Allow Smoothing is off by default for the images that you use in Adobe Flash. That means those images will look jagged if they’re animated at all. It’s really simple to fix and I’m not sure why it’s not setup as default, but it’s just called Allow Smoothing. Allow Smoothing is turned on by: Read the rest of this entry »
Choosing the f-stop or aperture is a main determining factor about what is in focus when you photograph an image. The length of the camera lens and the distance you are from the subject also are factors.
In general, when you are photographing a one or two people for a portrait, you want to use an aperture setting of f-4 or f-5.6. This will give you enough depth to make sure the heads are in focus and the foreground (the area in front of your subjects) and the background (the area behind your subjects) is a bit out of focus so it doesn’t distract the eye from the faces of your subject.
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Remember the time you photographed your model? You set up the photograph, make sure your background is appropriate, the light’s great and you click the shutter. And then you look at the back of your camera and your subject looks heavy. You look at it on the computer and it is still not flattering. “How did that happen?” you wonder.
Posing is important. It is a way to capture your subject at their most flattering while making the image interesting.
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Shutter speed is what you want to change when you want to show movement in your picture or when you want to take an incredibly clear shot, a moment in time, without any blur of movement at all. The slower the shutter speed is, the more movement the camera will capture.
The three main adjustable parts of your camera are ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Aperture and shutter speed together are what determines exposure because they both affect how much light is taken in while the picture is being taken. The most basic definition of shutter speed is how long the shutter takes to open and close.
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We were recently asked about the inner workings or physics behind depth of field, in other words, why does a smaller aperture create more depth of field whereas a large aperture results in a smaller depth of field.
For those who aren’t familiar with depth of field it’s simply the amount of “stuff” in focus when you take a picture. Large depth of field means the entire picture appears to be in focus. Small depth of field means only a small portion is in focus. You can learn more in our Depth of field class.
When a camera focuses, the focus is on one point. The light comes from the subject (represented by the X) goes through the lens and the light is then put against film or a digital sensor. When the image is in focus, the light is converging (coming together) just right. When the light doesn’t come back together just right, the result is a blur.
