in Progress post. Updated as I add new material and followup video showing how to "develop" the time lapse into a video file rather than a series of images.Summary of video

1. set the camera on a sturdy tripod and choose your composition and exposure (Manual Mode or AV Mode)
2. Set file size to JPEG or smaller RAW(if an option) you don't want to deal with 3,000 plus RAW files unless you really want an ability to edit before creating the timelapse.
3. Configure the intervalometer/TriggerTrap to take a picture each X seconds and X amount of  times
4. Disconnect the lens while holding down the depth of field preview button to the "sweet spot" to avoid flickering in your TL
5. Wait A LOT- e.g. if you set the DSLR to take a photo every second and run that back at 24fps.  1 minute of real time equals 3 seconds of video. Shorter intervals give smoother results. Longer intervals allow you to speed through time more quickly.
6. Dump every photo into editing software, do a little magic (Video how to on this part coming soon)

Watch the example time lapse shot after the filming of this video: http://youtu.be/lbkM5ekaDl8?t=10m44sGear seen in the video: MeFoto Travel Tripod, Lowepro Photo Sport Pro 30L, Intervalometer, TriggerTrap Dongle Related: How to use an Intervalometer for family photos.

Light Painting - Samples & How-to

Super Simple Light Painting How-to:

Need:

• Camera that lets you control shutter speed
• Tripod (or flat surface to place the camera on)
• a moveable light source - small LED keychain light, cheap electroluminescent wires, laser pointer
• Bonus - Remote trigger release(Canon | Nikon) or use the 2 second timer to avoid shaking the camera when you press the shutter button

Steps:

1. focus camera on the area where you will be painting. If this is in a room just turn on the lights, focus on your subject or where your subject will be then turn off the light. Outside? Have someone stand with a flashlight or shine the flashlight on a spot to get focus.
2. Put camera on manual (M) and set your shutter speed for as long as you think it will take you to complete the painting.  5-10 seconds is a good starting point. Aperture should be as large as possible.  ISO around 400-800.    Take a test photo with painting any light - how much ambient light is captured?   Too much?  Lower your ISO.  Too little? raise your ISO.  Repeat until you have background exposed as desired.
3. Attempt your first painting.  Review and try again.  Experiment! Have fun!

Picking the best lens for your DSLR

In this video I offer some advice for determining the value of a lens and help you pick the best lens for your DSLR

Photographing the Stars - Quick Guide

Quick tips on capturing the stars and possibly a meteor or two if you are shooting during a meteor storm or have access to a very clear sky. During the peak of meteor storms you can see 80-100 meteors an hour for those with clear/dark skies. Normally that number is closer to 12 an hour, again skies need to be dark!  When taking star photos you can end up with star trails or no star trails. It all depends on your focal length and shutter speed and whether or not you follow the 500 rule.

500 Rule for Star-trail-less Photos

The 500 rule states that your shutter speed needs to be faster than your focal length divided by 500.  Some places you see 600 used but safer is 500.  So if you are shooting at 50mm you take 500/50 and get 10 seconds.  BUT that only applies to folks shooting with full frame cameras, if you have a crop sensor camera like the Canon Rebel Series of the Nikon Dxxx series you need to multiple your crop factor times your focal length and then divide that by 500.   Nikon crop factor is 1.5 and Canon is 1.6.Here is a handy chart to use as a starting guide- Numbers are your maximum shutter length in seconds before you will start to see the dots of the stars turn into streaks.Columns B through D give you the number of seconds before you will probably start seeing star trails. You can of course go shorter, longer and you will start to see star trailsFor a starry sky you often want to go as wide as possible. 18mm if using the kit lens but if you have access to anything wider- use it.  Wider lenses allow you to gather more light and often offer a wider maximum aperture.

A good starting point10 second shutterAperture f/3.5 (wider if possible with your lens)ISO 3200

The trick is focusing and composition.  It is often helpful to include some of the landscape in your composition but judging if you have a straight horizon and focus in pitch black is difficult. A solution is to take some test shots using a VERY high ISO and a shorter shutter speed - these will be very noisy images but you can, without waiting a full 10 seconds at a time, judge your composition and probably your focus.

Focus Tip - If your lens has any type of distance indicator you want it set near infinity, that is not a guraguaranteet the stars will be in sharp focus but it is likely. Use the test shot suggestion to judge focus and make adjustments as needed.   If there is a silhouette or a building, anything in the distance you can use that to manually focus, radio towers with their little blinky red lights can also be helpful.  Anything further than a 1/2 mile away is going to give you a target that will set your camera on infinity focus and that should give you sharp stars.

Keep warm and keep shooting.Recommended Gear-Sturdy Tripod: Dolica Proline Tripod |MeFoto Travel Tripod (Review of both Tripods)Intervalometer or TriggerTrap for using Bulb Mode or just firing your shutter without shaking the camera.Wide Angle Lens: Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 is one of the best and most affordable lenses for photographing stars. 

