My new toy - Fujifilm Finepix XP20

A lot of people I know will turn their heads and stare at a flashy sports car or a nice boat.  Not that I don't appreciate those fine items, but maybe they just don't catch my eye as much as a couple other items do: Guitars and cameras.  Since this blog is about photography, I'll dispense with my feelings about guitars... for now.  And as far as cameras go, I'll usually ignore the compact, or point-and-shoot cameras.  If you'd compare them to cars, they'd all be like the conventional economy cars like a Toyota Camry... there's a million of them and nothing really exciting about them.  But then, along comes something radically different like a Scion Cube.  It's certainly not a sports car, but it is a head-turner.  

That's the way it was for me with this camera:

I was invited on a hike to Mount Constitution for Girls Camp this summer and one of the girls was using one of these.  Immediately, I saw that it not only didn't look like a conventional compact camera, but it also looked solid.  I asked to see it and found out that it was waterproof, shockproof, dust and freeze proof.  Now that really caught my interest.  I asked her where she got it and she said it was at Costco.  Costco?!?!?!  Why didn't I see that there when I bought my point-and-shoot?  I was envious!  I asked how much it cost and it wasn't much more than I spent on my Nikon S220.

I did my research on this camera and found that it was designed for underwater use (not just weather and dust resistant, as some cameras claim).  It is sealed from the elements.  The lens movement is contained within its protective casing.  I also found out that the camera is capable of 14MP, has a wide angle lens with 5x optical zoom and takes HD 1280 video.  Now I was REALLY interested (and still envious).  

Well, I didn't have to be envious very much longer.  Rather impetuously, I bought one of them.  I was walking through Costco and they happened to have a $40.00 rebate on them that expired that weekend.  At that point, the only decision was: What color?  The camera comes in several flashy colors: black, silver, blue, green and orange. All the ones I could see were black, so I dug underneath the top box and found the ones with color.  Blue... it was definitely going to be blue for me!

So, after using this camera for about a month now, I have some good things to say about this camera and maybe a few concerns.  First, I will say that the video function, especially underwater video, was a major attraction.  Check out this video where I dropped it in while in a rubber raft in Lizard Lake (video quality is diminished because I compressed it to upload it):

Now, how cool is this?  Now, I not only have a camera that I can truly take anywhere, but it can fully function underwater as well.

As far as photo quality, it is about on-par with any typical point-and-shoot camera in its class.  It still doesn't have the capabilities of a DSLR, but that shouldn't be expected either.  I shoot in 640 video because it is jittery when I play it back on my computer and I really don't need widescreen for most of what I do anyway.  I would rather be able to play it back without problems.  

Now the concerns:

First, the camera takes some getting used to.  Being where the lens is located, I can almost guarantee that you will get your fingers in front of the lens for some shots.  The zoom control is kind of weird.  It is a little switch on top of the camera that is awkward to use.  You don't want to zoom while you are shooting video because the auto-focus lags and your image will be blurry for a half a second or so and the lens motor is noisy and you will hear it in the audio.  The video button is conveniently located to where you can just press the button to start the video.  It is also kind of awkward, especially when you go to stop the video (using the same button).  

The camera makes annoying beeps and clicks when you use it.  The problem is that if you turn it to "silent" mode, you can't use the flash or some of the other important functions.

The camera is rated for underwater use.  I took many pictures and videos on a trip to Deception Pass.  I had it in the lake, in the salt water and it went with me while I hiked, kayaked and jogged.  Towards the end of the day, I noticed that the protective lens was starting to fog up on the inside.  I don't know if this is a common problem, but it could be a major concern.  That means that there is possibly some moisture getting inside the camera.  I opened it up and used the hand dryer at the public restroom.  That seemed to clear it up.

The neoprene carrying case holds the camera snugly and securely, but getting it in and out is kind of a pain.  The cover wraps over the end, going through a hole in the case.  I expect this to break soon... just based on the way it is designed and the amount of stress it goes through to pull the rest of the case through this hole.  

Aside from those concerns, I still love this camera.  It was worth what I paid for it.  I hope to enjoy this camera for years to come!  Unfortunately, there is no $40.00 rebate anymore.  Currently, they have a $20.00 rebate off the $179.00 price, but even still - without the rebate, I think I would still buy it at full price.    

My next DSLR camera...

