Considering a Camera Upgrade
Using Interchangeable Lenses
Looking Inside Your Camera Bag
Although the emphasis throughout this book has been that equipment and technology are secondary to making your images of children it is helpful to have a starting point when purchasing expensive equipment. There are so many equipment options available; where do you start? The choices and preferences are personal and change a bit from photographer to photographer; making your own decisions depends on your needs, your level of experience, your budget, and even your brand preferences.
If you are entering into the field of photography right now, consider yourself fortunate in that you haven't had to ride the waves of early digital technology. It's been a very expensive ride, and you are now at a point where the learning curve has greatly diminished.
Consider that updates, upgrades, and new products hit the market on a daily basis. What is perfectly suited for you today could change on a moment's notice. If you are in the market for some new equipment or are just interested in learning what's out there, do your research first. Here are a few Web sites that might aid you in your camera and post-production research:
www.imaging-resource.com/tips/choose/choose.htmwww.cnet.comwww.dpreview.comwww.photo.net/equipment/digital/choosing2/www.tamron.com/lenses/fundamentals.asp
You save time and money by deciding ahead of time what you really need in the near future. The best advice is to start with what you have. Learn whatever camera you have inside out and backward and only upgrade when you know what you need to move forward. With the advent of digital photography, our cameras became computers with lenses on them and we all know it doesn't take long for a computer to be out of date. Technology moves very fast so don't leap before you know what you need or you'll find yourself with old technology that you still don't know how to use. Most beginners start with a simple point-and-shoot camera and use its automatic settings. If you need to advance to a camera that gives you more control over your settings (as covered in Chapter 2) ask yourself the following questions:
Do you have the time and motivation to learn new things?
What will you be comfortable using for the challenge of photographing children?
Note
Chapter 2 covers more-advanced camera settings and photography concepts, such as aperture, ISO, and depth of field.
Do you need a camera that enables you to choose your depth of field, either by modes such as Portrait, Landscape, and so on, or by Aperture Priority/AV mode? Does your existing camera offer that now?
What size prints do you want to make? Are you ready to progress to a camera that produces higher-quality, larger-image files? This is going to be determined by the number of megapixels the camera offers. If you eventually want to print a high-quality 8-×−10-inch print, you need to buy a camera with at least 5 megapixels. If you are making photographs for e-mail or the Web, you don't need to worry about having lots of megapixels. Megapixel is the measurement of resolution: the larger the number, the greater the resolution or quality of the photograph produced.
Do you want to be burdened with lots of equipment when you are photographing children? Usually, you must make a trade-off here. Point-and-shoot cameras are light and lend themselves to spontaneous moments.
Would you like to use interchangeable lenses? In that case, you need an SLR (single-lens reflex) camera. Are you intimidated by all the bells and whistles, or can you simplify your approach? Can your budget afford to invest in a selection of lenses?
How much can you afford to spend? More expensive doesn't always mean the best. The best camera for you is the one that meets your needs without having more features than you'll use.
When you are ready to purchase equipment and have narrowed your search, here are a few items to consider:
Does the camera fit your hands? When you hold the camera in your hands, does it fit your hands well? Can you find the basic settings without having to get out the manual?
Check the reviews and get opinions from photographers whose work you admire. Find out what they are using. You may be surprised that it's not as flashy as you thought!
If you upgrade your camera, can your computer equipment handle the change too? With digital photography, the camera and lenses are only half of the equation. You may need to upgrade your computer and software as well, as discussed in Chapter 10.
When it comes to photography, nothing influences the look or quality of your image more than the lenses you use. Lenses are your most important investment. You would be smart to buy a less-expensive camera and put your money into good lenses that can grow with you. The price of lenses is directly related to their speed and quality. Today's manufacturers produce lenses of exceptional quality and sharpness.
