Shooting the Ultimate Jack-o -lantern Our store recently received an article from Tamron regarding photographing jack-o-lanterns, which we are reprinting here with their permission. Don t be spooked by exposure and setup it s simple to put your carved creations in their best light. Images and text by André Costantini The kids are settled into their school routine, the leaves are falling, and the nights are getting cooler time to start setting up the Halloween décor! After you ve scooped out the seeds, put your pumpkin under the knife, and strategically set up a lantern or candle inside its hollowed-out shell, what s the best way to photograph your eerie orange orb? The two major challenges to getting any good picture (not just spooky shots in October) are getting the right shutter speed and a balanced exposure. You also need to make sure you re using the right equipment to get the shutter speed you desire. For this Halloween pictorial, I photographed a jacko -lantern with the Tamron SP 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II VC fast standard zoom. This lens is ideal for shooting a candlelit jack-o -lantern due to its fast F/2.8 aperture and Tamron s Vibration Compensation (VC) stabilization technology. Lenses with aperture settings of f/2.8 or wider have a larger opening to let more light in. The result: a faster shutter speed that can help reduce blur. This is especially helpful when the light is low, such as when photographing a candlelit pumpkin in the chilly evening hours. The other feature that s helpful in this type of shooting situation is Tamron s VC technology. The stabilizer built into the 17-50mm lens allows you to hand-hold images at slower shutter speeds. By compensating for any slight movements that you might make, the VC technology helps you achieve sharper images of your pumpkin props. When you use a tripod for long exposures, you ll actually want to turn the VC off; however, for the majority of your shooting, you ll definitely want to leave the VC on to get the most out of your lens. Don t Go Batty Getting the Exposure Right The second challenge when shooting lit jack-o - lanterns is getting the correct exposure. This is partially contingent on what mode you have your camera in. If you have your camera in the Green Box or Full Auto mode, you ve relinquished all control: As soon as the light gets low, the camera s going to add flash whether you want it or not. If, however, you turn your camera to the A or AV mode ( aperture priority mode), you ll be able to choose the aperture yourself. By choosing f/2.8 in this case, you ll get the fastest shutter speed available. A Lens Choice That Won t Come Back to Haunt You Many zoom lenses have great focal ranges but they re not fast lenses ( fast indicating the widest aperture the lens has available). 1 image 2
In the first image (1) I shot, the sun had gone down, but there was still plenty of light in the sky relative to the amount of light emanating from the candle. The result is that you re able to see the light in the pumpkin and the actual pumpkin. In the second image (2), I switched my camera to Manual mode and waited for the light to change. You can see how the candle becomes the dominant source of light, creating a more dramatic image, but the background is almost entirely gone. In the third image (3), I increased the shutter speed by 1-1/2 stops to get some more of the background in there; this also added more exposure to the pumpkin. image 2 October, 2011 For the last shot (4), I did a 30-second exposure. I needed to use a tripod for this image. To balance the starry sky and the light from the jack-o -lantern, I had to reduce the amount of light from the candle. To do this, I simply blew out the candle a few seconds into the long exposure. If I hadn t done so, the result would have been an overexposed pumpkin (see image 5). Remember: Our cameras capture whatever s in front of them for as long as the shutter is open so if you re able to control the amount of light entering your camera, you ll be able to control the exposure. Setting Up Your Shots Can Be a Scream Compose your shots carefully to give your pumpkin pal some context. For my final images, I purposely chose a low angle to give ol Jack a little more presence in the image and so his top would be above the tree line, which helped to separate him from the background. I also placed the pumpkin on the side of the frame and left plenty of room for the tree line and sky, which makes the jack-o - lantern appear as if he s popping into the frame with a boisterous Boo! All images were taken at the 17mm wide-angle end of the lens (with the exception of the first image, which was shot at 50mm). The wide angle view helped incorporate the background into the images, creating a perfectly ominous environment from which the pumpkin can emerge. Read more tips from André on the Tamron blog at http://tamrontechstips.typepad.com/. image 3 2 image 4
image 5 Read more tips from André on the Tamron blog at http://tamrontechstips.typepad.com/. More details regarding this lens will be reprinted on the last page. The Future Is Now According to Sony Recently, the staff of our stores had the opportunity to get hands-on training with Sony s new SLR / interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs). We got to see exactly where Sony thinks the interchangeable camera world is going, and assuming they are successful, where all companies very well might be headed. As previously mentioned in these newsletters, moving SLR mirrors are a thing of the past. Either the mirror will stay in place, or there will be no mirror at all. The same applies to a physical mechanical shutter system (shutter blades). Why lose these long-standing staples? Because with new technologies, they aren t needed! Removing these parts from the equation means fewer October, 2011 moving parts to manufacture, build, and maintain. Sony also claims that with fewer moving parts, cameras should be less expensive to make, maintain, and repair (although we will wait to see if that turns out to be true). This also means the end of a true visual viewfinder electronic viewfinders (in addition to the LCD screen) will be the new norm. What does all this mean for you? Many things, a few including- Being able to shoot video through the viewfinder, built-in histograms and special effects in real time (imagine not only depth of field preview, but time exposure, monochrome, and much more), and being able to see a well-lit image in the viewfinder, even in near darkness. Also be prepared to see faster continuous shooting, better 3 object and face tracking, and easier manual focusing. Cameras will be much smaller and lighter a number of ILC cameras are already smaller than many point and shoots. These new Sony cameras will be coming into the stores over the next couple months. Even if you have no intention of buying a new camera anytime soon, come check out a glimpse into the future of the medium!
