Pacific Northwest Images

Now that you’ve got that shiny new digital camera you want to start capturing those precious moments, landscapes, flowers, animals, or whatever. Generally, when you purchase a new camera, you either already have some of the accessories you’ll need, or you received a “kit” that included them. I’m going to offer up my list of the top 10 digital camera accessories that you should have.

1. Camera Bag

You have to have something to carry all of your gear in! Things to look for include:

• Will it hold everything you need?
• Is it easy to access the gear without removing setting the bag down?
• Will it protect the gear?
• Does it close securely?

I like messenger style bags for their accessibility and comfort while carrying them. You’ll want to make sure that it’s water resistant if you will be carrying it outdoors.

2. Memory Cards

Lot’s and lot’s of memory! You can never have too much! I prefer to go no larger than about 2-gigabyte cards in case I lose one or it is corrupted. I would rather lose 200 images on a 2-gig card than 400 on a 4-gig card.

3. Tripod

Get a tripod! If you’ll be taking landscape shots, group photos (with you in them), or shots in less than ideal lighting conditions, use a tripod. You’ll be surprised at the improvement in sharpness once you start using one.

4. Computer Storage
By an external backup hard drive. Better yet, buy an enclosure, a good quality hard drive, and put one together yourself. This way, you’ll know you are getting a quality drive. Make sure it’s at least Firewire or USB2.0. You really don’t want a computer crash to cause you to lose years worth of precious images.

5. Photo Printer

At some point you’ll want to view your photos somewhere besides your computer. You can always send them out to be printed at a lab (I think Costco does a great job!) but there may be times when you want to print your own at home. Printer technology changes pretty fast but at the moment, I like the HP B9180. It will print up to a 13×19 inch print, it’s fast, has excellent print quality, and is economical on ink consumption. There are a ton of review sites out there so do some homework to make sure you choose the best printer for you.

6. Rechargeable Batteries

You will soon spend more on batteries than you spent on your camera if you are a heavy shooter and you don’t have rechargeable batteries. Get a bunch of them so you can make sure you always have a set of charged batteries handy. Get Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) of the highest capacity you can find (1850 mAh or greater) and you will be pleasantly surprised at how long you can shoot!

7. Flash

Built in flashes are okay for quick shots that are close in and don’t need a lot of flash coverage (1 or 2 people). If your camera is equipped to accept an external flash, get it. You’ll have much better flash coverage and since the flash will use it’s own power supply, longer batter life in your camera.

8. Waterproof Cover

If you shoot outdoors, on the river, in the rain, near swimming pools, or anywhere there is water, you should look into getting a waterproof cover for your camera. These covers range from basic plastic bag type covers to O-ring sealed hard shell underwater cases. Get one now, save your camera latter!

9. Image Editing Software

Red eye removal and other basic image editing can be accomplished very nicely with free software. I highly recommend Google’s Picasa software. In addition to the basic image editing capabilities, Picasa is also a full featured image management application. Download it now!!

10. Digital Photo Frame

These things are cool! Digitally load your favorite images in them, hang them on a wall and you have a nice framed presentation of your photos!

11. Book
Okay, I know I said top 10 but here’s a bonus, buy or borrow a copy of Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure. This book WILL improve your ability to take great images more consistently. Go to Amazon’s website and read the review. Trust me, it’s well worth the read.

I hope this list of camera accessories has helped you. Please let me know if you think there are items that should be added.

I love to shoot weddings!  It’s fun and, with the proper gear, can be a very positive experience for the photographer (and the couple)!  Below are the three lenses that I always have with me at weddings and the three that are the most used. 

Canon EF 70-200 2.8 L USM IS – This is my most used lens for weddings.  Not only is the focal length a great one but the image quality is awesome!  The fast 2.8 aperture combined with the image stabilization allows handholding without flash possible in fairly dim locations.  This lens should be in the bag of any wedding photographer that shoots Canon.

Canon EF 24-70 2.8 L USM – On a 1.3 or 1.6 crop body, this is a great portrait lens.  At an aperture of 2.8, you’ll have to keep in mind that the edges can go soft below about 30mm but drop it by a stop and it isn’t an issue.  This lens is wide enough to fit a decent sized group in the image.

Canon EF 50 1.4 USM – Low light situations call for a low light lens and the 50 1.4 is pretty darn good when it’s time to catch the fun at a reception.  Although Canon’s 50 1.2 is faster it also comes with a pretty large price increase over the 1.4.  The 50mm on a crop body also makes for a good portrait lens.  Stopped down to about 2.0 it is sharp and produces dreamy background blur.

If I could only bring one of the above lenses it would probably be the 24-70.  It’s a versatile lens and when matched with on camera diffused flash, works pretty well in most wedding situations.

During the ceremony I shoot with two camera bodies, one with the 70-200, and the other with the 24-70.  This allows me to be ready for anything that is going on around me.  During the reception I shoot candid with the 70-200 and keep the 50 close by for action taking place near me.  Portraits are shot with the 24-70, 50, and sometimes even the 70-200.

In a previous post I discussed using a commercial application for downloading images from camera memory cards. My gradual (but not complete) switch to Linux is causing me to look for alternative applications that fit my workflow but run under Linux. It’s important for me to find applications that fit MY workflow and down’t require me to change the way I like doing things.

I’ve found DIM to be very capable of handling my image downloads. That’s good news but what’s even better is that DIM is free and it works on pretty much any system that supports the JAVA runtime environment (Apple, Linux, Windows).

