Painted Doll
Today was the photo session for Guerita’s ballet concert, so full hair & make-up was required. After much worry about how I would manage to do her hair and make-up, I chickened out and arranged for someone to do it for her! I discovered that the ballet school had a hairdresser and make-up artist available to do it for anyone who wanted - and the price was only $30 total for hair and make-up for both days (the photos and the concert) which I thought was a pretty good deal. Particularly since it turned out the hair was not to be done in a bun, but ringlets and I don’t even own a curling wand. I was happy to completely avoid the embarrassment (for me and Guerita) of doing a shoddy job.
Guerita was pretty excited about the prospect of going off to have all this done, although the reality of it all was a bit more tedious. We had to wait for a while before she got started and then she was required to sit still for over an hour! Not an easy feat for her.
The novelty wore off pretty quickly
but she was very happy with the finished result (lipstick already needs touching up!)
And here’s a sneak preview of her ballet costume…
In other news I’ve also joined the Through the Lens - Digital Photography 101 Group, conducted by Hallie at The Rubber Room. This is exactly what I need right now - a bit of guidance and a little push to get me using the manual settings on my camera, and hopefully some tips on what all the buttons and dials mean. It seems to be a pretty active group so I’m looking forward to learning lots of new tricks from everyone.
The first assignment was to read the manual for your camera and take the best photo you could. I did actually read the manual when I first bought the camera and even bought a guidebook to go with it, so I kind of remembered some of the terms, but because I hadn’t put each thing into practice a lot of it was a jumble of confusing terms.
One type of photography situation I really want to work on is taking pictures when the lighting conditions aren’t perfect. When I can, I try to think about the time of day, the position of the sun etc, but the reality is that I often just pick up the camera to snap a few photos of the kids doing something interesting, so you can’t always plan each photo like a “session”.
Like today, for example where we were sitting in a room in someone’s house with the curtains drawn and the overhead light and a few lamps on. The Auto mode prompted the flash which made Guerita’s skin over-exposed and look even paler than it is, like in this photo.
I remember reading (not in the manual, on a blog I think) that in low light situations, where the automatic modes would prompt you to use the flash, it’s good to use the Av mode which lets the most amount of light in. Maybe someone will correct me here, because I know this is all related to shutter speed and the slower the speed, the more light comes into the lens, thus compensating for the lack of natural light and making up for the lack of flash. The result should look more natural than with a flash but when I’ve played around with this before the photos often still came out too dark.
Today while I sitting there for hours watching a parade of girls turning into painted dolls, I had a little play with the dials and discovered one I didn’t know was there! On my camera (Canon Rebel XTi) you move the top dial to Av mode, hold down the Av +/- button near the LCD screen and twiddling the little dial near the shoot button and you can adjust the aperture value up and down. Obviously I hadn’t read the manual that closely or I would have realised this earlier! By increasing the aperture value you decrease the shutter speed and let more light in. Here’s an example of 2 photos taken straight after each other with different aperture values (on my camera the first is at 0, the second at 2).
The data for these photos (and I still don’t understand all these numbers, but I’m learning) are:
Photo 1
Shutter speed: 1/80 sec
Aperture value: f/5.6
ISO: 1600
focal length: 55.0mmPhoto 2
Shutter speed: 1/50 sec
Aperture value: f/6.3
ISO: 1600
focal length: 55.0mm
I know the assignment said to take the best photo you can, and this obviously isn’t the best photo, but it’s going to be my entry for the first assignment, because it shows something I learnt about my camera, and I think that’s what the course is all about.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Guera, I hope you’ll keep posting stuff you learn from this dig photography workshop because I’m hoping to learn something vicariously through you! I’ve had my lovely DSLR since I just before I got back to Australia but have never learnt as much as I should about it. But I want to!
Amandas last blog post..Signed up for NaBloPoMo in July
Guerita looks fab
Good on you for learning more about photography and good luck
Jaynes last blog post..Trivial History June 29
well that was a relief with the hair and makeup. Look’s great.
Bettinas last blog post..Does there have to be a reason?
These look great Guera. I remember when I ‘got’ the relationship between Aperture and Shutter Speed, it was like a revelation. I found this book, Understanding Exposure, by Bryan Pederson, was absolutely responsible for me finally getting it, check it out and see what you think. You can go to my site under ‘Books’ and do a search there. Have fun!
Lees last blog post..{ Bad Blogger and a PS tip }
I enjoyed reading about your thought process while taking the pictures of your daughter. This is all new to me too and I rely heavily on the automatic features of my camera. I love digital, because you can explore different setting and only keep the ones you want.
leighs last blog post..rena
Very nice photos. I’m still trying to learn those types of settings. I don’t fully understand the lighting and such. But I’m sure I’ll learn. Your pictures turned out great.
JoAnn
Amanda - glad to help out! I definitely want to keep posting what I learn - I need to keep track of it so I remember!
Jayne - thanks
Bettina - yes, huge releif!
Lee - Thanks. I’ll have to check out that book.
Leigh - I agree. Digital makes the practising and learning process so much easier
JoAnn - Thanks. I still have lots to learn too.
Guera, I love the (second) photo of the makeup application. Such a lovely record of this important event in your daughter’s life.
I am surprised at the clarity of the images with the ISO setting at 1600. When you have the original (not-reduced) images open, are they grainy at all?
wow those photos are amazing as they are to me.I want to do a digital photography course when I eventually get a new camera
Guerita looks a princess.
Trishs last blog post..Weekly winners
She looks beautiful, Guera I think it’s wonderful that you are learning more about photography. A woman after my own heart.
tiffs last blog post..Weekly Winners - hospital, hometime and birthdays, Oh my!
Lovely pics of the ballet make-up and hair. That looks like quite a costume!
I’ll be vicariously experiencing your efforts with the digital photography course! I really need to read my manual. At least I now know about the Av thingy.
I really like the two photos of your daughter - especially because you were able to figure out how to change your settings manually and achieve a soft, lovely shot of your daughter - without flash. Isn’t that cool when you get things worked out like that?
Diannes last blog post..freedom
Well, you just taught me something too !
I’ve gone PRO on my flickr this year, and also have been doing tutorials/learning about my DSLR - which i’ve only owned now for what ? - 6years ??!? without reading the manual.
Will add you to my flickr, and take a look at your group too ( this is why i’ve gone quiet on the blogging front ! )
xx
h&bs last blog post..Just tired is all…
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