Choices, choices... mostly dictated by $$$.  I've been trying to save my money for awhile now and I've been approaching the critical point of making a decision as to which camera to buy.  I'm about halfway there if I want to get a Canon 60D kit with an 18-200mm lens.  A decent starter kit in the Canon line... and doable.  I really had my sights set on a Canon 5D Mark II with a pro-quality zoom lens - or better yet, a Canon 1Ds Mark III body, BUT then reality sets in.  Sigh...

Then, I start looking at Nikon.  There are some other bodies and lenses that are comparable in price to the Canon 60D kit like the D7000 - with comparable features.  I then start looking at the D300, which edges more into the pro arena, yet is considerably less than the Canon 5D Mk II.  The D300 kit (with an 18-200mm lens) will keep me saving my money for a little while longer, but then it's getting closer to what I really want.  Then the next big jump would be the Nikon D3s or D3x.

I guess, the bottom line is whether I want to start in the Nikon or Canon line.  Eventually, I'll probably want to have two camera bodies anyway.  It just makes good sense when you are on a shoot (like a wedding) to have  two different cameras - one for one lens and one for another type of lens... or one with low-light settings and the other with a flash.  It's almost like having two photographers there (but not quite).  It's also wise just to have a backup camera in those type of events just in case something happens (and I've had some pretty upsetting stuff happen to my cameras and lenses recently).

Well, I still have a little time to work with... but until then I'll keep wracking my brain and teetering back-and-forth.

Take Time to Photograph the Flowers!

Cherry blossoms

... or anything else, for that matter.  Which means, bring a camera (a real camera) with you EVERYWHERE.  Look at your surroundings and see things as you would through the lens of a camera.  If this is difficult for you, just take pictures of random stuff.  Try different angles, heights and dimensions.  Use wide-angle lenses and telephoto lenses.  Experiment with your photography and look for things that often get forgotten.  I have a penchant for vintage and abandoned machinery and buildings.  Some of this stuff is half-buried in bushes, mud or moss.  It may be considered ugly by many people, especially in its context but when isolated from the surroundings it becomes a work of art.  Your photography work may never be worthy of glossy magazine-type material or stock photography, but perhaps it means something to you.  If nothing else, follow your passion for you, the photographer... because those flowers will wilt, old buildings get bulldozed over and old cars get towed off and recycled.

Old car with lichen growing on it - Oak Harbor

The Exposure Triangle

The exposure triangle (as it is known) is a very important concept in photography.  It is not a hard and fast adjustment graph, but simply a way to better understand exposure.  The earlier a person can learn this, the less frustration there will be in having properly exposed photographs.  I have hesitated to post this article for a couple of reasons. 1) Because I feared that I may not have been able to bring this concept down to a level that is easily understood, since there is a balance between providing just enough information and in the right context to make it meaningful vs. possibly confusing the readers with too much information presented in a complex fashion. 2) There were some questions that I had still... some gaps that needed to be filled in order for me to understand it fully and more accurately in order to present it properly.

Let me first show the diagram and then explain how it works.

In order to fully understand exposure, it will be necessary to study each of the elements that make up exposure.  For this article, I won't go into extreme detail.  I intend to break each of these down later though.  For the time being, it is important to understand that each of these elements (ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed) affect exposure in a different way.  What is exposure?  Exposure, in photographic terms, could be described as the amount of light that is used to capture your image.  Each of these elements controls the existing light entering or affecting your camera's image sensor.

ISO
ISO stands for: International Standards Organization.  It's really meaningless, as pertaining to photography, so don't get hung up on why it is called that.  ISO is also interchangeable with the older and much less frequently used ASA (American Standards Association) which is equally meaningless. There is also another even less frequently used term: DIN (which you may or may not come across) is an older German standard.  Most (if not all) modern cameras use ISO as a standard.  The only thing you need to remember is that ISO is a measure of sensitivity.  In film cameras, it was the measure of the sensitivity of the film to light.  In digital cameras, it is a measure of the image sensor's sensitivity.  The lower the number, the less sensitive and the higher the number the more sensitive.  ISO "stops" are normally incremented by doubling starting with 100 and going on up from there.  So a conventional camera will have: ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600... and so forth.  Your camera may have less than 100 or more than 1600.  Each of these "stops" will effectively either double or halve the overall Exposure Value (EV) or in other words there is twice as much exposure (light) or half as much light that is used in exposing the photo.  Increasing the ISO will allow you to take pictures in darker situations, but there is a trade-off (there is always a less-desirable trade-off).  In digital cameras, the trade-off is with higher ISO pictures you get what is called noise.  In film, we had a similar effect which was that it made the picture grainy.  Noise makes your pictures "fuzzy" and therefore tend to lack sharpness.  Noise is also manifest in microscopic colored specks, especially in the shadows where there is no detail.  If you increase ISO, it will allow you to use a higher aperture setting and/or faster shutter speed (refer to the exposure triangle).

