Before your photo trip to Israel (You are coming with us aren’t you? See http://www.canadaphototours.com/Israel_Tour.html for an overview and http://www.canadaphototours.com/Israel_Tour_2.html for the itinerary.) I recommend two ways to become a better photographer fast:

#1 – Shoot lots. Make lots of mistakes. Walk around the house shooting photos and then using your manual or going online figure out what’s happening and why.

#2 – Take a course or two. I teach at Henry’s School of Imaging and their courses are excellent.

Here’s why you should consider taking a course:

Digital photography isn’t as easy to grasp as shooting film. Early 35mm film cameras only had three controls: manual focusing, manual shutter speed and aperture controls. Some (and these were expensive cameras) didn’t even have built-in light meters . So to focus you looked through the viewfinder and you manually turned the lens focus ring until you saw a sharp image. Using a light meter (either built in or external) you determined what combination of shutter speed (which has an effect on how much motion the camera stops or allows to be recorded) and aperture (which controls what’s in or out of the depth of field – Which is what’s in focus and what’s out) to create a proper exposure (determine whether the image is too light, too dark or just right). That’s it. Of sure there were other things we could do but these are the basics.

In digital photography we have automatic cameras. You’d think this would be a good thing. Well, it is and it isn’t.

Auto-focus cameras do the focusing for you. But you need to tell the camera which “focusing mode” you want. Even then, sometimes the cameras focusing on the wrong object in the frame. (The best example of this is the photo of two people shaking hands and the camera misses the two people and focusing on the wall behind them.) The auto focus can be configured in many different ways. (Here’s a hint: You can only use one auto focusing mode at a time, so pick one that’s simple. I use the default mode which focuses on what’s closest and in the middle of the viewfinder. Really simple and really accurate.)

Auto exposure is great too but don’t try using it to photograph a sunset or fireworks. And which auto mode to use?

Most digital cameras have a variety of ways of metering. Do you want evaluative, central or spot metering?

I won’t eve

And there’s more, but you get the point. It’s enough to send us back to our film cameras, isn’t it?

So what’s the answer? I refer you to points one and two. Also, there’s nothing wrong with shooting in full-automatic mode until you get used to your digital camera. Then start shooting in the pre-set modes like portrait and landscape. After you’ve had some success with those modes, it’s time to take control over the creative aspects of your camera (and it can be a point-and-shoot or digital single-lens reflex) and shoot in program mode (sort of fully automatic with some manual overrides), aperture (You control the amount of depth of field) and shutter (You control how much motion gets recorded) priority or full manual (You control everything) modes. And, then come with us to Israel this coming March.

Michael Willems wowed the members of the Oakville Camera Club this week with his fabulous advanced digital photography techniques workshop.

Over 75 people attended and Michael didn’t disappoint. The students asked questions on everything from white balance to what focusing mode works best. As always, Michael had the answers and delivered in a way that worked for beginner and advanced photographers alike.

Also, we’re getting registrations coming in for the Israel Photo Training Tour March 14 to 27. For more information follow this link: http://www.canadaphototours.com/Israel_Tour.html

The photo trip to Israel is seeing registrations coming in for the March 14 to 27, 2008 adventure. Here’s the link for registering online: http://www.goisraeltravel.com/hot_deals.php

Also online at the Go Israel Travel site is our tentative itinerary available as a PDF document. just click on Photography Training Tour To Israel link. By the way, the cost for the trip is $4259 (US).

For everyone who registers before Oct. 30 we’re providing a free photography course at Henry’s School of Imaging

Go there now to register for this unique photo training tour.

There’s more information available at www.canadaphototours.com

Regardless of how big and bright your LCD screen is on the back of your camera, you really can’t be sure an image is sharp unless you zoom in to check it closely. I do this all the time when I’m teaching at Henry’s School of Imaging. I take a photo with a relatively slow lens like an 18 to 200. The shutter opens for about an 1/8 or a second in the dim light of the lecture room and I get an image. On first look at the screen, the photo looks great. The exposure is correct and the people in the image look sharp. Sharp that is until I start to zoom in on the image on the screen. It doesn’t take much magnification to show that at 1/8 of a second (even with the vibration reduction switched on….although I must admit I do turn it off because sometimes, even in this dim light, I can get a pretty sharp image which isn’t what I want to illustrate my point) the image is blurry.

