Photo and Personal Style ~ Continuation

Here are some more pictures I've taken! I hope you enjoy.

ISO 100
1/1250 Shutter Speed
2.5 Aperture
50 mm 

ISO 100
1/4000 Shutter Speed
5.6 Aperture
300mm 

ISO 100
1/4000 Shutter Speed
5.6 Aperture
300mm 

ISO 100
1/4000 Shutter Speed
4.0 Aperture
75mm 

ISO 200
1/125 Shutter Speed
4.5 Aperture
50mm 

ISO 200
1/125 Shutter Speed
6.3 Aperture
50mm 

ISO 100
1/250 Shutter Speed
13 Aperture
50mm 

ISO 100
1/400 Shutter Speed
5.6 Aperture
300mm 

ISO 100
1/200 Shutter Speed
5.6 Aperture
300mm 

Keep on Snappin',

Ravimi

REVIEW! ~ Canon Speedlite 320ex

Good afternoon and welcome to the next ravimi blog post! Today I will be doing something special, not because I'm reviewing a special product (but it is special in some ways) but because I do not write many reviews on my site, unless requested (like this one).
Anyways, today I will be talking about one of Canons latest products: the Canon Speedlite 320ex. I've owned this for about 2 months now; therefore, I will only be able to give a review based off my knowledge and experience of 2 months. I would like to think my reviews as being a little unique; I personally am not a person that looks at a product and talks about the negative aspects of it (unless it's really obviously bad) but I focus on the good, and reinforce those good aspects and how they serve to your advantage. So lets get down to business!

The 320ex is a part of the Speedlite series that consists of the 220, 270 (II), 320 (yours truly), 380,420, 430, 550, 580, and 600. When I bought this flash one of the main things that caught my attention was the on-flash shutter button (shown in the picture below).

Courtesy of Google images

This flash was the very first of the canon ex series to have this accessory, which is one of its special aspects. I use it pretty often when I use the flash and it has helped a lot because now I can stay with the flash and move it where needed without having to go back to the camera to take the picture (to use this the flash has to be pointing towards the camera when pressing the button and then you have 5 seconds, or so, to move the flash back into position. The furthest I got with the flash was about 20ft and I still had the ability to use the shutter button.
Another special thing about this camera is that it has an LED light source (as shown in the image below).

Courtesy of Google images (the red arrow was my little edit)

This LED light serves for the video mode of the camera and is used during video shoots in dark locations. This was the first Flash to carry this capability when I bought it about 2 months ago. The LED is useful but it is also not very powerful because it is small; therefore, it cannot carry a large LED power source that projects a lot of light. The light does work when the subject is about 3-5ft away in total darkness, but that is the limit if you want to maintain the subject visible.

This flash has been very helpful when I needed it. It serves great as a bounce flash (using surfaces to reflect the light off) and is great as a slave flash. It cannot be used as a Master flash from my current knowledge but for a flash that is not to expensive relative to it's siblings it is a great purchase. The battery life is great: I shot about 200 pictures with full power and it always kept up to my needs (which was 1 picture every 5-15 seconds) and there was enough power left that I was able to use it for half of  another event without having to change batteries (uses 4 AA batteries). The 320ex also has a telephoto mode where the head piece (where the bulb is located) can extend about half an inch forward; this allows for images to be taken from about 5-10ft further than the normal position.

Some issues:
The only issues I had were personal preferences:
1) Lack of diffuser card (the little white card that can be popped onto the front of the bulb)
2) Cannot control the strength of the flash when in slave mode. (If someone knows how please do let me know and I will update this review.)
3) nothing, that's it, not too many complaints.

As my first Flash, I am very pleased with this product. It is very useful and inspires me to continue learning more on how to use it. I very much recommend this light as a first flash for all the reasons I talked about and because I have very little complaints for it. It is very light (weight) and easy to manipulate. If this is NOT your first flash and you own 1 or more flashes that have "slave" capabilities then I recommend buying a different flash that has "master" capabilities (ability to control "slave" flashes) I would recommend the 430ex from what I have read and seen from other users, but as a first time flash I highly recommend the 320ex.

This information is straight from the canon website and I'm sure will be of interest to those who are are interested in the specifics of the 320ex Speedlite.