Aperture
The word "aperture" literally means hole - and that is what it is.  Your eye has a visible aperture (the iris) that automatically adjusts to lighter or darker conditions.  In a camera, there is a device that functions exactly like the iris in the eye.  The hole or opening can be adjusted to allow more or less light through.  The thing to remember (which may be confusing to some) is that the lower the number, larger the opening or the more light is allowed to come through but the higher the number the smaller the opening and less light is allowed to come through.  The term "f-stop" is interchangeable with aperture.  The aperture is a function within the lens, not the camera itself.  The overall Exposure Value (EV), which is measured in "stops" effectively doubles or halves, based on full f-stops of the aperture.  Typically, these values range as follows: f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16 and f/22.  Some lenses have a greater range.  The lower number (or wider aperture), usually the higher quality the lens.  Most lenses will close down to f/22 and is not a challenge to do so, but to have a wider aperture (or lower f-stop number) it is more challenging and the expense goes way up with those higher quality lenses.  A lens with a wider aperture is also called a "fast" lens.  The reason being is that it allows a photographer to use a faster shutter speed.  It will also allow you to lower your ISO.  The trade-off of using a lower f-stop (wider aperture) is that your depth of focus becomes shallower.  This can be a good effect - when used properly and in the right context - but it is not always desirable.  Understanding when and in what applications to use different aperture settings (rather than only for the convenience of optimal lighting) is a trait of a seasoned and skilled photographer.

Shutter Speed
The time that your shutter is opened, allowing your image to "burn" into the image sensor, is determined by the shutter speed.  Shutter speed is determined in seconds or fractions of seconds.  Standardized settings for shutter speed are: 1 s, 1/2 s, 1/4 s, 1/8 s, 1/15 s, 1/30 s, 1/60 s, 1/125 s, 1/250 s, 1/500 s and 1/1000 s.  These indicate full "stop" or allowing your shutter to effectively expose your image either roughly twice or half the value of the former or latter setting.  Most cameras will have settings in-between and outside the boundaries of these standard settings though.  The shutter speed will potentially have the most dramatic (or damaging) effect on your photograph.  With slower shutter speeds (the commonly accepted speed of 1/60 s is the cutoff) you will most likely need a tripod.  With longer lenses, the need becomes greater.  The reason for this is that you move while you are taking pictures and even the slightest movement will cause your picture to be blurred.  Motion blur can be used as a positive effect, but it is necessary to learn how and when to use a slower shutter speed (and what shutter speed to use) to get the best effect.  So, the trade-off for adjusting to a slower shutter speed is possible blurry pictures.  When using lower shutter speeds you can decrease your ISO setting and/or close your aperture (higher f-number).  When using higher shutter speeds, you may have to use a lower ISO and/or wider aperture (once again, refer to the exposure triangle for better understanding).

Exposure Value
The overall Exposure Value (EV) is expressed in positive or negative numbers.  The positive numbers are overexposed, while the negative numbers are underexposed.  When the principles of exposure are properly applied (as shown in the exposure triangle) the photograph will be properly exposed.  A properly exposed image will measure "0" on on the EV scale.  Digital SLR cameras have built-in light meters that will show something that may be a variation this:

A light meter will appear either on the LCD screen or in the viewfinder, or both.  On the light meter, the exposure is usually expressed in increments of thirds.  Sometimes the exposure is expressed as a positive or negative decimal number.  Notice that in this example the diamond is at 1-2/3 - or in other words it is 1-2/3 stops overexposed.  In order to adjust this to proper exposure, it will be necessary to either: decrease ISO, close your aperture (smaller f-number) or decrease the shutter speed - or perhaps an adjustment of two of them or all three.  This light meter is usually measured Through The Lens (or TTL) so the light is as the camera sees it.  There are some things that can affect the overall Exposure Value (EV).  If you use a lens hood, it will prevent unwanted light from entering the lens, thus allowing you to have a more accurately measured EV and providing you with not only a properly exposed photo, but one that is clearer with less probability of lens flare or an overall bright haze or fog.  When using attachments such as filters, teleconverters or other lens glass, you also reduce the EV.  Some of these will significantly reduce your exposure - even by one or two stops - so when you are shooting in lower light conditions you may want to remove any of these attachments.