Find your zoom-in button and practice with tip with some of your photos taken in available light.

Perhaps the number one issue that newcomers run into with their new digital single-lense reflex cameras is camera shake. Camrea shake shows up as images which are blurry. They’re not out of focus but appear soft especially when viewed at any magnification whether on the camera viewing screen or on a computer monitor.

The reason we get camera shake is we don’t notice that the shutter speed has fallen below a speed where we can safely handhold the camera. This is especially true with the more sophisticated cameras which can run in the semi-automatic modes of apeture priority, shutter priority, program and manual.

In apeture priority, you are selecting the apetture setting (in order to determine the amount of depth of field) while the camera is automatically adjusting the shutter speed in order to produce a correct exposure setting. It’s easy to be shooting at speeds too slow to ensure sharp images.

In manual, program and shutter priority, this issue doesn’t show up so long as you know what the slowest shutter speed is you can set and not get camera shake.

Thank goodness there’s a rule of thumb that comes from the days of film photography. To avoid camera shake, set the camera shutter speed (or ensure in apeture priority that the camera doesn’t go below) to match the milimeters of your lense. Huh? This is really pretty simple. If you’ve got a 50 mm lens on your camera (notice this isn’t a zoom), you need to set your shutter speed to at least 1/50 of a second. Since most cameras don’t have a setting of 1/50 but 1/60, set the camera to the higher setting.

But I’ve got a zoom lens that goes from 18 to 200 mm. That’s okay. Set the shutter speed to at least

The easiest way to get sharper photos is to use a tripod. That will eliminate camera shake. And, don’t forget that if you’re using a camera that has a vibration reduction feature or a lens with this feature, turn it off when you’re using the camera on any steadying device. If the camera is on a tripod the anti-shake devices will keep looking to see why there isn’t any shaking for them to minimize and thus this behaviour creates more shaking.

But it’s no fun carrying a tripod around with you all day, especially when you’re on vacation, so what I do is carry a mini tripod. I’ve been meaning to buy one of the big “gorilla-type” three-legged devices which can stand like a regular tripod or be wrapped around a tree branch. Best of all, these supports will fit into a medium-size camera bag.

Another trick is to bring a tripod or, better yet, a mono pod (it’s a a one-legged tripod that helps steady the camera) only to a location where you’re certain you’ll need it. For example, if I’m going night shooting I bring some sort of support so I can take time exposures.

How do the pros get such sharp photos? It’s more than just shooting at a high enough shutter speed to avoid camera shake. Every lens, ever made, at any price will take sharper pictures at some aperture settings than others. So how do you know where your lens shoots at its sharpest? Generally speaking, your lens is the sharpest at two full stops smaller than wide open. So if you’re shooting with the lens that came with the camera and it’s aperture range is from f3.5/f5.6 to f16, then the best aperture for sharpness is going to be f8 or f11.

Now before we go any further let’s look at the funny way I indicated the wide-open f-stops. In the example above I said the range started at f3.5/f5.6. This dual f-stop number shows that the camera manufacturer saved money and weight by going to a variable f-stop when shooting wide open. In other words when the lens is zoomed out wide the aperture is going to be f3.5 but then it’s zoomed in and is at its longest setting it will be opening to only f5.6. For most amateurs, having a slight change in the f-stop reading while zooming in and out doesn’t matter. But in critical situations, like wedding photography, it’s best to be using a fixed f-stop lens to maintain the same exposure regardless of the zoom. That’s one of the reasons wedding photographers buy such fast, heavy and expensive lenses. A 17mm to 55mm f2.8 or a 70mm to 210mm f2.8 are heavy, fast, expensive and do not change their exposure settings (by changing the aperture) during zooming.

