Digital SLR Photography

Theworl dof photograp hy\ naS psshotNove mber2016Digital Slr Photography 21Myth#1Don’tshoot intothe sunBeginnersaretoldtoshootwiththesunbehindthem,soyougetnice,evenlighting,howeverindoingsoyourimagesareprobablygoingtobeflatandboring.Whileitmightbetrickiertometerfor, backlightingisagreatapproachforcapturingimageswithdepthandatmosphere,especiallywhenthere’smist,fogorrainintheair.It’salsogoodforportraitsasyou’llavoidsquintingeyesandharshshadows–simplyspot-meterfromyoursubject'sface.``````Myth#2CamerabranD X is bestHaveyoueverheardtwobuilderssquabbleaboutwhichbrandofhammerisbest?Ofcoursenot–they’retoolsthatdoajobintherighthands.Thesamegoesforyourcamera.Whilesomemodelsarebetteratsomethingsthanothers(forexample,top-endproDSLRsexcelatsports,whilemirrorlessmodelsaregreatforstreetshooting),yourchosenbrandofcameraorlensquiteoftencomesdowntowhichyoupreferusing.Can’twealljustgetalong?``````Myth#3PhotoshoPisa baDthingYouoftenhearphotographersbragabouthowtheirimagescontain‘noediting’orare'straightoutofcamera'.Ifthat’struethenthey’recompletelymissingoutongettingthebestfromtheirimages–alldigitalfilesneedtweakingandboostingtoreachtheirfullpotential.Everysingleprofessionallyproduceddigitalimageincirculationwillhavebeeneditedinoneformoranother,justthesameaseveryimageshotonfilmwasdevelopedandprintedatsomepoint.``````Myth#4Pros use manualmoDeRubbish.Professionalphotographersusethemodethatgivesthemthemostconsistentresultsforthejobinhand.Wedding,lifestyleandpressphotographerswilloftenuseaperture-priority,whereassportsandactionphotographersmightswitchbetweenaperture-andshutter-priority.Studiophotographers,orthoseregularlyusingflashareoneofthefewtha tusemanualmodealot,becauseitgivesthemcompletecontrolofthelighting.``````Myth#5there'sa'right'eXPosureStrictlyspeaking,ifyoumeteredfroman18%greycardinanygivenlightingscenariothenthat’sthe‘correct’exposure,howeverwe’dbetall ofourcamerakitthatdoingsodoesn’talwayscreatethebest-lookingimage.Digitalphotographyisaboutdeliveringyourvision–youhavetocaptureanexposure(orexposures)thatportraythesceneorsubjectasyouwantittobeseen,whilstunderstandingthedynamicrangelimitationsofimagesensors.``````Myth#6You Can’tChangetheWhitebalanCe ofJPegsDidyouknowthatJPEGscanbeloadedintoLightroomorAdobeCameraRawandprocessedinalmostexactlythesamemannerasRawfiles?ThatgoesforadjustingtheWhiteBalancetoo.Youwon’tbeofferedthepresetsthatcomewithRawfiles,andyoucan’tpushthefilesasfar,butyoucanstilladjustthetemperatureandtintofyourimages,aswellasusingtheWBeyedroppertopickaneutraltone.``````Myth#7You neeDto usea uVfilterThismightcomeasasurprise,butUVfiltersdoabsolutelynothingforyourimages.ModernopticsaretreatedwithclevercoatingswhichnegatetheuseofaUVfiltercompletely.Infact,theywillprobablydegradeimagequalityeversoslightlyoverthesamelenswithoutafilter.Whattheydooffer, however,issomeprotectionagainstdamagingthelens'sfrontelement.Soifyou’retheclumsytype,thenitmightbeworthkeepingyourUVfilteron.``````Myth#8i neeD better gearPhotographersoftengetcaughtupinthenotionthatupgradingtheirkitwillmiraculouslyallowthemtobecomebetterphotographers.Poppycock!Agoodphotographercanusealmostanyequipmenttocreatecompellingimages.Moneyinvestedincontinuallyupdatingyourgearisbetterspentonworkshopsandexcursionstouseyourcamera.Onlyonceyoucanoutperformyourhardwareshouldyoulooktoupgrade.``````PhotograPhyis full of second-hand advice and half-truths.in anattemPtto shed somelight on what’s rightandwrong, we’ve debunkedeight ofthe mostcommonmisconcePtions surroundingdigital PhotograPhy...``````TOBIASkELLER ROSALInDCHAnG``````JORDAnBUTTERS``````nAOMIBUTTERS SHUTTERSTOCk SYLWIABARTYzEL``````JORDAnBUTTERS EMILJARfELTbustersphotomyth