The Sunny Rule For Bight Sunshine. Keeping Reflections Off Glasses. An Easy Cheap Shots Contest.
When shooting outside in bright sunlight start your exposure at 1/200th of a second at f/11 when at ISO 100 (that’s 1/100th at f/11 when your camera only goes down to ISO 200). If you want a shallow depth of field start at 1/2000th of a second at f/4 at ISO 100 (that’s 1/1000th at f/4 at ISO 200). Memorize those. Use them as starting points so you can get right down to business when forced to shoot in bright, unforgiving sunlight. Memorize them again. Try them out this weekend. Then memorize them some more.
Experienced shooters will recognize those formulae as variations of the classic ‘sunny 16′ rule (when in bright sunlight your shutter speed should be the inverse of your camera’s ISO setting at f/16). We try NOT to make it tough on ourselves by shooting during those bright, harsh, sunny periods … but sometimes you just have to shoot in what you are given. And these settings will get you in the ballpark right off the bat (is baseball still the great American pasttime?). For a fuller explanation (okay, and a better one) click here to visit with Neil van Niekerk and view the illustrations that will drive these points home. Neil knows lighting very, very well and his article on this valuable tip is well worth a read.
I frequently mention MCP Actions as a place to enter a contest or a giveaway. But today I urge you to visit that site for a list of 10 Tips For Photographing People Wearing Glasses And Avoiding Glare (whew! The title is about as long as the list). Click here for illustrated tips that are worth reading and remembering. Sometimes I think everyone I know wears glasses, so getting a good portrait of how they normally look (with glasses on) and avoiding pesky glare is a bit of a trial. Remembering one or two of these suggestions might make the entire process more enjoyable for all involved.
And then a great contest from a really good site that regularly features advice on saving money, photo-style. Larry Becker is giving away a couple of Rogue prize packages from the good folks at Expoimaging. The Rogue line is not especially inexpensive, but all the products work as advertised and are most valuable as speedlight modifiers. And all you have to do is email Larry your shipping address (no, it’s NOT a scam. He needs that in case you win) and then leave a comment on his blog. That’s it, I promise (and so does Larry). Click here to check out the prizes and the email address you will need. Larry is part of the Kelby Group and is a very cool guy. In fact, this is such a cool giveaway that I kind of hate to have all of you enter and ruin my own chances at these great prizes. But, we are friends and that is what friends are for, isn’t it? Enter today; enjoy those Rogue modifiers later.