In Chapter 2, the concept of aperture was introduced. Aperture, or the lens opening, can only open as wide as the maximum aperture for that particular lens. Lenses with very large maximum apertures (that is, f/1.2, f/1.4, f/2.8) are considered fast lenses because, at their widest settings, they let in two, three, even four times more light than a lens with a maximum aperture of f/3.5, f/4.0, or f/5.6, for example. These wider apertures let in so much more light than their slower counterparts that it takes less time for an image to record on your digital sensor, allowing you to work at faster shutter speeds. Many of the photographs in this book were taken with faster lenses. For example, if you look at the technical information under each photo, and you can see that many of the images were captured with apertures of f/2.8.
You will notice that the focal lengths in Table 9-1 are listed individually. If you own a zoom lens, your lens length will likely encompass several of these focal length ranges (such as 12-24mm or 70-200mm). Breaking them out individually gives you more information as to which focal length is used for certain types of photography.
Wide Angle. Less than 50mm (for example, 28mm, 14mm, also known as fish-eye). Great for interiors, landscapes, architecture, large groups. or for creative distortion.
Telephoto. Greater than 50mm (popular portrait lens lengths are 85mm, 105mm, and higher). These lenses compress an image, which is flattering for portraits; they also allow you to zoom in on the action from a distance. A lens can be both a telephoto and zoom — for example, 75-300mm.
Prime lenses are fixed focal length lenses. That means, instead of zooming from 12-24mm or 70-200mm, theses lenses are fixed at 50mm, 85mm, and so on. In the case of prime lenses, you are the zoom! Prime lenses are often overlooked by beginning photographers for several reasons, including the following:
New photographers usually have a zoom lens that came with their camera when they bought it.
No one has bothered to tell the newbie just how great and, in some cases, affordable prime lenses are.
Photographers who are purists use only prime lenses for their speed, quality, and sharpness.
The photograph in 9-1 was taken with a 50mm prime lens.
Another major benefit of prime lenses is that they are often significantly less expensive than zoom lenses. You can pick them up new or used online and in your local camera store or, better yet, try renting one from your local camera store for the weekend and see if it's a good fit for you.
Table 9-1. Lens Types
Zoom lenses provide several focal lengths in a single lens. This is the most common type of lens in use today. If you look at your zoom lens you will notice that there are two numbers denoting the focal length (such as 18-70mm or 35-135mm); this means that your lens will provide focal lengths from the smallest to the largest number. Zoom lenses are perfect for photographing children because they allow you to constantly change your focal length without actually switching out lenses. The only downside to zooms is that they can be pricey.
The images in 9-2 and 9-3 were taken with a zoom lens, illustrating the advantage of being able to capture images from a wide angle as well as a close-up without having to switch lenses.
The five photographs shown in 9-4 through 9-8 are of Obie, a toy you met in Chapter 7. These images were shot with the photographer standing in exactly the same place while using a zoom lens at different focal lengths. Use these as a guide to the effects that various focal lengths can create in image width and depth of field.
A 300mm lens as used for 9-1 is considered a telephoto lens, which magnifies objects that are very far away. These lenses can be quite expensive, especially if you buy one that is fast. You could pay around $1,500 or more. A 300mm lens is great for taking shots of children at the beach or sporting events when they are far enough away that you want to hone in on them more closely.
Figure 9-2. ABOUT THIS PHOTO This photo was taken using a 70-200mm zoom lens at approximately 85mm. 1/125 second, f/2.8 at ISO 100. ©Allison Tyler Jones / www.atjphoto.com
A 200mm focal length is achieved using a 75-300mm telephoto lens for the photo in 9-2. The 200mm doesn't bring Obie as close as the 300mm, but it is a good choice for some portraits, if you're taking a picture of a child in the distance.
A 135mm focal length is also achieved using a 28-135mm telephoto lens as in 9-3. It still allows a longer focal length than a wide-angle lens, but has a narrower area that it will capture. I recommend it for portraits and great candid shots as long as your subject isn't too far away.
