So after the new camera arrives, I slap the battery and memory card into it and take a picture on full auto:
That’s Quincy my former CSR manager. Always such a pretty smile! Anyway, the results are ok and they were instant – but things seemed rather lackluster.
So after reading the manual several times and a few internet forums I discover that are a whole host of other items involved when shooting digital. The number one being white balance. Now white balance has been around since the dawn of photography. Never been a problem for me with film (or maybe it was and i never noticed) but getting an accurate white balance (WB) is key in making sure image colors are correct in digital.
So as to not make this a post completely about white balance, just know that the imaging sensor tries to make the absolute brightest portion of the image 18% gray. Scratching your head like I was? Yep … gray. So when you shoot against a bright white backdrop or snow, the white color is a shade of gray. Ho to fix? I think I tried every method suggested out there. For outdoor photography the final solution was the expodisc. Quickly snaps onto the from of your lens. Point at the light source. TURN AF OFF. Click an image. Instruct the dSLR to use that image for white balance. Done. They make a similar but warmer one for portraiture, but found a better solution.
That solution is a zebra card. Many different manufacturers make them, but essentially it is a card that has white, black and 18% gray on one card. Point it towards your main light and use the gray portion to set WB in your post production software.
WB .. what a pain. It wasn’t until I fully got my head wrapped around this concept that I felt my camera was doing it what *I* told it to do.
Next challenge to overcome is focus. Back in the old film days we had a half moon prism in the center of view finder. Make the top half line up with the bottom half and you have focus. In the world of dSLRs you have auto focus (AF) and no prism. Now, you can turn the AF off and focus manually, but if you are like me and your eyes have gone to hell over time this can be a difficult task to undertake. Unlike the old film cameras, dSLRs have a built in diopter. Basically you adjust until what you see in the viewfinder window is clear. Not that you are only adjusting for the viewfinder and not the full focal length of your lens. I recommend using AF then adjusting the diopter.
When I make the next post i will go into more detail about AF and the different modes involved with it.
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