Type
On-camera, E-TTL II/E-TTL autoflash Speedlite

Compatible Cameras
Type-A EOS cameras (E-TTL II/E-TTL autoflash)

Guide Number 

Flash Coverage	ISO 100 (m)	ISO 100 (ft.)
Normal (24mm)	24	78.7
Tele (50mm)	32	105

Flash Coverage
EF lens: 24mm/50mm

EF-S lens: 15mm/31.3mm

Manual switching

Number of Flashes
Approx. 180 - 1000 flashes, with fresh AA-size alkaline batteries

Recycling Time
1) Normal flash: Approx. 0.1 - 2.3 sec.

2) Quick flash: Approx. 0.1 - 1.8 sec.

Flash Range
Normal Flash

Guide No. (ISO 100)	Aperture Value
	f/1.4	f/2	f/2.8	f/4	f/5.6
24 (Normal)	56.1 ft.	39.4 ft.	28.2 ft.	19.7 ft.	17.1 ft.
32 (Tele)	75.1 ft.	52.5 ft.	37.4 ft.	26.2 ft.	18.7 ft.

Quick Flash

Guide No. (ISO 100)	Aperture Value
	f/1.4	f/2	f/2.8	f/4	f/5.6
13.8 (Normal)	32.5 ft.	22.6 ft.	16.1 ft.	11.2 ft.	8.2 ft.
18.4 (Tele)	43.0 ft.	30.2 ft.	21.7 ft.	15.1 ft.	10.8 ft.

High-speed sync (at 1/250 sec.)

Guide No. (ISO 100)	Aperture Value
	f/1.4	f/2	f/2.8	f/4	f/5.6
13.8 (Normal)	28.2 ft.	19.7 ft.	14.1 ft.	9.8 ft.	6.9 ft.
18.4 (Tele)	37.4 ft.	26.2 ft.	18.7 ft.	13.1 ft.	9.5 ft.

AF Assist Beam
Intermittent flash firing system

Effective range:

1) At center: Approx. 13.1 ft./4m

2) Periphery: Approx. 11.5 ft./3.5m

3) LED light: Approx. 13.1 ft/4 m

*Compatible with model EOS 5D Mark II and later. Available via firmware update for: EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS 40D, EOS 50D, and EOS Rebel XS.

Custom Functions
1) C.Fn-01: Auto power off (Enabled/Disabled)

2) C.Fn-06: Quick flash w/continuous shot (Disabled/ Enabled)

3) C.Fn-10: Slave auto power off timer (60 minutes/10 minutes)

4) C.Fn-11: Slave auto power off cancel (Within 8 hours/ Within 1 hour)

Power Source
1) Four size-AA/LR6 alkaline batteries are used. Ni-MH or lithium batteries can also be used.

2) This Speedlite is equipped with a power-saving function that turns off the power after 90 seconds if no operations are made.

External Power Source
External power supply accessories cannot be used.

Dimensions
Approx. 2.8 x 4.5 x 3.1 in./70.0 x 115.0 x 78.4mm

Weight
9.7 oz. / 275g

I hope this review served it's purpose and that you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, comments, or answers please write them in the comments below so others cans see them. Feel free to email me at anytime about my photography and remember to SUBSCRIBE!

Keep on Snappin',
ravimi

Photo TIPS! ~ Aperture

I've been asked by a lot of new (and even some experienced) photographers, "what is Aperture?". This subject seems to be one of those things that you either understand completely or not at all, so I will try my best to explain it in a way that everyone will understand: Using my own pictures, and also word explanation.


WARNING: I'm going to be repeating a lot of words in order to make memorization more effective so please be a little tolerant (the repetition will help you understand the subject).


When thinking of Aperture try to imagine (as an example) the hole on one of the ends of a toilet paper roll. 

Image courtesy of Google (drawings are mine)

The inside of the lens is represented by the entire tube, and the Aperture is the actual hole as seen in the image above. The Aperture ("eye") of the lens takes in light that is interpreted by the camera sensor. Now, what does it mean when photographers say, "Hey, you! Change the Aperture?" They are referring to the size of the hole ("eye") in the front of the lens, and by "Change the Aperture" they want you to make the hole bigger or smaller. The image below shows how the size of the Aperture on the lens changes:

Aperture Table (courtesy of Google images)

Different lenses have different capabilities when it comes to how wide it can open (shown by figure f/2 in the image) and how much it can close (shown by f/16 in the image above). In the image, f/2 represents the widest the lens can open its "eye" (Aperture). As you start increasing the number, the amount of light reaching the sensor decreases because the "eye lids" (represented by the blades seen from f/2.8 - f/16) begin to close on the "eye" (aperture) of the lens. Why?

