Image of the Week #28

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This week in image of the week:

What can I say I’m not a great sweet fan but I do love all the colours in this one! The problem was keeping my son at bay while I took the shot!

Mandy

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Definition: Image Sensor

Image Sensors are the nitty gritty end of the digital camera. Basically the digital version of film. But just as there are lots of different types of film that you can buy, there are also lots of different types (or sizes) of image sensors, and this can be important when choosing a digital camera.

What is an Image Sensor:

An Image Sensor is a device that converts an optical image to an electric signal. It is used mostly in digital cameras and other imaging devices. It is a set of charge-coupled devices (CCD) or CMOS sensors such as active-pixel sensors. (from Wiki)

Why is the Image Sensor important?

Image sensors come in different sizes, and which size you have will affect the image quality of the photographs taken with it. Full frame sensors are the same size as 35mm film, but they are part of very expensive professional DSLR camera’s!

As always lets look at the simple description:

Compact digital cameras generally have a 1/2.5″ sensor (3% of full frame sensor)

Common DSLR digital cameras generally have an APS-C sensor (around 40% of full frame sensor)

Whats the difference?

So DSLR’s have much larger sensors than those in compact digital camera’s, therefore they have greater image quality.

Some digital compact cameras can be 10 megapixel’s, the same as some DSLR’s (or more) so how come they aren’t as good when it come to image quality?

This is where the size of the image sensor comes in. Take two 10 megapixel camera’s - one compact and one DSLR. The manufacturer is trying to fit the same amount of pixels on the smaller compact sensor as they are on the much larger DSLR sensor. And this is the important part, the compact’s pixels have to be smaller to fit on the sensor, and therefore it reduces the amount of sensitivity and light that the pixels can capture and that works out as a loss in image quality.

Obviously this only comes into the buying equation when you are concerned about image quality, which is another reason why I am looking at a DSLR as my next camera.

Image quality becomes a big factor when you want to print images or enlarge them, anything much larger than 6 x 4 or maybe 7 x 5 and you will notice the difference between the compact and the DSLR.

Mandy

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How to Easily GeoTag Your Photographs

I’ve had a comment on a recent photograph that I uploaded to my Flickr account, it was actually my Shoe Project photograph, and Neil Creek was asking me to Geotag it so he could see where it had been taken.

There was only one problem, I had no idea how to Geotag my photographs. I just never tried before because I thought you could only do it with special gear and a GPS, which I don’t have and I am not planning on getting.

What is Geotagging?

Simply put it is the process of adding geographical data to a photograph including longitude and latitude coordinates. Basically telling the world where you took that photo!

How do I do it?

So after this comment I decided I had to have a go. So that meant seeing what it was all about and how I could do it.

From what I can tell (on Flickr anyway) there’s two ways to Geotag photographs and I’m going to be looking at the second one, because I feel it’s the best method as anyone can use it:

1. Use a GPS device and associated kit adding it to the image file
2. Find the location manually on the Flickr map and add them yourself

Aah, so there is another way! And whats more it’s really easy to do with no special gear required. There’s even a handy video to show you how you can Geotag your photos by adding them to the map. It’s basically just a drag and drop in the Map tab in the Organiser.

I didn’t know I could do this with Flickr (or even that the help section was so good) so it just shows how good it can be to have a little look around sometimes.

Geotagging is great fun, and another way for people to find your photographs. Give it a go!

Mandy

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Iron Chef Photography: Shoe Project

Do you enter Photography Projects?

There are lots of photography projects around to participate in covering just about everything. So far I’ve only submitted to one project back in March but I want to do more, I think they are a great way to learn and challenge myself. So I’ve entered another one…

Above is my entry for Neil Creek’s Iron Chef Photography: Shoe Project that he runs on his blog. Submissions have now closed for this one, but that means the voting is about to start (and will end on 29th June).

The aim of the project besides taking photographs of shoes was to tell a story with the photograph. And that is what I have tried to do. I did actually climb the hill, and then took my shoes off to take the photograph of them!

It was very simple to enter the project, I just had to upload the image to my flickr account and then enter the address on the form. But it could have been on my blog or on any other photo management site as well.

There’s a public vote for entries as well as the judges vote so you may like to drop by and take a look?

Mandy

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Image of the Week #27

This week in image of the week:

I really like the different materials in this image. I think the steel, wood and glass really compliment each other, with each different texture giving a different feel. I also like the varying lines in the image, and their patterns bring more interest to the subject.

This is a perfect example of what I like about buildings and architecture, and also an excellent example of why I like them.

Mandy

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The Pro’s and Con’s of Digital Point and Shoot Camera’s

Last week I looked at DSLR’s, so this week I thought I would look at the other side of the coin and look at digital point and shoot camera’s.

Point and shoots are extremely popular digital cameras, which means there is a huge amount of models available and therefore a lot of choice out there. You can buy everything from an extremely low end model all the way up to high performance models, which means there’s a model for every pocket. So I thought I would look at this type of camera as a whole, and look at the major pro’s and con’s to these cameras.

Pro’s

great for people new to digital photography, or people who prefer simplicity

easily fits in your pocket

great for snapshots of family, holidays etc…

fully automatic and easy to use, hence the name!