DIM scans your camera memory cards recursively so you don’t have to worry about sub-directories being skipped, it will get all of the images. I have DIM setup to use the EXIF data contained in the image files to save each image into a directory on my computer that corresponds to the date the image was taken. DIM can also rename the image file according to criteria that the user sets up but at this stage of the workflow, I keep the camera assigned name. There are so many options for naming and directory structure in DIM that it really should fit the needs of most photographers. One option that I may try out in the future is to have DIM prompt me for a “Job Name” and then append that name to each image filename.

The other option that I use in DIM is to automatically create backup files while it DIM downloads the files from the camera memory card. I tell it to backup the files to a network drive then write-protect those files.

I’m very happy with DIM as my image downloading software. My next step is to find a good image management (RAW and jpg) and cataloging system (let me know if you know of any).

Buying a digital camera can be a daunting task. What brand? What kind? How many pixels? What accessories? And on and on and on… I’ll try to break down the options and what to look for when deciding on a new digital camera to purchase.

First, you need to have a good idea of why you are purchasing a camera and how you plan on using it. For example, do you plan on using a zoom lens, shoot in low light, keep it in “auto” mode, how big do you think you’ll want to make prints, will you be shooting a lot of close ups (macro), sports, etc.

Once you have these questions answered, you can then start making informed decisions on the options that you need your camera to have.

Megapixels (or mine is bigger than yours!) This is the measurement most used by camera manufacturers to sell their gear. It is assumed that bigger is always better, right? In this case, that’s not always right. Although megapixels are important when it comes to how large you can print and still have a nice looking image, most cameras out now will print fine up to about 8×10. If you are sticking with 4×6 prints, you really won’t see any difference from a 5-megapixel camera compared to a 12-megapixel camera.

Point and Shoot or DSLR A Digital Single Lens Reflex camera is a camera that has interchangeable lenses and has a “through the lens view finder”. Here are some advantages of a DSLR:

• Low shutter lag - Time between pressing the shutter button and when the camera actually takes the picture)
• Less depth of field – With the wider apertures that can be obtained by DSLRs, depth of field can be reduced.
• Faster picture sequences – DSLRs generally have the ability to take more frames per second. This is helpful for capturing action shots.
• Interchangeable lenses – High quality lenses targeted at specific purposes are available to users of DSLRs.
• Larger image sensors of a DSLR generally means higher picture quality.

Point and shoot cameras have advantages as well:

• Small size and light weight means you can carry them around much easier. This means that you may have the camera with you and capture more images than you would if you had to pack a DSLR with you.
• No moving mirror means fewer moving parts and less vibration.
• The sealed construction of a point and shoot means less of a chance of dust contacting the image sensor.
• The small aperture results in a very wide depth of field.

Extras More than likely you will need to buy extras to go along with your camera to make it more useful. Here are some items to consider:

• Memory – The bigger the better! (If the camera comes with one, it will be too small)
• Camera Case
• Tripod
• Rechargeable Batteries & Charger
• External Flash
• Lenses (if DSLR)

Read Reviews One of the best websites for reading camera reviews is Digital Photo Review. Visit that site and read reviews on the latest cameras to help you decide.

Final Thoughts Try to find a camera that uses industry standard and widely available memory cards. Get at least a 1 gig card but more if you plan on taking the camera with you on a vacation and can’t download the images to a computer.

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any other tips.

I’m often asked by friends with point and shoot digital cameras “how can I take a good picture?” Or even “why doesn’t my camera take good pictures?”

Below are my top 10 things that everyone can do to take better pictures. It doesn’t matter if you are shooting a digital point and shoot or a film point and shoot camera, these tips will work for both.

1. Get in Close – Fill the frame with the subject. If you are taking a picture of person, zoom in until only that person’s face will fit in the view finder.
2. Rule of Thirds – Imagine a tick-tack-toe grid on your view finder. When you frame your photo, place key elements at the intersections of these lines. For horizons, place the horizon along the lower or upper horizontal line, never in the center of the frame. Some say that the most powerful location is the lower right intersection point. Experiment with placement and see what works for you.
3. Don’t Shake – Hold the camera steady, brace yourself, hold your camera with both hands and your elbows close to your body. Lean against something, use a tripod.
4. It’s all about the light – For outdoor shots, early morning and evening are the best times to get great natural light. During the afternoon, the light may be much too harsh to get a good image so it’s time to move indoors. Try to use available light and not flash as much as possible as flash shots can look pretty harsh.
5. Flash – Use your flash when necessary. Bright days when you are shooting outside, use the flash to fill in people’s faces. If the subject is backlit by the sun or another light source, use the flash to keep the photo from being just a silhouette.
6. Watch your Flash Distance – Don’t be one of those people in stadiums shooting with a flash! On a point and shoot camera, the effective distance of a flash is around 12 feet. Save your battery and shut the flash off.
7. Find the Angle – Try out different angles, tilt the camera a little bit, shoot from a high vantage point, get down really low, shoot vertical frames and not all horizontal. Mix it up and add variety to your images.
8. Take it off Automatic – Use your camera’s different shooting modes such as landscape, outdoors, night, sports, etc. Your camera will still adjust the settings for your but now they will be biased towards the type of shooting you’re doing.\
9. Use the Right Zoom – Point and shoot cameras have two types of zooms, optical and digital. Don’t use digital as it lowers the quality of the image. You can always zoom in more once you get the image in your computer. Optical zooming will result in better images. On cameras that have both, see if you can disable the digital zoom.
10. Take Pictures – That’s right, take pictures. Lots of them, get to know your camera. Give yourself assignments to photograph one subject (like street signs) or one area (your backyard). Get out and do it and have fun!

Let me know if you have any other ideas and if you want to share some of your images.