A 50mm focal length is achieved using the same 28-135mm zoom lens as in 9-4. This wider-angle perspective is great if you are taking family or sibling portraits because it allows you to get in closer and eliminates more of the background.
A 28mm lens as used for 9-5 is a standard wide-angle lens. It was achieved here using the same 28-135mm lens as used earlier. This is a good focal length for group pictures, but not for close-up portraits because it can distort your image, making whatever is closer to the lens appear larger (like noses).
Tip
If you are unsure about a new equipment purchase, rent it first. Many camera stores rent equipment for a few days or over a weekend so you can get some hands-on experience with the object of your desire. Some stores may apply the rental fee to the purchase of the new item.
Figure 9-3. ABOUT THIS PHOTO This photo was taken using the same 70-200mm zoom lens as in 9-2 but this time the lens was zoomed in to approximately 200mm. 1/125 second, f/2.8 at ISO 100. ©Allison Tyler Jones / www.atjphoto.com
Most professional photographers learn very quickly to streamline their equipment to the bare essentials so that they aren't hauling tons of equipment to every session. Being loaded down with too much stuff can affect your spontaneity.
Consolidate your equipment enough so that everything fits into one bag. The camera bag in 9-9 belongs to Ginny Felch. Take a peek into a working photographer's bag.
To be a successful children's photographer, you need some non-camera-specific equipment with you at all times. This equipment is entirely optional and depends on how much you want to carry and how you interact with your subjects. Here's a list of the items in Ginny's bag:
Spray bottle of water (for bad hair days)
Small comb and brush (for bad hair days)
Small bottle of hair spray (for hair emergencies)
Safety pins and duct tape (for clothing emergencies)
Model releases (carry these if there is a chance you might put an image online or publish it), pen, business cards, and sticky notes
Child's toy or comfort item such as a small, stuffed animal
A few small noisemakers like a whistle and castanets (to distract restless subjects)
Lens cloth
Your camera bag also should include the following pieces of camera equipment:
Extra memory card extras, preferably 1 to 4 GB
Your favorite lens (Ginny's is a 28-135mm)
You could also pack some optional items in your bag or in a separate bag that you keep in your car:
Doublecheck before you leave the house or studio, every time you leave for a photo shoot, that you have packed those extra batteries and media cards. These are two items that, no matter how cool your camera is, you can't make an image without!
Figure 9-4. ABOUT THESE PHOTOS 9-4 was taken with a 300mm lens. 1/160 second, f/5.6 at ISO 400. 9-5 was taken with a 75-300mm lens set at 200mm. 1/200 second, f/5.6 at ISO 400. 9-6 was taken with a 28-135mm lens set at 135mm. 1/250 second, f/5.6 at ISO 400. 9-7 was also taken with a 28-135mm lens, this time set to 50mm. 1/250 second, f/5.6 at ISO 400. 9-8 was taken with a 28-135mm lens set to 28mm. 1/400 second, f/5.6 at ISO 400. ©Ginny Felch / www.silverliningimages.com
Exploring the Limits of Your Zoom Lens
Take the time to shoot some reference images using your zoom lens. Photograph the same subject from the widest to the longest focal length your lens will accommodate and notice how the appearance of each image changes. Print the images and keep them for future reference to help you visualize what your lens is capable of.
This image was taken by zooming all the way in at 200mm on a 70-200mm lens. This allowed the photographer to be on dry land and still capture the boy in the middle of a very large pool during his swimming lesson. You can see that the depth of field is very short (shallow) with just his goggles being in sharp focus that enhances the feeling as he breaks through the surface of the water. 1/1000 second, f/2.8 at ISO 200.
Note
Remember to visit www.pwassignments.com after you complete this assignment and share your favorite photo! It's a community of enthusiastic photographers and a great place to view what other readers have created. You can also post comments, and read other encouraging suggestions and feedback.