PRE-SET MODES PART 2

SPORTS MODE
Ok, so we all know what the sports mode does right? You know, that little picture of the stick-figure running on your setting dial of your camera? This mode makes the picture clearer when someone is running or moving quickly right? Yes that is correct, but why won't the regular "auto pilot" setting just make it clear as well?

Great question. Notice this picture I took of our local City basball team. As you can see, both the runner and the ball, which are moving at very high speeds, are in focus. What you may not notice is the background is ALSO in focus. In the normal "auto pilot mode", the lens has a smaller opening which lets in less light, but also causes the background to be slightly blurry (this is how portrait mode works, but that will be a different lesson) and most likely the runner and the ball would be blurry as well, because of motion blurr. This blurriness would not be a good thing for sports pictures. So, by opening the lens wider, more light is let into the lens, but the drawback is that the background is not blurry (notice the writing on the wall on the far right upper corner-this is VERY far away and would normally not be readable). Fortunatly when photographing sports, it is more important to catch the image in focus than to have the background blurry, and sometimes this clear background actually adds to the picture, especially when fans and other players are looking on.

Now, keep in mind, that a little motion blur (Difinition-subjects in the picture being blurred) is not always a bad thing. Notice this picture I took at a wedding recently. Had the picture been in "sports mode" the rice being thrown at the couple would not be blurred, but rather would look like specs of distracing dust in the picture. The result here, as you can see, has no camera shake (Definition-blurriness caused from movement of the camera) in this picture, but the shutter is not quite open long enough to catch a clear picture of the rice or even the groom (notice his left hand). Now this effect would not work for the baseball picture above, but works great for this type of "photo-journalistic" picture.

So next time you are taking a picture where someone or something is moving fairly quickly, flip your camera to sports mode and have fun!

Good luck and keep shooting!

USING PRE-SET MODES: LESSON 1

NIGHT MODE: "What in the moon is night mode for" you might ask. You know, on the dial where you can flip it to the little simbol of a stickperson and a star next to them? (Trust me, it is there...take a minute to find the little man with the stars). Now, why would you use this? Well, the night mode is a great tool to use WHEN YOU HAVE TO USE THE FLASH, BUT ALSO WANT THE BACKGROUND TO SHOW UP IN THE PICUTRE like a person standing in front of a sunset, a picture at dusk or even at night when you want to see the Statue of Liberty or other well lit monument in the background.
Normally, when you use a flash, it is TOO powerfull (really giving off alot of light) for this type of picture that the background becomes dark. You have probably all experienced this around sunset when there seems to be plenty of light out and you take a pic with the flash, but it ends up looking compeletly dark in the background and you cannot see the background at all. This dark background is due to the camera naturally giving off a large amount of flash so that the picture is sharp and there is no motion blurr (Definition-fuzziness from someone moving during the picture while the lens was being held open), or camera shake ( Definition-blurriness caused from the camera not being held still while the shutter/lens was open). In this same sunset situation, you probably then tried to take the same picture without the flash but it turned out all blurry. If you didn't use the flash, the person/picture would be extremely blurry b/c of motion blurr and camera shake. The camera needs the lens open for a long time to let enough light in for it to be visible. To get the picture to turn out you could tell you model to sit still for about 6 seconds while the shutter (lens) is open and you would also have to have your camera on a tripod to get the picture to work without using the flash, but this is usually not practical. Another option would be to use the regular flash, but this amount of light is really too much for the situation discribed above and would cause the background to be black.

This is where THE NIGHT MODE (that little man with the stars in the backgroung setting on your camera) is usefull. In this sunset/dusk situation, just flip your camera to night mode and pop up the flash. What happens is the flash shoots at a lower percentage (giving less light than the flash NORMALLY would give), helping to keep the background visible in the picture instead of making it look like the middle of the night. This also works if you are trying to catch colors from lights (such as in a concert or even the color from christmas lights on a tree). The flash "overpowers" the natural light, really just washing it out and not getting the colored effect you want. Just use the "NIGHT MODE" and you will hopefully find a little better results.

PICTURE AT TOP:
If this picture was taken at full flash, the background (cross and person) would be completly black (looking like it was takin in the middle of the night) and the colors in the background would not be visible at all.

TIP: The lens will actually be open a bit longer than normal (to allow more light in the lens), so try to have your model (or sucker if you are practicing) hold still, as well as your hand holding the camera...you may even want a tripod, but that may be a bit too much.

UNEXPECTE MOMENTS: Sometimes unexpected circumstances can make for great photos when looking back, which always reminds me to roll with the punches. At this specific location, this was actually the 2nd (completly unrelated) person to "join in for a pic"- you know when a person passing by thinks it would be fun to jump in for a posed picture, knowing full well that they will never see it. So, here it is. Well done mate, and maybe this picture will find its way to you someday!