Marissa Elman | Fashion & Photography

Marissa Elman is a lifelong lover of fashion and photography.

Introduction to White Balance

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Many photographers will start shooting in automatic mode, but once you start shooting in manual mode, you will gain so much more creative control over your images. The first three settings you should know about are the exposures settings: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. These settings are only the beginning, and your camera settings go beyond those three. Today’s blog focuses on white balance, which allows you to get the right color temperature in your photos. 

 

Color temperature is expressed in degrees Kelvin, and all sources of light have a color temperature whether you’re using natural light, fluorescents, professional speedlights, or LED panels. Color temperature works inversely to what we associate with temperature because “warm” colors fall at the lower end of the spectrum while “cool” colors are on the higher end. The lower the number, the warmer the color, and likewise, the cooler the color, the higher its color temperature. 

 

Colors that are warmer tend to read orange and fall around 2000K, and cooler colors, like that of moonlight are at the other end around 8000K-10,000K. Even the same light source can have variations of color temperature. Take the sun for example. Sunlight may look neutral at noon (within the ballpark of approximately 6000K) but can appear warm at sunrise or sunset. 

 

Our brains are remarkable and recognize colors even in different color temperatures. We understand that an apple is red whether we’re looking at it in warm light or cool light. A digital camera can approximate the color temperature of an object but doesn’t always compensate correctly. If you want to record accurate colors, you may be required to adjust your white balance settings. 

 

Your DSLR will often have white balance presets like Tungsten, Fluorescent, Daylight, Shade, and more that will help compensate for your lighting conditions. Sometimes, your camera may have even more refined controls and may let you adjust the values in Kelvins. Think of color temperature and white balance as opposites: warmer light falls lower on the Kelvin scale, so setting a lower number on your camera will cool down the image instead of warming it up. 

 

White balance is a powerful tool for accurate color correction, but it can also be used artistically. Knowing how to set your white balance settings can make a photo look natural, but they can also be used to do the opposite and make them look otherworldly.  

How to Choose the Best Camera for You

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With so many different cameras on the market, choosing one can be quite a task. There are a few important criteria you can consider to make your choice a little easier. Here are three things you should consider in order to choose the perfect camera.

 

Budget

If your budget is in the lower ranges, say $500 or less, you’re already essentially making the decision to stick with lower-priced point-and-shoot cameras. High-quality, professional cameras will generally start around $2000. Anything in between is basically an “enthusiast” camera—you have some knowledge of photography, but you’re not in the big leagues yet. The good news is that even if you don’t have a big budget, you can still get a camera that produces a high quality photo.

 

Camera Types

There are three camera types: point-and-shoot, DSLR, and mirrorless. If you have a low budget, you’re probably going to automatically be shopping in the point-and-shoot category. However, if you have a bigger budget or you can splurge on whatever you’d like, this opens your options up to DSLR and mirrorless cameras.

 

Point-and-shoot cameras are named so because that’s all you really have to do. They are basic cameras that are easy to use and produce decent quality photos. DSLR cameras are a much better quality camera. The lenses are interchangeable, but they are more difficult to use. Mirrorless cameras are about the same quality as DSLR cameras (maybe even better), but they tend to be much more expensive, especially the higher-quality ones. Amateurs and professionals use all kinds of cameras.

 

Photography Goals

What you want to do with your photos as well as what type of photos determines the type of camera you need and what features are most important. Are you taking pictures for your leisure? Are you going to sell your photography? Perhaps you’ll be taking sports or action shots. All of these options require different features. If you aren’t sure what you’ll be shooting, aim for cameras with a lot of options or auto settings.

 

These three simple criteria can significantly reduce the plethora of camera choices. Once the choices are narrowed down, you can easily choose one that will be suitable for you. The perfect camera will quickly lead you to the perfect picture.

Common Long Exposure Photography Mistakes To Avoid

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Over the last few years, long exposures have become a popular form of photography, and with the right tools along with a proper understanding of the techniques, you can create incredibly surreal and dreamlike portrait and landscape images. These images take time and preparation to capture, and the last thing you want is for something to go wrong that you could have easily avoided. So, with that said, here are some of the most common long exposure photography mistakes and how you can avoid them.

 

Not Properly Locking Down Tripod Legs

One of the simplest things that often gets overlooked is your tripod or mounting system. When shooting on tripods, typically, we do not think about how stable the legs are or whether we have locked everything tightly down. When it comes to long exposure photography shooting images for several seconds to minutes long, someone simply walking by can be enough to shift the tripod and ruin your image. Make sure you are using a sturdy tripod and ensure that every point of adjustment is locked down as tight as possible to avoid image shake. Some tripods might even come with hooks are a mounting system on their center column which would allow you to attach a sandbag and add some weight and stability to your system.

 

Leaving The Viewfinder Open

When dealing with photographs that take 30+ seconds, your viewfinder can be one of the easiest things to forget. Leaving the viewfinder open can lead to light leaks and often leave strange colored blobs in your shot. Make sure to cover your viewfinder to avoid the light leaking in from there. Some cameras will have a switch built in to close it up, but if not, place some black gaff tape or any other handy materials over the camera back.

 

Not Using Mirror Lock

When you are using a DSLR and looking through a viewfinder, what you are doing is looking into a mirror which is looking into another mirror over your camera’s sensor. So, when you take a picture, the mirror flips up, and shutter activates to take the shot, after which the mirror flips back down. This might not seem like a big deal, but when it comes to shooting long exposures, this can create some shake to the image. So, if you want to avoid this issue, set your camera, assuming it has this feature, to “M-Up” and then get ready for the two-step process for the shot.

Now, once you line up the shot, you can click the shutter release button which will lift the mirror and then you will need to click the button again to activate the shutter to take the shot. Another option is to enable “Live-View” mode if your camera supports it which will shoot your images with the mirror already lifted. For those with a mirrorless camera such as the Sony A7/A9 series of Fuji can ignore this mistake avoidance step.