The second reason pros buy fast lenses with a fixed rather than a variable aperture, is a fast lens opened up wide (f2.8 or lower) yields a photo with very narrow depth of field.  Shooting like this isolates the subject from the out-of-focus background. Here’s a shot of a fiddlehead which is in focus and set against a background that’s out of focus. It’s too bad I don’t shoot weddings so we’ll have to settle for the fern but if you go to any great wedding photographer’s website you’ll see examples of the single-focus, narrow depth of field shot of the bride.

Well we’ve got our numbers and they’re better than I thought possible. Michael and I just have to get out our calculators and trim a couple of small items and we’ll be announcing the dates and price for the Israel Photo Trip in the next couple of days.

By the way, every photographer that I’ve spoken to who has shot images in Israel says it’s an amazing place to go and March is the best time to find great lighting. Now Michael’s been there a couple of times and I’ve seen his photos and for a guy who doesn’t use a Nikon, I’ve got to admit they’re not bad. Just kidding Michael

More details to follow and we’ve already got enquires about pre-registering. This is going to be a fun, educational and exciting adventure. Check out Canada Photo Tours.

Perhaps the number one issue that newcomers run into with their new digital single-lense reflex cameras is camera shake. Camrea shake shows up as images which are blurry. They’re not out of focus but appear soft especially when viewed at any magnification whether on the camera viewing screen or on a computer monitor.

The reason we get camera shake is we don’t notice that the shutter speed has fallen below a speed where we can safely handhold the camera. This is especially true with the more sophisticated cameras which can run in the semi-automatic modes of apeture priority, shutter priority, program and manual.

In apeture priority, you are selecting the apetture setting (in order to determine the amount of depth of field) while the camera is automatically adjusting the shutter speed in order to produce a correct exposure setting. It’s easy to be shooting at speeds too slow to ensure sharp images.

In manual, program and shutter priority, this issue doesn’t show up so long as you know what the slowest shutter speed is you can set and not get camera shake. 

Thank goodness there’s a rule of thumb that comes from the days of film photography. To avoid camera shake, set the camera shutter speed (or ensure in apeture priority that the camera doesn’t go below) to match the milimeters of your lense. Huh? This is really pretty simple. If you’ve got a 50 mm lens on your camera (notice this isn’t a zoom), you need to set your shutter speed to at least 1/50 of a second. Since most cameras don’t have a setting of 1/50 but 1/60, set the camera to the higher setting.

But I’ve got a zoom lens that goes from 18 to 200 mm. That’s okay. Set the shutter speed to at least

Honestly, it’s the one you have with you. Sure it’s great to have a Canon 40D or a Nikon D300 at the ready but there’s a time and a place to be carrying a FujiFilm F30 or a Canon G9.

I loved carrying my D300 with an 18-200mm zoom or the 12 to 24 wide zoom during a vacation trip to Chicago.  This is one city that is a photographer’s dream. There’s lots of great architecture to shoot (take the architectural boat cruise) and most museums and art galleries will allow you to shoot. Remember, to leave the tripod in the hotel room. Most public places won’t allow them to be used fearing customer safety and convenience. And, of course, your DSLR camera can be handheld especially if you’re using a high ISO setting. This shot was taken at sunset from the bar at the top of the Sears Tower.

I love shooting with the big camera but after lugging it around for 10 to 12 hours, I was ready to put it down

That’s where a point-and-shoot camera can come in really handy. My FujiFilm F30D is a simple point-and-shoot that can take a six-megapixel image. That’s plenty when it comes to printing. Don’t get fooled by the megapixel marketing hype. A six-megapixel camera can record some great images. Best of all, it can sit in a pocket or be carried on a belt case until needed. This is the camera that I will risk taking out on a boat. If something happened to it, I’d replace it immediately (but maybe I’d buy a Canon G9 or the new Nikon point-and-shoot rumoured to be on its way.  This shot of the “Bean”, an outdoor piece of art in Chicago, was taken with the point-and-shoot. Not a bad picture, if I do say so myself.