Photocamp

The next session I am attending is Kris Krug’s first Photocamp (I think there are related sessions), kind of a mini Moosecamp just for photography. Apparently northernvoice is among the most popular tags in Flickr for the week. This is an hour long session, followed by a photo walk to Stanley Park later tonight, so it should be interesting.

• The number one piece of advice Kris has is to take lots and lots of photos.
• Derek K. Miller says that being familiar with film cameras teaches you a lot about how to use your digital camera.
• Almost expired film will give you some interesting color compositions! People seem to really like film, though as Kris notes, it is very expensive.
• Derek says film is not going to go away, but it will be incredibly niche. No one in their right mind is going to buy a film camera. Kris notes its harder and harder to find places to get film developed now, even at places that sell film!
• Roland suggests using ShoZu for sharing pictures from your cameraphone.
• Someone from Flickr is saying that you should have a camera with an adapter ring so you can attach polarizers and the like.
• Learn all the buttons on your camera! On a DSLR, there is usually a button that lets you preview depth of field changes and stuff.
• Scoble says for portraits, a good lens is around 100mm. Kris says a 50mm f1.8 Canon plastic lens is probably the best for your money.
• The shot will be 30% sharper at the middle of the aperature than completely wide or completely narrow. Good tip from Scoble!
• A typical sensor in a digital camera is 2/3rds the side of a professional digital camera sensor, which effectively makes a 100mm lens a 160mm lens. Someone else notes that the smaller sensor isn’t just a digital thing, it has been around in film too.
• The camera body is just the conduit for the lens – Kris spends most of his money on the lens instead of the camera. Don’t buy an EF-S lens, definitely go for EF, according to Kris. The good stuff happens in the glass!
• Another person suggests that there’s nothing wrong with EF-S. A key factor is budget, as there are lots of different things that make a photo great or not.
• RAW format is lossless, and applies white balance and effects AFTER the fact, so they need to be post-processed. They are also huge files. RAW really means coming right off the CCD sensor, as raw as possible.
• Kris says to check out VanDigiCam.com.
• Another tip is that you can rent expensive camera gear!
• Will Pate’s tip is to pick one thing, and learn all about it. Pick something like “framing” and stick to it. Isolate the variables!
• Tip: play around with the rule of thirds! Break the shot into a tic-tac-toe grid and don’t always put the subject in the centre.
• Tip: play with bracketing! That is when you take one shot, then a few more shots at over and under exposure so you can pick the one that works best. Find the bracket mode on your camera and play with it!
• Tip: consume photography! Look at photos that you like. Take photo walks and you’ll learn about about lighting and stuff, especially if you can go with a professional!
• Tip: change your perspective! Don’t always shoot at eye level.

I realize that I am very much a point and shoot kind of photographer. I really should read up on all of the sorts of camera settings I can change.