This is a general overview of exposure using the exposure triangle - without going into too much detail.  There are some conditions where the rules get complicated or may not even apply - such as when you are using a strobe-type flash (strobe is momentary light flash).  There are some "smart" flash units that will compensate for existing EV so you don't have to calculate to adjust your camera settings and flash manually.  It is also important to note that your camera can often be "fooled" into improper exposure settings.  This is why it is valuable to understand proper exposure and what makes up exposure.  When using an automatic setting, your camera takes an average of what it senses throughout the entire field of view (everything within the viewfinder).  When there is a large area that is either very bright or very dark, your camera will add those to the summation of the average and give you a false exposure reading.  By learning how to shoot in either manual mode or a semi-automatic mode (such as Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority - "A" or "S" respectively, indicated on your camera's Mode dial), you will not only be able to properly expose your photos, but you will be able to fine-tune your camera for capturing images the way YOU intend to - not as a generic automatic setting.  You will unlock the true potential of your camera... and YOUR artistic ability.

One last note.  I used the word "stop" numerous times in this article.  In the literal sense, a full-stop means one full increment in Exposure Value - or a multiplier or divider as to how much light enters the camera.  The word itself is a throwback from the film days of photography - where dials and lens rings actually had detents on them that "stopped" at a certain value.  Even though most cameras now either have screen menus or variable adjustments that don't have such detents, it is still a significant and important term that has not given way to obsolescence.  You will find that there are many such terms in photography.  You can either choose to ignore the original meaning and just commit these terms to memory or if you so desire you can look up the original meaning, if that helps you to further comprehend what it means.   

Read the Dreaded Manual!

I don't know how many times I have dealt with frustrated and exasperated people who ask for advice on how to operate a device or how to fix a problem after it has been messed up - whether the problem deals with amateur radio, computers, cars, cameras or just about any technical issue.  Somehow, I have been pegged as the "guru" of technical advice in my circle of family and friends.  So recently, in order to minimize my frustration of taking on someone else's problem, I will ask a question or two.  When I ask the person if they have read the instruction manual I usually get one of two responses: 1) The person acts like I am insulting their intelligence.  or... 2) The person claims that the manual is "too complicated" for them to understand... and they want a simple explanation of either what went wrong or what they are doing wrong.  I can confidently say that in the majority of these cases, the person has not even attempted to read the manual... not even opened it.  I'll have to confess that I am one of those people who have abandoned the dreaded manual and searched elsewhere for the answers.  Why do we do this?  Maybe there is a mental block... an aversion... something negative about manuals and texts where we tend to shun the manual unless there is absolutely NO OTHER ALTERNATIVE.  I will have to say that I am proud of myself.  When I got my DSLR camera I actually opened up the manual and started reading it.  I've actually read through this several times.

So without further ado: READ YOUR MANUAL!  No... study your manual.  Study all four languages that it came in if it will help you to understand your camera better.  Carry your manual with you wherever you bring your camera.  If there are terms, procedures or words you don't understand, take notes on them and then you can Google them for further answers because it's likely that if you didn't understand something, there are thousands of other people out there that didn't understand as well and some of them have actually gone out on the Internet and posted that question for others to answer or perhaps there is an explanation on Wikipedia that is easier to understand than the way it is presented in your manual.

As you go through your manual, fiddle with the controls on the camera to experience first-hand what they do. Open the menus and make adjustments... take pictures using the different settings.  Compare and contrast how the different settings change and learn why they changed.  Experience these things for yourself with your camera and your manual.  And, if you find yourself in a situation where you think you have changed the settings on your camera to where it is unusable or too weird, there is usually a setting within the menu that will restore your camera to factory settings... just like new.  So don't be too concerned that you are going to do something to it that is going to permanently change the way your camera operates.