Water, Water Everywhere Snap Shots Earthquakes - tsunami - and now rain! Lots and lots of rain. During the past week, central Thailand has been flooded by the heaviest monsoons in decades, if not centuries. This photo, posted October 12, shows flood damage to Nikon s. Thai factory. Other neighboring manufacturers are There are several upcoming classes in our photo schools. Full details can be found at our web site. We hope to see you during at least one of them. The Northeastern U.S. normally enjoys its most colorful and dramatic sunsets during the next few weeks. Remember that the exposure used for the sunset is very different than the exposure of a subject lit by the setting sun. If photographing a subject in front of the sunset, remember to force the camera to use its flash. suffering similar catastrophies. This Nikon facility manufactured all of Nikon s D3100, D5100, D7000 cameras and many of Nikon s lenses. Similarly, Canon lost a factory making inkjet printers and Sony lost production capabilities for making interchangeable lens camera bodies. Hoya s factory for making optical glass and glass platters used in hard drives. As this newsletter is being written, it is still raining in Thailand. It is unknown whether or not these factories will re-open, and if so, when. It is already difficult to get cameras and lenses from several makers. It is certain that it will not be any easier as we approach 2012. Expect to find product shortages and increased prices as the Holiday season approaches. 4 Enjoy taking pictures. See you next month. Madison PhotoPlus 40 Main St., Madison, NJ 07940 v.973.966.2900; f.973.377.1458 www.madisonphoto.com Jerry, Joy, Marie, Rachelle, Rob, Sybil & Vincent the PhotoSummit 383 Springfield Ave., Summit, NJ 07901 v. 908.273.7427; f.908.277.0218 www.photosummit.com Bret, Josh, Larry & Lynne
Tamron SP 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II Speaking VC Fast Standard Zoom Lens! Tamron s SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC LD Aspherical [IF] (Model B005) is a high speed f/2.8 wide-to-moderate-telephoto zoom lens designed exclusively for Canon and Nikon-mount digital SLR cameras with smaller sensors and now features Tamron s proprietary tri-axial Vibration Compensation (VC) mechanism that minimizes the effects of handheld camera shake. The new SP 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC covers the very popular 17-50mm focal length range (equivalent to 26-78mm in the full-frame 35mm format) making it extremely versatile. Its wide aperture and outstanding performance provide practical advantages in low-light shooting and aesthetic image control, thereby enriching the user s range of creative expression. The new lens delivers impressive sharpness and striking contrast over its entire focal-length and aperture range, and at its maximum aperture of f/2.8 it produces beautiful images enhanced by shallow depth of- field, and smooth, natural transitions in out-of-focus areas of the image (i.e. excellent bokeh.) The new lens is equipped with Tamron s proprietary Vibration Compensation (VC) image stabilization mechanism, which controls the effects of camera shake in three planes. VC provides more opportunities for sharp hand-held photography (up to 4-stops) at the slow shutter speeds needed when shooting in low-light conditions (e.g. night or indoor scenes) dramatically enhancing the user s level of photographic freedom. Tamron 6-Year USA warranty and $50 rebate thru 12/31/11 when purchased from the Photo Summit or Madison PhotoPlus. 5