You can buy waterproof and shockproof models

Con’s

the image you see in the viewfinder isn’t the one that the lens will see, and capture

you can’t change the lens

they don’t have manual settings eg. the aperture is set

harder to make creative and artistic photographs

the digital sensor that captures the image is small so the quality of the image is restricted

My camera

When I look at my camera, a Traveler DC-5080 I see how far these type of cameras have come, it’s a fairly low end model (nice and cheap). But it has still produced some good photographs and has quite a lot of features like digital zoom, movie mode, white balance and ISO settings for example. The only thing is the more creative and artisitc I want to be, the harder it is to create what I want to do.

At the end of the day it comes down to what type of photography you want to do? Whether you want to take snapshots, or whether you want to be more creative and artistic with your photography. The answer to this question will be the one to help you decide which type of camera you want to buy.

I would like to get more creative with my photography and try new things out. So my decision on what camera I would buy is to look at getting a DSLR and learn as I go. But I am going to keep a point and shoot as a back up camera, because I still want the opportunity to take quick snapshots, and have a easy to carry camera to use. I suppose I’m after the best of both worlds!

Mandy

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Church Project: St Hilary’s Wallasey

This is my second Church Project and this week it’s St Hilary’s in Wallasey which is the oldest church in Wallasey, there’s been six different church buildings and there has been a church on this site since around 900AD. When it’s said the Vikings named the area Walea, ‘the village with the church on the island of the foreigners’.

Above is a panoramic view from the steps of St Hilary’s and my first attempt at producing a panoramic photograph. It’s not a great example, but not bad for a first attempt!

This one is the sixth building built around 1860. There’s also a separate tower from an earlier church building that burnt down. The tower dates from medieval times.

As you can see this site has a wealth of local history attached to it which is very interesting, and that appeals to me.

Mandy

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Do you ever feel held back with your Photography?

I have to say I’m feeling a little held back at the moment with my photography and in particular my camera.

I’ve got to the stage where I know I need to be able to adjust the settings for exposure to capture a better photograph, but I have no way of doing that. Because I’ve got a very low end point and shoot camera which is really great for snap shots of friends and family, but no good if I want to go a little deeper. The camera I use at the moment is a Traveler DC-5080 and it has taken what I feel are some good photographs. But if I had a camera that was more flexible then could I have made them even better?

I’ve felt this way for a while and I have been thinking about a solution, which only comes to one answer which is to buy a new camera. I could look at how I am taking the shot and consider the natural lighting that I have to work with, which I do at the moment but at the end of the day the camera itself is still limiting me. It’s just the natural time to move on to the next stage. After all if you enter a race with a Ford Fiesta you are not going to do as well in it as if you had entered it with a Jaguar, are you…

So the hunt is on and the decisions are being made and weighed in the search for an upgrade to my camera, which has served me well and will continue as my back up.

I have even been using Photoshop Elements 3 to give my images a helping hand. Which is something I’ve never really done before. I’ve used Elements more for resizing and cropping in the past, but I have been experimenting with it to see how I can improve the images, and I’ve had some pleasing results.

This is good for learning photoshop skills, which I do think has it’s place as part of the process of creating an image. But I just need that bit of flexibility in the first place to give me more creative freedom. I don’t know why but I feel like I’m betraying a trusted friend!

Mandy

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Image of the Week #26

This week in image of the week:

I went to a wedding at Chester Cathedral on Saturday, the wedding was lovely. While waiting outside for the photographs to be taken I spotted this little guy being protected by the photographers assistant. He’s got to be one of the most important guests at a wedding, hasn’t he!

And this photographer had not one but two Canon EOS 1D’s, very nice. I just noticed him through the trees and guests and thought he deserved some recognition, in the form of a photograph. I couldn’t really get much closer without looking like I wanted to kidnap him, so I had to use the digital zoom which is never really very good, and pick my way round the obstacles. So it’s not one of my best.

But I was more taking the photograph for the sentiment rather than anything else, and that’s why it made image of the week, and not on it’s technical merit! Image of the week can be more than just the best looking or best taken photograph…

Mandy

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What is a DSLR?

There’s lots of fancy abbreviations in photography and they can be confusing, you can sometimes feel like you’re reading another language! So while weighing up the pros and cons of DSLR’s which I am doing at the moment, I thought it may be a good idea to start at the beginning and look at what a DSLR really is. Well for starters it’s a camera…

DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex.

It means the camera shows you exactly what the lens is seeing through the viewfinder by using a mirror, and not off set like many point and shoots which can cause heads and arms etc to get chopped off. So what you see is what you get. Take a look at the Wiki definition for more technical information on the mirror system.

DSLR’s are the same as an SLR, but instead of using film to capture the image as the SLR does, the DSLR uses a digital sensor. Some SLR lens will fit their DSLR equivalents.

You have a lot of options with a DSLR:

• you can change lens
• have an external flash
• have manual control over the aperture and shutter settings
• they give high quality photographs (more megapixels).
• you can try different types of photography eg. macro, telephoto
• and many more features and settings

In the past this type of camera was only used by professional photographers, but over time the prices have come down that much, and they have become easier to use. So that the enthusiastic amateur can now own one, and explore photography more.

This is a start of a series on photographic abbreviations and what they mean, in an easy to understand way.

Mandy

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