Your camera manual is the key that unlocks the features of your camera and helps you to understand your unique camera make and model.  Your camera and manual fit together... like TV... and TV Guide.  Without it, you are just guessing and it's hit-and-miss.  With it, you can use your camera to its fullest extent.  If your camera didn't come with a manual (say, you got it used at a pawnshop or yard sale)... no worries!  With most cameras you can go online and download the manual.  Print up a manual... staple the pages together to make a booklet and take it with you.  It's THAT important.  Really.

One final note: There are some things that you can do that will really mess up a good camera.  A camera is a delicate instrument and certain parts require a degree of care and protection.  All these protective measures and cautionary statements are clearly explained in the instruction manual.  If you do nothing else, don't ignore any of these warnings or you are just asking for trouble.  Trust me on this.

It's In The Glass

A chain is only as good as its weakest link.  Often times when people are getting a camera, they think about all the features of their camera (body) and skimp on perhaps THE most important component: the lens.  A good lens will often cost as much or more than a camera body and those good lenses will have a tendency to hold their value - or should I say a used lens will hold its value.  Once you take the lens out of the package it will devalue slightly but as a "used" lens, it's like money in the bank.  In other words, a lens is an investment - so don't worry too much about plunking down a huge chunk of cash for a reputable piece of glass, because you can always resell it (unless you have destroyed it).  On the other hand, a camera body will depreciate dramatically for two reasons: 1) Technological advances "obsolete" your camera body in a short period of time. 2) Your camera body is subject to failure a lot faster than lenses typically are.  This is not always necessarily the case, but it holds as a general rule.

You might look at the long lists of lenses available with befuddlement - wondering why there are so many and which ones are the best quality or best value.  

First, I would say that before making any major purchase (it is not uncommon to pay a couple grand for a good lens) that you go to a dealer's website and read the reviews from other users.  This may give you an indication of whether or not there are problems or if the lens is worth buying.  The thing I do when reading these reviews is to first see who is the user and what their level of expertise is.  Often, one of those writing a review simply does not know how to use their equipment and so they will write a negative review and discredit the product based upon their lack of experience - not the quality of the product.  If there seems to be a consistent problem with the product, then you might look at similar products... or the competition.  

The next thing to consider or action to take is to educate yourself on the types of lenses and the purpose for them.  There are several main types of lenses: 1) There are fixed focal length lenses (some have called these "prime" lenses because they are typically sharper than any other type) of various sizes.  There is a range for lenses (and depending on the sensor magnification of your camera) where each of these lenses falls and is considered in that classification.  This is not necessarily a hard and fast rule because there are different magnification factors for digital SLR cameras.  In the 35mm (film) days, this was a fixed value, but many cameras now have sensors that will magnify the value of the lens typically by 1.5 times.  So in other words, if you get a lens with a 50mm focal length, the sensor will magnify that by 1.5, so in essence you are getting a 75mm lens.  There are some cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II that have a full frame sensor.  This means that the sensor is 1:1 or in other words, there is no magnification factor.  A 50mm lens is a 50mm lens.  By the way, a 50mm lens is what would be considered the normal focal-length lens or one that best fits the magnification of the human eye.  It's pretty much the "vanilla ice cream" lens of photography.  Some have considered this a "portrait" lens - but a more widely accepted lens for portrait photography is 85mm.  There are various other focal lengths within the type of fixed focal lengths - with different purposes.  I would say that unless you are a professional (and meticulous) photographer, you would be best to steer clear of the fixed lenses because you are going to get a better value by purchasing a zoom lens.  2) A zoom lens is one with a variable focal length.  There are numerous ranges of zoom lenses.  Some of them are medium wide-angle lenses (generally around 18-50mm), telephoto lenses (50-300mm) and either end of the spectrum (less than 18mm or greater than 300mm).  Generally, the bigger lens (the greater the focal length) the more expensive the lens, but this is not always necessarily the case.  3) Special purpose lenses: macro lenses, fisheye lenses,  extenders and so forth.  There is often the confusion that the term for an extreme wide-angle lens is a "fisheye lens."  While a fisheye lens IS an extreme wide-angle lens, that doesn't mean that all extreme wide-angle lenses (even for the same focal length) are fisheye lenses.  It has to do with the way the image is distorted.