Camera manufactures use the f/stop (f/1, f/2, f2.8...) to indicate the amount of light reaching the sensor. When you have a lens that can reach f/1 then you have a lens that allows ALL of the light reach the sensor in the camera. So imagine the #1 in f/1 represents 100% light-to-sensor ratio. As the size of the f/stop (remember the "stop" in f/stop is replaced by numbers like f/1, f/2.8, f/5.6) increases the less light will reach the sensor (light to sensor). 

What does increasing the f/stop (Smaller Aperture) do to images? 2 things.

1) By increasing the number of the f/stop (the more shut the "eye lids" will be) the less light will reach the sensor; which results, in darker images. Why would I want less light to reach the sensor? Well Imagine it's an EXTREMELY sunny day and all your shots come out looking like your subject is a white piece of paper 2 inches from the camera (everything is to bright). By decreasing the amount of light ( a.k.a increasing f/stop) your image will look better because less of that EXTREMELY bright sun light is entering the lens and the more of the subject you will see. (try it out)

2) The more you increase the f/stop # the more background will be in focus, which is often used in landscape photography. I will explain this relationship between aperture and dop( depth of field) in the next "Photo TIPS!" tutorial.

What does decreasing the f/stop (Bigger Aperture) do to images? 2 things.

1) By decreasing the f/stop # (the more open the "eye" will be) the more light will reach the sensor. This is useful for when you are shooting in very dark places. By decreasing the f/stop the more light in the surroundings will enter the lens and the more visible your subject will become. 

2) The smaller you make the f/stop the less background will be in focus. This is something I use VERY often in my own photography, especially in my portrait photography. This is used when you want to create "Bokeh" which refers to the smooth background. I will also talk more about this effect in the next "Photo TIPS!" post. This effect also creates a pop in the image since only a small portion of the image is "in focus".

I used a very small f/stop number (f.2.8) in this
image which cause the amount of focus to be a
very small space (the focus was on the eyeball)
and it also caused the background to blur, i.e
BOKEH

This image also contains a small f/stop # (f/1.8)
and the focus is right on the glasses and lips.
(if you look closely you will see my reflection
on the glasses :))

-Big f/stop # = small aperture size and very little light reaching sensor (darker images)

-Small f/stop # = big aperture size and very much light reaching the sensor (brighter images)

If you have any questions about my pictures, posts, or photography over all, send me a message or comment below (comments are preferred since they may serve the purpose of answering the question for everyone with similar questions.) If you like this post please tell me below and share it on your social media sites, and remember SUBSCRIBE! 

Keep Snappin',

ravimi

Photo TIPS! ~ Negative Space

Today I'm going to be talking about something I love to use in my photography, Negative Space! Negative space refers to any space in an image that....that's it!; "any space in an image!"
Some people might disagree with that extremely tiny definition, and I understand why they would. Negative space can be used in MANY ways and can become anything within the frame of the photograph. I'll try to explain this with some of my photography (Nothing better than actual examples!) :

This image uses a lot of negative space to
support the themes: smoothness, creamy
delightful. The negative space is that creamy
looking space surrounding the flower.
The effect of blurring the background is termed
BOKEH! (Boe-Keh)

In a lot of my pictures I move the subject
to a corner of the frame. By doing so, I
fill the frame with empty space and this
space represents the "Negative space" in
the image. I used Negative space to show
the Habitat of the bird and also to highlight
the beautiful blue colors it has and how it
almost blends with the water.

The "Negative Space" in this image is
used to portray the themes: desolate, not
of nature. By allowing more of the sky to
appear the viewer might notice how the smoke
from the factory starts to disappear into the
sky, what does that make you think? 

Negative space here also creates a sense
of separation/loneliness and some may
interpret it differently (that's one beauties
of "Negative Space", it is free).  In this image
the negative space represented by the light
grey (a lake) also takes form.***

 ***The reason I gave negative space such a small definition is because it has such immense possibilities that I doubt I would be capable of truly defining it for the Universe. One of the ways it can be used is as the actual focus of the image, how? By boxing (more like fitting) it into a frame. Notice how the picture above shows a light grey space, that is a lake. The hills in the image were used to "box in" the lake, I gave it a form. By giving it a form I am able to use it for a purpose other than a nice light shade of grey in the image; the light background was used to highlight the head of the bird; "The Crown". By doing so, I gave the bird a specific personality, which I intended to be ....... (you tell me.)

