Welcome to FAQ Friday! We post a call for questions every Thursday on our Facebook wall and select the 2 most popular questions on Friday to answer for you here! Let’s get started!
Here are our top three questions (we keep getting ties!) from this week, all with 7 likes:
“I’m in love with your backlit images that seem to glow. When I attempt it, my light meter is all over the place and I end up with a silhouette rather than a properly exposed subject. I run into the same problem when I shoot outdoors with the source (usually the sun) behind my subject. What am I doing wrong? Any tips to help get a better SOOC image?” ~Jeanne
Mariah’s Answer: Hi Jeanne! When your DSLR is in Auto, Av, or Tv mode, it makes a guess as to what your settings should be when it’s looking at a certain scene. If most of the scene is really bright, your camera will take that to mean that it should compensate and make the photo darker, giving you a silhouette. It’s just trying to help you out! 🙂 At the studio, we shoot in manual mode for backlit shots, leaving all the decision-making up to us and not the camera. We’ll pick an aperture that works for the subjects in front of us (3.5-4.5 for multiple subjects), then play with the shutter speed until it’s slow enough that the camera lets in all the light we want. Every backlit shot is different, so you’ll want to take a couple test shots before choosing settings. Outdoors, I make it a point to keep the sun behind my subjects, and will shoot the same way: pick an aperture, then roll your shutter speed until it’s where you want it. You’ll eventually get to know the settings that work best for your locations and your style. If you’re finding that your images are blurry with the shutter speed you pick, try increasing your ISO.
When I was learning this, I had a hard time picturing how all of the camera settings worked together to create an image. This book helped a TON!
“What camera would you recommend for a family to purchase that is easy to use, captures great photos, and that also prints great photos?!” ~Erica
Heidi’s Answer: Good question Erica, I actually get asked this frequently! I think it is such a popular question because the answer is constantly changing, leaving us all confused! I haven’t bought a non-pro camera in years, so while I can explain to you what all the specs actually mean, I haven’t done much research on brands and models in a long time. Because camera companies are coming up with fabulous new digital camera models constantly, I would recommend learning more about what the features actually DO, and then you can research what current models have the features that are most important to you. For example do you want great capabilities shooting low light, would you like it to be water resistant or shock proof, would you like interchangeable lenses and manual options? I found this article back in 2012 and I think is a really great starting point for anyone buying a camera. It was posted by The Verge, a relatively new tech site, and it goes over all of the basics of photography and camera body types to help you sort through all of the terminology before looking at specific models. I highly recommend you read this while you get started on your search!
The Verge: Camera Buying Guide
“Do you use a zoom lens or switch lenses? I shoot at a client’s house and a zoom lens comes in handy when the space is limited, but it seems that a zoom lens is not as sharp as a prime lens…. I imagine that you don’t have to use a zoom lens at your studio, but would you use on location?” ~Atsuko
Heidi’s Answer: I started out with zoom lenses, but have switched to all prime lenses over the years. I just love how sharp they are and the gorgeous depth of field they produce wide open. Mariah and I both use prime lenses primarily on location too. We’ll simply switch from the 50 to the 35 if the space is too tight. The only zoom lens we still use on occasion is the 70-200mm, and mostly just outdoors.
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