Lens selection

One thing that is not even possible with a point-and-shoot camera or even a so-called "bridge" camera, is the selection of lenses.  You are stuck with whatever lens came with it - and normally the lenses in these types are not that great.  With DSLR cameras, you have an overwhelming selection.  When it comes to lenses, this is one area where you get what you pay for.  However, sometimes you can get third-party lenses that are just as good as the brand of camera you have (and they are designed to fit them) and I have heard that they are just as good - if not better.  So these resources should also be considered when shopping for a lens.  Another good indicator of the quality of the lens is its f-stop.  Almost invariably, the lower number of the aperture, the higher quality of the lens.  You should also note that in the higher priced lenses, that the lower aperture throughout the entire travel of the zoom is the same, while lower priced lenses have a variable number.  This does not necessarily mean that it is a cheap lens, but just that this a quality of the best lenses.  If a lens starts out with an aperture of say f/3.5 and ends with a number of f/6.3, that is quite a variation of aperture.  You are going to have markedly different exposure when you zoom in your lens - whereas, if you have a lens that is capable of a fixed aperture throughout the entire range, you won't be sacrificing any exposure for closer zoom.  The trade-off is the cost of the lens.  

Beyond providing a wider aperture (the smaller number, the wider the aperture, or hole), the higher quality lenses produce a sharper image.  One of the reasons for this is that the lenses use higher quality optical glass.  This adds clarity simply because the glass is of a higher grade, but also because better lenses are less prone to chromatic aberrations.  These aberrations occur because the makeup of the lens is such that it separates the spectrum of light (like a rainbow) because the light travels at different speeds through the glass.  Higher quality lenses are able to use different materials to compensate for this anomaly and thus you get sharper images with more accurate colors and greater depth.     

The purple aura (chromatic aberration) can bee seen above the horse's head and in the trees.  Part of the reason for this is shooting into bright sunlight.  The other reason is that this is shot with a low-cost lens.  

Some of the other features or traits of lenses that add to the cost (and quality) are: image stabilization, ruggedness, rotating zoom ring (as opposed to sliding-type), faster and more accurate focus, versatility and reputation.  As I get deeper into the subject of lenses, I will break these down further.  

It is entirely possible to get an "all-purpose" lens now.  Nikon makes a pretty good lens that goes from 18-200mm with an aperture of f3.5-5.6.  This is definitely not their best lens, but it is one that is great for travel photography where you don't have to keep changing lenses.  Other than that, most photographers will have two or three good lenses that they take with them: a wide-angle zoom lens and a telephoto zoom lens.  It would also be a good addition to have a macro lens - if you like to shoot very close-up (like insects, flowers and small animals).  Many photographers will also include an extender.  These usually come in 1.4x or 2x magnification.  A 2x extender will turn a 200mm lens into a 400mm lens.  You will sacrifice some quality and exposure potential and will subject your images to vignetting though.  Vignetting is where the corners of the photo are darker than the overall picture.  

When I get ready to actually make the purchase of my lenses, I will post the exact make and model of the lenses that I have selected as well as those that I have researched to be the best lenses.  I will also post any lenses that I find have either had poor reviews or those that I have personally had trouble with.  I will also go into greater depth with lens types, what they're used for and how to properly use them, since there is a LOT more information than I can put in one article - and a lot more that I have to solidify in my mind.

Hocus Focus

One area where photographers may get lazy about is focusing the camera. Most digital cameras do a pretty good job of auto-focusing now, so for many people it’s not something we even think about… unless there is a problem. Let me just say, though, that knowing how to focus – or what to focus on – is very important.

My very first camera was a Brownie camera that took 127 roll film. It was a hand-me-down from my mom. I don’t remember if I ever developed any of the film from that camera, but what I do remember was that it was very simple to operate. There was a film-advance knob and a shutter release. I didn't even know the concept of focusing. The next camera… the same thing. It was even simpler yet: A Kodak Instamatic that took 126 cartridge film. It was a no-brainer to take pictures with this thing. You pop in a cartridge, snap a picture, advance… and repeat until the little window said 12 or 24 (depending on how many exposures your film cartridge had) and then pop the cartridge out and develop the film. Developing the film was perhaps the most difficult task in the whole process because then I had to come up with the money to get it developed, send it off (which required actually writing things with a pen) or bringing it to a local store to have it developed. On these types of cameras, apparently the aperture was a very high fixed setting, so just about everything was in focus. For now, don’t worry too much about aperture (also called f-stop – it is the number after the f on your camera) because I will go into further detail later. Just store that in the back of your head and remember two things about it: 1) Aperture affects exposure and 2) aperture affects depth of field (where the focal point is – in other words where the camera is focused). Right now, I just want to concentrate on simply focusing the camera.