This is one of my favorite uses of "Negative
Space". It can be used to give a dramatic
push to a theme or a persons personality.
My friend (the guy in this image) is a goofy
guy, but he is also very smart and seems
to enjoy thinking so I decided to capture
that part of his personality.

If you have any questions about my pictures, posts, or photography over all send me a message or comment below (comments are preferred since they may serve the purpose of answering the question for everyone with similar questions.) If you like this post please tell me below and share it on your social media sites, and remember SUBSCRIBE! 

Keep Snappin',


ravimi

Photo TIPS! ~ Fill Light

Today I will be talking about Fill Light! The last post talked about "The Golden Hours" (pretty holy stuff) and I mentioned fill light when talking about the effects of the morning and evening sunlight (The Golden Hours). The light from these times of day seems to envelope the subject from multiple directs because the main light (sun light) is not so powerful as too outmatch the Fill light. Well, what is fill light?

Fill light is soft (softer than the main light) light that is used to expose the features of a subject that might be hidden by the shadows created by the main light (the main source of where the light is coming from, ex: sunlight, light bulb, etc.). In portrait photography fill light very often comes from a reflector.

This is a light reflector. It is positioned at an angle
that will help redirect the light (that is not heading towards
the subject) towards the subject. This will help light up
multiple sides of the object. 

A reflector can be many things: a wall (preferably light colored walls, dark colors absorb to much of the light unless the subject is right against the wall), a table, a ceiling, and many other surfaces that redirect light in a desired direction. 

Some photographers use flashes in order to create fill light. Flashes can be positioned in multiple angles, and some can even be shot independent of the actual camera. One example of using Flash as fill light is when I took the picture of the baby below. This picture was taken under a 10x10 beach tent at night. I did not want to much light coming from one direction to hit the babies face so I angled the flash directly upwards. By doing so, the light from the flash bounced off the tent's ceiling and so the entire tent became a huge light box. By examining the picture you will see little, too none, notable shadows that are over powering (the background is dark because I took this outside during the night and so the amount of light inside the tent drained out the visible objects in the background, and a low f/stop also helped). 

Bounce light is VERY useful, especially during portrait photography. So make sure to be aware of it's usefulness and how to best control it. Observe your surroundings for possible "reflectors" (i.e. walls, tables, flat surfaces) and be creative with light sources and when to take pictures (refer to my "The Golden Hours" post).

If you have any questions about my pictures, posts, or photography over all send me a message or comment below (comments are preferred since they may serve the purpose of answering the question for everyone with similar questions.) and remember SUBSCRIBE!

Keep Snappin',ravimi

Photo TIPS! ~ "The Golden Hours"

First I would like to start off by welcoming the first ever follower of RPB (Ravimi Photography Blog) "TheLittlePictureBox"! Yay (fireworks in the background, while drunk people fall over from the after after after party). Thanks for joining me on the journey through photography!

Now back to the normally scheduled program. Today I would like to discuss "The Golden Hours" which I referred to in the last "Photo and Personal Style" post. The Golden Hours refers to a time of day in which photographers in the photography community (I know, redundant) generally have dubbed "The best time of the day for taking pictures". The reason for the nice title is because it's a time when the sun gives off it's most vibrant light. This time is from when the sun rises to about 9-10am, and when the sun is setting, mostly the period after 5pm (lol, sorry Alaska), to when it is completely gone. I'm sure a lot of you, if not all, have seen a picture of the sunset/sunrise, it contains vibrant colors that shine beautifully which is one of the reasons it is so greatly praised.

This is one of my Sunset pictures, taken on Christmas day.

During "The Golden Hours" the sun light can be strong but it is coming from an angled direction that is not directly above. Sunlight during the middle of the day, in most cases, is very harsh and may cause pictures to look bleached out (over exposed) even when the settings have been adjusted. The reason for this is because shadows created by the harsh light creates too much of a contrast which will make skin exposed to the light look "washed out" relative to the darkness of the skin that is covered by shadows. I would describe this effect similar to that of a camera trying to take video of a dark subject while there is a light reflector surrounding the subject and is pointing directly at the lens. Midday light comes directly from above which is not always forgiving towards the person being photographed. The example picture of the foot prints below (Image is called "Bajo Relieve") shows how shadows from the Golden hours can be used, and how midday sun can actually destroy interesting shadows.