 Photographing Meteors

When photographing meteors you want to avoid any star trails, you want the little streaks left by the meteors to stand out so follow the chart.First task is to find a suitable location with a clear view of the source or radiant. In the case of the Perseids you want a dark sky to your north east, in the direction of the Perseids meteor shower.  I intent to use the the Google Sky App on Android | iOS options.   You really want to make sure the sky is dark, these longer exposures quickly pick up any light pollution and are going to blow out the bottom of your image.Picking a focal length and focusing - You want to go fairly wide here, under 50mm but not really wide as that will likely give you puny little streaks that take up a very small percentage of your image.    Focusing is tricking.  If you have a light tower or something contrasting against the sky, like a mountain, in the far distance you can use that. If you have a distance scale on your lens you can set it just shy of the infinity mark.   Neither of those work for you?  Raise your ISO to the highest possible and take a few shots, a very high ISO will allow you to take a shorter longer exposure so you aren't sitting around for 30 seconds wondering if you have focus.  Take a series of test photos until you are sure you have nailed focus.Camera settings - You have your shutter speed from the chart above, your aperture should be close to wide open and your ISO should be as low as possible.  You might be better off with even shorter exposures, longer exposures will dim any streaks you get. I hope to use my Triggertrap long exposure (star trail) feature to automatically take photo after photo, their star trail feature lets me specify a long exposure and the gap between images.  You can use a standard intervalometer too but that isn't quite as elegant. You could also use a remote and have the camera set for the desired shutter speed and least desirable you push the shutter button - if you use this method make sure you use the 2 second delay so that you pressing the button doesn't jiggle the camera creating blurry images.Your Camera must be sitting on a sturdy tripod.Sit back and enjoy the show.(this is one reason I am going to let Triggertrap do the work, I want to be looking at the sky, not the back of my camera all night. More about the PerseidsThe best budget lens for astrophotography.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TSrFKLzsrQShare your thoughts, tips and comments below.   

Canon 70D, T4i, T5i Portrait Tips with Kit Lens(18-135 STM)

T4i/T5i Tips and Tricks Portrait how to get background blur with kit lensQuick Portrait tips with the T4i/T5i (applicable to all cameras)

Lightroom 5 - New Feature, Smart Previews, Explained

 Lightroom 5 came out of beta today and is now available for pre-order from B&H (available by June 13th, download available now)One of the new features is Smart Preview - this nifty features frees laptop owners to keep originals on an external disk but still work with and edit copies when you are on the road and not connected to that drive.  It does this by creating a lossy DNG file that is stored on your laptop, typically they are about 5% of the size of the original images with a maximum dimension of 2500 pixels.  You can star/rate, add keywords and other meta data AND edit in the develop panel. You can even export a file up to 2500 pixels, perfectly large enough for sharing online.    More in the video below.Note about Catalogs- A catalog is a database that tracks the location of photos and information about them, you can have more than one catalog but only one catalog can be open at a time.  I typically have a catalog for each year, starting a new one at the beginning of each year.  Catalogs do not actually store your photos, just the previews and the changes you have applied, along with any metadata.  The actual images are stored in folders on your hard drive or multiple hard drives.

How to Capture Lightning

The first rule of lightning photography is to be safe.   Do NOT put yourself in any danger to get a photo, ever. 

The story behind the photo.   With spring comes thunderstorms and I had been paying attention to the weather reports and thinking about possible vantage points.  I was looking for some place with enough elevation to get a good view without being at the top of a mountain myself.  I also wanted a view that was going to be fairly clear or artificial light, with longer shutter speeds those lights can really ruin a scene.  Though there are plenty of shots with cityscapes and lightning, but the area I am in doesn't really offer that.     I used my knowledge of the area and Google Earth to scout potential vantage points settling on a location that gave me a good view of the Connecticut river valley.

I brought my 5D Mark III, tripod and Triggertrap app on an iPad.    Now I don't have any pictures of the setup in the car, I was shooting out of the car window with the tripod spread around my lap.  It was not the most comfortable and roomy setup but I could live with it.  Truthfully I didn't end up using the Triggertrap app, for no reason other than I pulled up and lightning was happening so I rushed to setup everything. I should have taken a moment to plug in the app, the Star Trail Mode would be perfect for lightning photos.

Yes, contrary to popular belief you don't try to capture lightning by watching for a bolt and quickly pressing the shutter button - you will not be fast enough. What you do is shoot long exposures - anywhere from 6 seconds to 30 seconds can give you good results.  So the shutter is open, the sensor is recording a fairly dark scene and hopefully during the time the shutter is opening a strike will happen.   I have heard from one of my readers that if a strike happens in the middle of an exposure it is a good idea to throw  a black cloth over the lens to keep any more light from entering and potentially ruining the image.  I may try that in a future shoot.

Now when I first set up I took a few long exposures to get a sense of my composition, it was quite difficult to get a sense through live view or the view finder, so you can raise your ISO way up for a few test photos, this way your shutter speed only needs to be a few seconds - these aren't keepers, just trying to get a feel for what the camera will capture.

I was shooting around 40mm on a full frame camera.  That is about 22mm on a crop sensor camera like the Canon T4i/T5i.30 shots later I captured what would turn out to be the best of the night- Rollover to see the unprocessed straight out of the camera shot.  38mm on full frame at ISO 400, f/10 and 20.0 seconds shutter speed.

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I continued shooting for another 30 minutes, another 40 shots and captured a few more bolts but the storm fell apart and low level clouds rolled in making it difficult to capture individual bolts[gallery ids="3623,3622,3621,3620,3619,3624" orderby="rand"]SO if you read all of this, or skipped to this point let me give you the moral of the story.

1. Be Safe
2. You have a higher probability of making a cool photo with planning. Gear, Location and Knowledge all need to be considered in your planning.
3. Be patient - I sat in my car, rain coming in the window for over an hour, in this case I was enjoying myself so it wasn't a hardship but you can't expect to roll up/show up to someplace and instantly snap something magical. Don't count on luck. Anytime I think about luck I think about Las vegas, none of those casinos are hurting for money, luck is NOT on our side most of the time.

QT#15 ISO Explained Simply and Auto ISO

Should you use auto ISO? What is ISO and why do I want it to be as low as possible