Day Thirteen: It Worked!!!

This lesson from 31 Days To A Better Photo talks about the custom white balance feature. While using a preset white balance will usually be fine when taking pictures at the zoo and on the go, if we are doing family photos or portraits, we will really want the colors to be right.

How did I set it?

I ordered a gray card. What's that, you may ask? Well, it's a card that is 18% gray. You can make one, but I thought the cost of the ink would be kind of expensive, so I ordered one from Amazon. The card with shipping was all of $8, and it came in the mail yesterday.

http://www.amazon.com/CPM-Delta-inch-Gray-Card/dp/B00290Y9K6/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1327184960&sr=8-10

You guys are probably asking, so was it worth the money??? The answer is yes. Last night while watching Scream, I decided to try it out. There are a ton of steps to get custom white balance on the ol' T2i, and once I got it done I took some sample pictures.

auto white balance.

tungsten white balance

custom white balance

All of those pictures were taken in the same room with very low light. The auto white balance picture has more yellow in it than the tungsten, but the custom white balance really shows that the manual is white. I was pretty impressed with the results.

Sorry, no photos of the boys tonight. We had a minor catastrophe, and let me just say, I am so thankful that I live in a day and age that we have washing machines. Wringing out a load of cold wet laundry is awesome. <Enter sarcasm font here>

Day Three: This is When I Learned How to Take Pictures of My Boys!

So, I read through my camera manual last night as instructed in the 31 Days to a Better Photo. I am feeling more confident that I know how to adjust the features on my camera. Now, I just have to understand why I am adjusting my camera.

Enter day 3, shooting fast vs. shooting slow. Today, I took pictures of the snow falling. How often does it snow in west Texas? Well, actually this is our third snow fall of this winter season here. That is extremely out of the ordinary. So, what a perfect opportunity!

1/8

 

1/2000

Both: 18mm f/10

Lens: Canon 18/55mm f/3.5

The lessons learned:

1.  The faster the shutter, the more defined the snowflakes. Because the shutter snaps so fast, you can see the individual snowflakes.

2.  The slower the shutter, the brighter the picture. Because the shutter is snapping slowly, there is a lot of time for light to come in.

After I took pictures of the snow and my car, I proceeded to take pictures of the boys throwing snowballs at each other. I am thrilled with how the pictures turned out. The boys are clear, the snowflakes are defined, and there was plenty of light outside so the color looks great!

Day Two: Read the Boring Manual!

Day two of 31 Days To A Better Photo instructs me to get to know the manual to our camera. I have read this thing once, and while I recognized a lot of what it was telling me, I can tell you I have forgotten most of what it said.

I am sure I can find a YouTube video telling me what my manual says, but I am committed to discovering what all this awesome camera can do.

A lesson I have learned, though. Instant printing at Wal-Mart isn't as awesome as I hoped.

Who do you use to have your prints made?