When my older brother got an SLR camera, he gave me his old 35mm camera… and I do mean old. What made it seem old(er) was that it had all these dials, levers, switches and stuff with numbers, settings and abbreviations that I didn't have a clue what they meant. One of the things that I did figure out was that the ISO (or ASA) setting corresponded to the film I was using. What I understood about that was that you could take pictures indoors with 400 ASA film (ISO and ASA mean the same thing, by the way – I’ll go over it in detail later… so don’t worry). The other settings and dials I didn’t know much about though. This camera was a non-SLR camera, so I had to frame everything through the viewfinder and hope for the best. The focus was pretty much guesswork. I had to estimate how far away the subject was and set the focus ring accordingly. After getting my pictures back from processing, I could tell that I was probably way off on some of them. It was quite disappointing. Here I had these high-quality blurry photos.

I took this photo in 1980 at Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle) of a hippo. I used an old 35mm camera with a manual "guess and click" type focus. I guessed wrong (as in almost all my photos with this camera). Notice how the branch to the right is almost in focus though, so there was nothing wrong with the camera.

Later, I got 35mm cameras that would indicate through the viewfinder as to whether or not the subject was in focus. This meant a lot to me. It was then that the quality of my photos started to get better – at least as far as being in focus was concerned. I had become more conscious about focusing and it became second-nature to me. I had then spent almost two decades shooting with 35mm SLR cameras. When we talk about “manual” mode on our cameras now, that is the way that all SLR cameras operated until fairly recently. There was no auto-focus or any automatic shooting modes. Every photo was set up manually. The best helps were the focus indicator and the light meter that was built into the camera. It was impossible to get by without using them.

I stopped shooting with film abruptly in 2002 when I bought my first digital camera (an Olympus D-40 point-and-shoot). The pictures on that camera were better than most of my pictures using any of 35mm film cameras. The only disappointments that I started to encounter were those encountered in low-light. What I really loved about the new digital cameras was the auto-focus. I learned that in order to lock the focus, all I had to do was to center the subject I wanted to focus, press the shutter button halfway and then recompose the shot. It was so simple. This is the way that the majority (if not all) digital cameras work using autofocus. You press the button halfway while viewing your subject in the center of the viewfinder and then you recompose (reframe) your photo the way you want and then fully press the button. These are the things that make us lazy and complacent. But things don't always work the way we had hoped, so then it is back to dissatisfaction and that cycle should take a person to wanting to do something about the problem. So, we have these wonderful cameras that do all the thinking for us, but there is that 10% of the time where the camera doesn't work the way we hoped it would.  This is where it is necessary to stop, think and intervene.

There are several instances where autofocus will not work or may not be appropriate, therefore you will have to either lock the focus using the aforementioned technique or manually override the focus (using the focus ring): 1) Sometimes there is an object in the way (say, a tree branch, a microphone stand, a chain-link fence or some other barrier) that the camera focuses on rather than your subject. 2) The surface of what you are focusing is not well defined. Some good examples of this would be: water, a shiny car hood, snow or negative space such as the sky (try to focus on a flying bird or an airplane sometime). 3) Your subject of focus is smaller than what your camera’s ability to focus on (like a person’s eyes… you almost ALWAYS want to have your subject’s eyes tack-sharp in-focus). 4) You PURPOSELY want to focus on something other than what is in the “crosshairs” of your viewfinder – and most of the time you DO (remember the “Dead-Center is Dead article). 5) The lighting is so dim that your camera may not have the capability to focus properly. Your camera relies on a certain amount of light in order to autofocus.

Here's a picture I took as an example. I wanted to try to "frame" my subject within the tree branches, but oops! The camera focused in on the tree branches instead. Ruined a good shot! Nice looking leaves though.

Here's an example of what I was trying to shoot. Even though in my opinion, this picture is less than ideal (because the branches are such a distraction) you can clearly see the face of the subject... and the branches (which are less important) are out of focus. I had to manually override the autofocus to get the shot the way I wanted it.

The rule to remember is that whatever you want to be most important in your photo will be what is in focus. Like any rule, that can be broken, but for the sake of following the rules (which is what you'll want to do 99.9% of the time) just remember that... for now. We'll go over creative composition and alternate focusing later.