The light of "The Golden Hours" comes from a lower angle and this allows the photographer to dictate where the model will stand for the best exposure. The less-harsh light seems to wrap around the subject because there is very little contrast between the actual direct sunlight and fill light (light that is reflected from surfaces or comes from other mediums with the purpose of lowering the amount of contrast created by the main source of light: in other words I'll leave it for a later tutorial). An example of this is the portrait below.

So be sure to use "The Golden Hours" as a very important tool. It serves as a great time of day when the sun creates favorable and colorful light, and is also the coolest part of the day (excluding night of course).


If you have any questions about my pictures or photography over all send me a message or comment below (comments are preferred since they may serve the purpose of answering the question for everyone with similar questions.) and remember SUBSCRIBE!
Keep Snappin',
ravimi

I took this in the afternoon when the sun was setting.
If I would have taken this during the middle of the day
the shadows that help create the feeling of the feet popping
out would not have been possible. 

As described above, the afternoon light from
"The Golden Hours" (so holy)
contains light that is not to strong and allows
the rest of the subjects face enough light
that the contrast wont be too noticeable.

Photo and Personal Style

This picture was part of  my first big profit job. The model wanted some pictures taken by me because he liked my personal philosophy of capturing the person for who they are, and he also enjoyed my pictures he had seen. Knowing his personality I decided it would be nice to have an outdoors photoshoot with strong colors (as shown by the strong blue sky and yellow shirt) and strong energy being radiated by the model. We went out to a nearby dock since it was far away from trees and buildings that could get in the way of the framing. We also started the shoot in the afternoon, around 5-6pm, so that the sun was close to the horizon while still maintaining enough light for the picture (this is referred to as the "Golden Hours", I will go over this in a future tutorial).

The model has a strong body figure, he is very fit and has had experience with modeling professionally so I decided to give him a look that showed his strength and inner power. I took the picture from below to make him appear larger than life and made sure that his elbows would not fall outside of the frame while maintaining a tight composition that also pushed the idea of his thin figure. The negative space (refers to the empty space) helps bring out the idea of internal strength/spiritual power (I will go over the use of Negative space in a future tutorial). And lastly I always made sure to help him give off a feeling of strength accompanied by a relaxed aura. 

If you have any questions about my pictures or photography over all send me a message or comment below (comments are preferred since they may serve the purpose of answering the question for everyone who sees it.)

Keep Snappin',

ravimi

    ISO 100

    1/2500 shutter speed

    2.8 Aperture

    50mm

   This is another picture I took that day.  

    ISO 100

    1/125 Shutter speed

    7.1 Aperture

    50mm

    

Photo and Personal Style

I took this today at my friends party. I love this image because of how much it shows the girls personality: huge amount of energy and wonderful smile. The details of the image are below the image, all the images I will be posting on this blog along with ALL the other places I post consist of photographs straight from the camera. I'm trying to build a name for myself as a straight out of camera photographer; some may call it crazy, others stupid (for valid reasons that I do understand), BUT I have decided this path therefore I will follow it, and so far it has worked to my expectations, and beyond. Also! please forgive me for grammar mistakes and everything else haha, English grammar is not my forte.

If you have any questions about my pictures or photography over all send me a message or comment below (comments are preferred since they may serve the purpose of answering the question for everyone who sees it.) 

Keep Snappin',

ravimi

ISO 100

1/320 shutter speed

2.5 Aperture
50mm

Sepia

What it's all about!

Hey I'm Ravimi and this is my blog. Here in RPB (Ravimi Photography Blog) I will be posting my photography, some information about my pictures, some info will be longer than others, and photography tips and maybe sometimes the random cool thing I find on the internet.

If you like my blog you can look at more of my photography at http://ravimiphotography.photoshelter.com or just look up "ravimi photography" on most big name social networks (Facebook, twitter, etc.)

If you have any questions about my photography or photography in general let me know and I will find you the most suitable answer!

Welcome to
RPB!!!

"Call for Omega"