White balance chat

[Ridg]

Can we clear up the F-stop business..

F-stop is the size of the hole allowing light through, this also affects the focal length of the shot you are about to take. So an F5.6 has a big hole and low depth of field in comparison to F22 which has a smaller hole but a better depth of field or the distance 1/3 in front, 2/3 behind the subject that is in focus.

If you imagine a correct exposure is the relationship between the shutter speed and the aperture, therefore if you have a big hole, it lets more light through, so you need to expose for less time. A smaller hole will take longer to let the same amount of light through...

What you can do is bracket exposures, so if your camera says that a correct exposure for a scene is F22 at 1/100th you can go F22 at 1/250th and F22 at 1/60th, which will overexpose and underexpose the images, but will sometimes yield better results than a "correctly" exposed image.

So, if you want lots of detail you run with a higher F stop (which is actually a smaller hole) and if you want to focus on key areas, you run a lower F stop. Just remember to play and have fun

sorry to nit pick but the focal length effects the aperture as the actual size of the aperture is the focal length (f) divided (/) by the number

this is why "cheap" zoom lenses have a wider aperture on the short end and a smaller (larger f number) on the long end.

see the sticky

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=114168.0

as a footnote, you've also got the hyperfocal distance.

[bobbarley]

On another note, don't scrimp on a tripod!  I bought a cheap £10 and it was beyond useless, ended up in the bin.

Have since purchased a Hama one and it's 100 times better!

[jnufcuk]

just got a tripod from argos. only £20 seems ok to start off with 

[stealthwolf]

White balance correction can be useful but only in the right circumstances. As above, if you're after a "true" representation, you need to remember that white will look different in different circumstances. Some people have a white card as well as a grey card.

[jnufcuk]

I've been using manual white balance at a couple of local meet and really impressed with the pics I can get.

Here's a couple, there not great but better then using the flash lol


hg (13) by jboyphotos, on Flickr



SAM_5593 by jboyphotos, on Flickr


SAM_5527 by jboyphotos, on Flickr


hg (14) by jboyphotos, on Flickr

Was having problems with the manual option before it got dark as I think my iso was too high so pics were quite blurry and grainy but when it got dark changed the white balance and got the above shots which im happy with

[thatwillis]

I've been using manual white balance at a couple of local meet and really impressed with the pics I can get.

Here's a couple, there not great but better then using the flash lol


hg (13) by jboyphotos, on Flickr


hg (14) by jboyphotos, on Flickr

Was having problems with the manual option before it got dark as I think my iso was too high so pics were quite blurry and grainy but when it got dark changed the white balance and got the above shots which im happy with

Looking good  Notice how the second one has a lower F number so the background is blured. Compared to the first one. Both nice in different ways

[jnufcuk]

I did that on purpose